J.D. Power reported in October that three-fourths of the business leaders it surveyed plan to escalate their AI investments. This includes the lending industry, where AI-powered customer service apps have already established a foothold and are primed to grow.
The types of tasks AI will likely take over in the mortgage process are evident from the number of applications released recently to help more homebuyers qualify, provide loan officers with real-time visibility throughout the process and reduce errors and delays.
This look at new AI-powered technology follows our recent Insights blog post, “Harnessing AI for Success and Sidestepping Costly Mistakes.” That post discussed how privacy concerns and high costs are leading some mortgage lenders to proceed carefully. The blog post also outlined why mortgage loan officers need to fully understand their company’s AI policies and legal concerns before adopting these next-generation tools.
How AI Is Changing the Mortgage Process
New and emerging AI tools are automating routine tasks, providing real-time information and handling customer interactions:
- Enabling Fly-By Property Evaluation: Aerial imaging promises to improve the accuracy of AVMs and appraisals. Images from above can reveal unexpected answers about a home’s roof condition, the size of a swimming pool and other property conditions. This geospatial technology is already widely used in the home insurance industry and is increasingly being adopted by lenders to strengthen confidence in home values.
- Providing Qualifying Alternatives: One major technology provider’s new AI-based tool is a game-changer that detects conditions preventing a borrower from qualifying for the lowest mortgage rate. It then suggests actions the homebuyer can take to improve their opportunity to qualify for a more competitive rate. Not only does this save applicants from the sting of a rejected application, but it also enables originators to close more loans, boost their customer satisfaction scores and win more referrals.
- Powering Chat-Based Mortgage Apps: This technology guides customers through the application process and generates a pre-qualification letter in minutes. This engages borrowers and helps them be self-sufficient, allowing mortgage loan officers more time to focus on clients with more complex financial situations, such as self-employed borrowers.
- Delivering Real-Time Underwriting Info: Tools that provide a loan’s underwriting status in real time allow loan officers to quickly understand which borrower verification documents have been provided. This avoids delays and addresses a common homebuyer complaint by preventing customers from providing documents they have already submitted.
- Deploying Voice-Based Assistants: For customers who call their lender or connect online, this technology provides accurate answers to specific questions 24/7. For example, a borrower may want to know if you’ve received the latest bank statement they submitted. These voice-based assistants streamline the underwriting process and lessen homebuyers’ frustrations.
- Launching AI-Powered Loan Servicing Voice Agents: New homeowners can request help with servicing questions 24/7 via calls, texts, emails and webchats. In addition to providing service outside of “working hours,” voice agents reduce the cost of answering each query, which increases service profitability and could lead more lenders to embrace servicing in-house.
We’d love to hear what AI applications you’re using and how the technology benefits your customers. Give us the details you’re comfortable sharing in an email, and we may use your comments in a future Insights post.