Swimming in Data? Actionable Intelligence Offers a Solid Solution

Between customer databases, loan pipelines, public records, property listings and other data sources, lenders are swimming in data. But more isn’t always better. Data is important, but it is only useful when it can be analyzed in a timely fashion and applied to inform smart decisions.

Modern business intelligence (BI) solutions enable lenders to make sense of the vast data available to them. By collating and transforming unstructured data into actionable intelligence, BI platforms enable lenders to quickly uncover trends, stay current on the status of the loans in their pipelines, track loan fallout, stay on top of loan officer (LO) performance and much more.

Widen your pipeline view through an LOS lens 

By harnessing loan origination system (LOS) data, lenders can gain transparency into loan pipelines, giving them insights they need to effectively manage productivity and eliminate roadblocks. Connecting a BI platform with an LOS empowers lenders to quickly find the answers to questions such as: How many units are moving though my pipeline? Where in the process are in-progress loans? Are there areas where loans are stalling out?

Use data from outside of your ecosystem 

Comprehensive BI platforms layer lenders’ internal loan data with outside data sets, including disaster data, multiple listing service (MLS) data, public records and recorded mortgages. Advanced systems can even overlay external data sets over production data to develop a holistic understanding of how external forces may be impacting their pipeline progress.

Keep an eye on the weather

In 2020 alone, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) reported 22 weather and climate disasters that created more than $1 billion in losses across the U.S. Climate scientists anticipate this trend will continue, making it all the more important for lenders to stay up to date on climate-related disasters affecting their service region.

Leveraging disaster data is an effective and reliable way for lenders to manage their mortgage pipelines during hurricane season. For example, a lender who is processing a loan for a house in Florida at the height of hurricane season will want to know if that asset is damaged or destroyed. If a property associated with a loan file sustains significant damage or is destroyed, that loan will not be able to close as planned.

Top-of-the-line BI platforms can deliver real-time disaster data and prompt LOs to reach out when natural disasters are nearing their service area. With this early insight, LOs can provide excellent borrower service by letting their clients know they are monitoring the situation so homebuyers can focus on what is most important – keeping their families safe.

Prevent loan fallout

Many factors can cause lenders to lose loans in the origination stage – from borrower experience, to pricing, to gaps in mortgage marketing. Without access to a wide range of operational performance data, knowing which actions to take to mitigate loan fallout is guesswork.

By taking public records of all recorded mortgages into account, a comprehensive BI platform can reveal loans that have fallen out of a lender’s pipeline and were closed by a competing lender. This can help lenders determine if a lost applicant is a result of true fallout or simply the result of that consumer changing their mind. Significant business loss to competitors is a powerful indicator of the opportunity to improve business processes.

Manage your workforce

According to a study by Accenture, banks that invest in AI and human-machine collaboration at rates equivalent to top performing businesses in other industries could increase revenue by an average of 34%. Lenders that want to survive in a digital age can stay competitive by adopting solutions that take administrative pressure off time-strapped LOs.

In addition to giving insight into weather and loan production data, BI can be leveraged to focus on ways to adjust people, processes and technology to improve productivity and identify top performers. The benefits of a robust data intelligence solution are compounded when each piece of the user’s tech stack is integrated, allowing lenders to immediately see results from adjustments made to one platform in another.

All-inclusive BI for the mortgage industry

BI software can provide lenders with a better understanding of the effectiveness of their loan process. Actionable Intelligence Platform (AIP) by Black Knight, integrates with the Black Knight family of products as well as other popular mortgage LOS products, so establishing data connections is a trouble-free process for new users. Schedule a demo to find out more.