BY DAVID COLWELL
Why is it fun to refurbish old cars? For many, it is the joy of taking an old frame and engine and finding ways squeeze out as many miles as possible while trying to restore some of the old car’s luster and shine.
And a refurbished car may work well in many ways. With proper care, it will be a reliable, and possibly stylish, way to get the driver from point A to point B. But no matter how much work is done on an old car, there are certain things that just can’t be gracefully bolted onto an old frame. Even if you add modern conveniences such as Bluetooth-capable radios and a GPS, safety innovations such as lane guidance, back-up cameras, side air bags, etc will never fit seamlessly into the car. To truly benefit from the advancements made in auto technology, you would have to invest in a newer car.
The same dilemma is true for credit unions looking to enter the world of eMortgages. Credit unions are often using decades old Loan Origination Software (LOS) that are not designed to integrate with modern eMortgage and digital lending tools. While vendors can build work-arounds, without a modern LOS designed to maximize the potential of eMortgages, the integration may be useless.
eMortgages Evolve From Pipe Dream to Reality
The concept of eMortgages is nothing new. Credit unions and vendors alike have discussed ways in which to leverage the internet as an opportunity to better engage members for at least 15 years. These conversations even found their way into publications such as Mortgage Banking, which outlined a theoretical path of a borrower searching, applying and closing on an e-mortgage through the Internet in its December 1999 issue.
Given the primitive nature of the technology available, the article provided groundbreaking, yet practical, solutions that could be easily created to bring eMortgages to life. Of these solutions, items such as laptop support for originations, online access to mortgage pools, development of automated approval and underwriting engines and simplified processing requirements were still the domain of theory and fantasy.
