Utilising Technology Could Help Us All In A Busy Year

Jeremy Duncombe Managing Director Accord Mortgages

New technology continues to make its mark on our industry. Love it or hate it, you can’t ignore it, but I still sense not everyone welcomes it, and many are still not adopting.

You may have recently seen some research we did with mortgage brokers about the future of our industry on a whole host of topics. Technology, and the industry’s view of it, is a theme I keep coming back to.

There’s optimism, but not always investment.

There was widespread positivity about tech overall, with almost all believing it will improve the advised mortgage journey in the next ten years, and the majority agreeing it’s an enabler for good advice. Others said they thought it would continue to offer time and efficiency savings, make the overall experience smoother for borrowers and increase their capacity to spend more time with clients. And I share these views - having seen just how positive some of the improvements we’ve made at Accord have been to brokers and their clients. I’m excited about what we can do to help further still.

But do I think we’re all making the most of the opportunity technology presents? No. And with three quarters of respondents having no plans to invest in new technology, it shows just how important it is brokers take advantage of what’s already available to them, even without additional investment. For example, we’ve integrated our decision in principal into all three main sourcing systems. This means data can be pre-populated at the press of a button, into our system without the need to re-key. That will save 15 minutes per case, it’s free, and it’s available today. As a lender we continually implement new tech to improve our service to brokers, making it easier for them to submit cases. It’s a virtuous circle - getting a case over the line efficiently and with as little effort as possible can lead to better customer service and ultimately, better client retention.

But on a national level the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) quote that an additional value of £100bn could be unlocked in the UK economy, in part if businesses adopted key technologies. That’s huge, but I can see the value still waiting to be realised on a local level too, in our world.

Let technology support business this year, not hinder.

As we face into a busy year, it’s a great time for those that don’t already to embrace technology, and let it do a lot of the heavy lifting.

Using technology to pre-populate data, get quick queries answered by lenders or to track the progress of cases could all make broker’s lives easier, and the time saved could be better spent helping more clients.

Anyone who may have seen me speaking at events will know how strongly I feel about technology, and it’s with the industry’s interests at heart that I’ll continue to champion its use and support its wider adoption.

Early adopters are already reaping the rewards, so make it a resolution to embrace it more this year and I’m sure you, and your business, won’t regret it.

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