In order to capture more business, smart mortgage lenders today are leveraging social media channels, including Facebook, and mobile technologies in order to engage with prospective millennial borrowers.
But, what if lenders could take that one step further and allow borrowers to actually launch the mortgage process right from within a Facebook page?
This, of course, would require integration between Facebook and a lender's loan orgination system (LOS).
MeridianLink reports that it has integrated Calcubot's Facebook and mobile lending tools into its LOS, thus enabling the first digital omni-channel for lending. Calcubot is made by Shastic, a technology company based in Berkeley, Calif., which created the first-ever consumer tools on Facebook for the financial sector in 2012.
The two companies claim that this next-generation approach to loan origination will allow borrowers to shop for a loan – from looking to booking – via their mobile devices, Facebook or the Web, with cloudÂ-based continuity across platforms and devices.
‘Combining MeridianLink, an industry powerhouse, with the innovations that Shastic brings to the market creates the potential for bringing lending to the next generation,’ says Ron Shevlin, senior analyst at Aite Group, in a release. ‘Shastic was the first company to offer Facebook lending tools to financial institutions. Since launching in 2012, they have grown to serve more than 50 financial institutions nationwide.
‘Calcubot walks prospective loan customers through an interactive buying process tailored to a financial institution's lending products,’ he explains. ‘Prospects are recaptured through the use of social mechanisms centered on interactions with co-signers and smart alerts. Calcubot then leads prospects into the institution's loan application process and tracks conversions.’
‘Financial services are like media – they're not tied to physical goods and location is no longer king,’ adds Ariel Gomez, CEO of Shastic. ‘In the next 10 years, we'll see a massive deconstruction of the delivery channels for financials services. Institutions [that] don't deploy the latest and greatest innovations for lending will fall by the wayside.’
The two companies claim this integration gives lenders the ability to originate and track loans from look to book across Facebook, mobile and Web channels without human intervention.
As Calcubot feeds applicants into MeridianLink, it helps increase the speed and volume of loans processed by the financial institution. It also reduces data entry as Calcubot's cloud integrates mobile, Facebook and the Web to make data accessible to the end user across platforms and devices.
By incorporating the integrated solution, financial institutions can, for the first time, reach younger audiences through the newest and most heavily used channels.
‘We're very excited to partner with Shastic to open new sources for loan revenue from Facebook and mobile channels for our network of hundreds of financial institutions,’ adds Tim Nguyen, chief technology officer of MeridianLink.