By using Encompass® APIs at Wyndham Capital Mortgage, we’ve been able to identify key problems within our lending process and develop custom solutions. Automating both our loan assigning and customer communication processes are just two ways that we’ve been able to maximize our resources and profitability at a crucial time in the mortgage industry.
Automating loan assignment with Encompass APIs
As a mortgage moves along throughout its lifecycle, it passes through multiple teams and departments. A human user is needed at each transition to manually assign the loan to the next phase. These manual assignments are resource-intensive, and are an entry point for errors and losses in efficiency. In addition, manual processes like these fail to account for variables like individual team members’ unique skill sets and loan complexity that automated processes are designed to factor in. We found solutions to these problems with Encompass APIs.
Nuances like market variables, the loan date, and the skills and qualifications of our individual loan officers (LOs) can be flagged for sorting through an automated loan assignment tool. When we’re considering these variables, loans with particular exceptions can be assigned to the LO that we designate as the most skilled at managing those types of exceptions. We developed Auto Assigner, a custom Encompass API, to automate which LO should be assigned a loan based on the variables we specify, so loan assignments now happen as an instantaneous, automated process. This has made a big difference in driving efficiency across our organization.
Auto Assigner makes adding an infinite number of assignment criteria simple and quick. Criteria can be changed or updated in real-time so our organization can be intuitively responsive to changes in the market, or in our staff. When setting up an Auto Assigner for skills criteria, the process of adding a new skill is as simple as adding a pipeline filter in Encompass. This tool allows our Operations Managers to then assign these skills and other attributes, like max loan capacity, to Encompass users.
As soon as a loan moves out of a user’s pipeline, a new loan is assigned by Auto Assigner. If there is no user available with the necessary skills for a specific loan, Auto Assigner immediately notifies our Operations Managers. All of these automated processes are supported by a combination of Webhooks subscriptions, and usage of the Loan Associates and Milestones APIs available through Encompass Developer Connect™.
Auto Assigner removes all manual labor, ambiguity, and delays from loan assignments, allowing us to target the right staff member, for the right job, at the right time. Auto Assigner also empowers our Operations Managers to set their teams up for success, providing a better experience for our borrowers, and more rewarding jobs for our employees.
Auto Assigner drives consistency, efficiency, employee experience, conversions, and ultimately, profitability. These gains have led to an approximate 61% increase in loans per production employee, and a 16% decrease in average cost per loan, compared to MBA Averages for 2020 Q2.
Automating customer communications
Two factors that are pivotal for success as a consumer direct lender are transparency and efficiency in communication. Borrowers need to receive personalized attention when making a big decision like securing a mortgage, and not feel like just another number. It became clear to us that we needed to implement a system of communication that would meet these borrower needs, without over-extending our resources. Wyndham Capital Mortgage needed to communicate loan requirements, statuses, and updates transparently and automatically.
Using Encompass APIs, we enabled the following user automation services:
- Disclosure customization: Automated, 53-point quality control logic that allows LOs to send accurate, real-time, and locked disclosures while on the phone with customers
- Credit card capture: Appraisal credit card capture based on property type and region upon customer signing the Intent to Proceed
- Appraisal ordering: Automated appraisal ordering through Appraisal Management Companies as soon as borrower completes credit card payment
- Conditions mapping: Dynamic posting of Preliminary and Underwriting (UW) Conditions to application as tasks for borrowers based on Encompass Conditions Business Rules
- Conditions syncing: Bring completed point-of-sale (POS) tasks and documents back into Encompass eFolder and sync with UW conditions
These POS integrations allow our employees to stay in one system, eliminating redundancies and inefficiencies. This powers increased pull-through and operational productivity, as well as enhanced LO-borrower connections. These integrations also infuse trust and satisfaction into the entire loan process, as borrowers are empowered with increased transparency and access to information throughout the mortgage process. Altogether, our Encompass POS integrations create a better customer experience and happier employees.
Integration of Encompass with industry-leading API solutions
Being a top-tier lender in a digital industry doesn’t have to be complicated or unattainable when you have the right tools in your toolbox. The complexity of originating mortgages amidst regulatory, underwriting, and other requirements continues to grow, but automating these processes is the key to staying ahead of the game. Encompass greatly simplifies the lending process and creates an incredible platform for our employees, who now only need one system to originate a loan.