Automated Mortgage Lending Portal

It’s getting harder to meet the expectations of modern borrowers.
For starters, today’s mortgage customers want their loans to be processed much faster. For example, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, the average loan processing time has decreased by 10 days since 2010, and keeps getting shorter.

At the same time, borrowers want an entirely online loan application experience with as little hassle as possible. In fact, research also shows that some 66% of homebuyers want a fully digital mortgage process, while 50% of borrowers chose their lender based on whether or not they had an online application portal.

And as the demand for faster loan processing grows, the bar for customer satisfaction is also rising. According to the 2019 Ellie Mae Borrower’s survey, millennials are 6X more likely than previous generations to feel that their lender didn’t reach out enough.

Suffice to say, the digital revolution is real—even when it comes to applying for a home loan.

Luckily, there are ways for modern originators to meet the demands of today’s super savvy borrowers, without hitting pause on business growth.

In this article, we’ll reveal the benefits of a robust mortgage portal and share step-by-step insights for how to integrate an automated client portal to close more loans in less time, while keeping your borrowers satisfied.

Let’s dive in!

The Top 3 Benefits Of an Automated Mortgage Portal

We’ve already established that today’s homebuyers are all about doing their business online, but with a million and one AI tools, chatbots and other shiny new automation systems on the market today, how do you know an automated client portal is the right tool for your business?

Here are the three main reasons to invest in an online client portal for your mortgage business. Take a minute to review each one and decide for yourself if a client portal makes sense for you.

Benefit #1: Close More Loans, Faster

More and more borrowers want to go online with their mortgage applications. Investing in an online portal allows mortgage professionals to scale toward higher volume and bigger clientele simply by meeting clients where they are.

But another reason client portals help you grow your business is simply because they allow you to process loans faster.

Without spending your and client’s precious time buried under an avalanche of paperwork, or tracking a dozen different documents from various file folders and inboxes, an automated client portal streamlines the whole process from start to finish by integrating with the other tools in your tech stack.

Here’s how an online portal allows mortgage professionals to close more loans in less time:

• Offer an entirely online experience.
  Borrowers follow the entire process online, with no wasted time commuting to the office or signing stacks of paperwork.
• Reduce documentation.
  No more chasing clients for key documents. With everyone in one central online hub, borrowers no longer need to spend days collecting paper documents.
• Leverage automation.
  With the right automation, the majority of tasks and document checks can be performed without human input.
• Track loan application status in real time.
  Integrate your client portal with your CRM and track every stage of a loan application, helping borrowers keep their momentum from A to Z.

Benefit #2: Lower Loan Processing Costs

According to the 2019 Ellie Mae Borrower Insights survey, it’s not just millennials who love a good online experience. In fact, the number one reason Baby Boomers liked the online mortgage process is because it was simple.

And in this business, simple matters.

Online mortgage portals with a user-friendly interface can help to demystify the loan application process and guide borrowers to success using interactive hints and automated checks.

But beware: The survey also found that up to 60% of borrowers will drop an online application if the process is ‘too complicated’, so make sure you choose a client portal with an easy-to-use interface.

Why Choose Shape’s Client Portal?

Shape’s Client Portal makes it easy for you to connect and collaborate with borrowers and help them complete the mortgage loan process in an effective and secure manner from clear to close.

The portal allows loan originators to easily upload and eSign documents, monitor status updates and approval requests, and create automated workflows that maximize your online conversions and reduce the time it takes to process each and every loan.

Below are the main benefits of Shape’s Client Portal, along with a few tips for how the portal can help you convert more loans while ensuring an unforgettable customer experience.

Millennial-friendly Marketing Automation

With a little help from mortgage automation [link to mortgage automation piece when it’s published], originators can streamline their entire marketing to application operation to consistently grow their business, without dropping the ball on their customers.Shape’s Client Portal is directly integrated with our sales platform, allowing users to streamline almost every aspect of the loan application process from start to finish:

• Be more responsive.
  Get instantly notified when borrowers start their online application process to provide them with real-time tips and encourage them to take the next step.
• Eliminate duplicate entries.
  Shape automatically synchronizes portal customer details with your sales database so that you always have the latest information in front of you and can avoid making embarrassing mistakes.
• Create automated verification workflows.
  Automate income, employment, and credit verification processes to save time and resources and qualify online leads faster.

Better UI, Better Completion Rates

According to the same Ellie Mae report, almost 70% of borrowers didn’t complete their online application process in one sitting, or abandoned the process altogether. Yikes.

For your average borrower, online loan applications are about as fun to work on as a high school algebra equation. Shape’s Client Portal reduces client overwhelm by offering a user-friendly interface designed to make the entire process as easy and intuitive as completing any other online form.

Because UI is a simple, yet crucial factor that can have a massive impact on your completion rates.

And just to keep things extra streamlined, the Client Portal also offers custom branding so that the user experience is directly tied to your unique business.

Make Remote Loan Processing Business As Usual

With fully streamlined e-Signature, you can completely eliminate the need for borrowers to meet in-person. Now, they can complete the entire loan application process from the comfort and safety of their own home.

The eSignature module is directly integrated within Shape’s Client Portal and CRM, saving you countless dollars on 3rd party e-signature software.

Shorten The Path To Key Milestones

According to the Borrowers Survey, millennials were contacted 11 times on average by their lenders—and still felt that it wasn’t enough.

The way we see it, this is a clear indication that timing is everything.

After all, it’s always nice to get a check in call to see how things are going, but if you can solve the right problem at the right time, you become a hero for life. That’s why it’s crucial to make contact at the moment your customers need it most.

Using the Client Portal, you can automatically synchronize important tasks, dates, and reminders to put low-stakes communication on autopilot and save your bandwidth for when you need to be ready to jump in and save the day.

Here are some of the core communication workflows you’ll find in Shape’s Client Portal:

• In-app group messaging.
  Millennials and Gen X borrowers were 3X more likely to communicate with their lenders using online chat, which makes this channel a perfect, futureproof option for communicating with mortgage clients.
• Personalized email templates.
  Automatically send email notifications and follow up sequences pre-filled with key info from a customer’s unique loan application journey. No more navigating multiple files and screens just to write one simple email.
• Instant loan status alerts.
  Shape integrates with your favorite loan origination software so that you can trigger specific email or text sequences and keep the communication consistent, even after the online application is completed.

Safe and Secure

When it comes to mortgage compliance, we always go the extra mile.

When you use Shape’s Client Portal, you can rest assured that the loan application process you’re offering your customers is not only smooth and pleasant, but also completely secure.

Your client’s data will be hosted on one of the most secure facilities available, guarded 24/7, using the most advanced network security protocols, and including regular comprehensive security and privacy audits.

More Client Love In One Simple Hub

With an easily organized document hub you can quickly request, review, and approve documents from borrowers—all from one simple system.

Coupled with advanced security and automation features, the entire workflow of loan application processing and document management suddenly becomes quick and painless from the very first contact. So, what are you waiting for?