Are you falling behind in mobile mortgage technology?

Online rate sites, e-signatures, live video streaming and virtual tours – insurance, real estate and banking are all pushing forward with new technologies; which begs the question: are brokers keeping pace?

“It has been a slow transition, but that is changing,” says Ben Salami, the founder of the Canadian Mortgage App and CEO of Bendigi Technologies. “But that mindset is changing, as the industry recognizes that the customer is looking to do business with smart technologies. And especially for brokers, they can utilize the new technology at a much faster pace than the big banks.”

The total number of mortgage deals being conducted in Canada are in the neighbourhood of two million, Salami told MBN, which makes for a very large potential market of broker clients.

“The banks usually, in terms of new technology, have always been a bit slow in adopting,” he says. “One major bank just brought out virtual cheques last year – and that technology has been available since 2009! This is what brokers can take advantage of.”

Brokers can move on the new technology quickly, as compared to banks that traditionally require years to deploy.

“From the perspective of the Broker, we’ve made the app development process a turn key, as we can obtain a developer license, design, build and publish an app within 30 days,” says Salami, “compared to the big companies that require up to three months with a significantly larger development cost.”

The beginnings of the app were inspired by an effort to “further evolve finance with technology – fintech,” says Salami. “We’re helping the brokers to compete with larger organizations who pour millions of dollars into tech. But we make it affordable to the broker.”

Bendigi has also created a consumer-facing app, the Canadian Mortgage App, that helps consumers estimate realistic monthly homeownership costs.

“Its success on iOS, Android and most recently the BlackBerry platform has emerged organically,” he says. “It is where Generation Y is looking when they want a mortgage or insurance quote.”

And having that app available to tomorrow’s market today is a powerful weapon for brokers to have, says Salami.

MBN

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