Carmine Cacciavillani Selected as a 2020 Thought Leader Award Winner
Progress in Lending, June 16, 2020
Progress in Lending has announced the new 2020 Thought Leader Award winners as an opportunity to recognize thought leaders that are not afraid to step forward and blaze a new trail.
Carmine Cacciavillani believes the mortgage lending space has traditionally been relatively slow to embrace new innovations and technologies compared to other industries. The process of originating and closing a mortgage loan remains one of the most fragmented and laborious processes in the entire business world. Carmine also believes systems and processes have been engrained into the fabric of both banks and mortgage companies with little to no impetus to change unless there is some economic or regulatory driver.
As we’ve all experienced over the last few months with the pandemic altering our work habits, many lenders are embracing a number of technologies in order to not only remain relevant but to also position themselves for any potential impacts that result from this unprecedented time. As a result, Carmine sees lenders embracing solutions that provide an end-to-end experience, from borrower and broker engagement to closing and even cross-selling after the transaction is complete. Instead of maintaining costly legacy solutions across channels, lenders are finally consolidating systems to take advantage of solutions where specific functional areas can be shared across channels.
As Carmine sees it, this cohesive approach to the mortgage process requires a single source of real-time data optimized to be used across systems and applications. This should apply no matter who is accessing the loan, or where the data is being reviewed or updated. And, having this available in a secure, scalable, cloud-based environment provides for “always-on” productivity and efficiency for workers, whether they are remote or in the office.
According to Carmine, solutions built on modern technologies using an API-centric approach are now emerging that can take advantage of additional data sources to reduce approval and closing times considerably, using “just-in-time” data to decision the loan. Leveraging automation and automated tasking are further enhancing the combination of both man and machine, empowering lenders to handle cyclical changes while also being prepared for various purchase and refinance booms in the future.
Carmine believes that in today’s world, lenders must leverage technology in order to remain viable. Gone are the days of responding to loan volumes in a linear fashion by adding more personnel. Manual verifications and “stare and compare” processes are becoming extinct as well. In what used to take between two to three weeks of manual investigation, review, phone calls, faxes, and emails, can all be done within minutes with no human intervention.
Carmine thinks lenders must evaluate technologies based on their ability to provide the ultimate customer experience while also driving efficiencies and reducing time to close times. He says one of the key productivity metrics that should be used is the number of closed loans per month per employee. To achieve a higher number of closed loans per person, lenders should let systems and automation drive the process, while allowing employees to focus on delighting customers and handing exceptions. That’s why Carmine supports using integrated data sources across the board, which can eliminate manual keying, as well as using technologies such as workflow automation and machine learning, which can further increase productivity ratios.
Carmine also predicts lenders that provide self-serve models through mobile channels will not only be able to enhance the customer experience and get return business and referrals, but also keep their costs down since the applicant is effectively being guided via an automated, intuitive application process. Behind the scenes access to things like fees, taxes, licensing, and other key applicant details will enables further reduction in churn, because disclosures will ultimately match the data on the closing docs from the beginning. Salespeople will also get back to what they do best – generating additional leads and prospects to help build the funnel and ultimately close more loans.