Ellie Mae®, the leading cloud-based loan origination platform provider for the mortgage industry, today announced that Encompass Consumer Connect® has seen significant adoption as lenders turn to more virtual technology solutions to increase consumer engagement. Homebuyers submitted over 400,000 loans via Consumer Connect in a single month in 2020, more than 300 percent growth over the same time period the year prior. As of May 31, more than 1.5 million loans have been started in 2020 using Consumer Connect.
In addition to providing a seamless digital experience for homebuyers, Consumer Connect provides a scalable, intuitive experience for consumers, that also helps lenders close loans faster. Many lenders are seeing efficiencies including reductions in turn times from application to an underwritten loan, that is shaving days off the process, all while delivering higher conversion rates from applications started to those that are ultimately submitted to the lender. These success metrics are even more impactful to a lender’s bottom line, given that Consumer Connect is included with Encompass® at no additional cost.
“We recognize that in these unprecedented times, lenders are experiencing increased loan volumes while contending with the need to support this demand virtually, both in terms of engaging consumers, as well as their own workforces,” said Joe Tyrrell, chief operating officer, Ellie Mae. “With Encompass Consumer Connect we provide every Encompass lender the ability to easily engage consumers and convert their interest into an application, through a modern, intuitive and completely personalized experience. We have also added the capability to seamlessly and instantly connect those consumers with anyone within the lender’s organization, even those working from home, automatically, through our complete Ellie Mae Consumer Engagement solution. These incredible loan volumes through Consumer Connect, which are increasing each month, validate the impact that a lender can have when combining high-tech with instant high-touch, to ultimately drive more business and get borrowers into homes faster.”
“In 2018, after implementing our George Mason Mortgage Intuitive Lending App™, powered by Encompass Consumer Connect, our online applications jumped up by 11.5 percent to almost 50 percent of all new loan applications,” said Andria Lightfoot, chief operating officer, George Mason Mortgage. “Today, with the increased demand for a digital experience amidst an unprecedented global pandemic, our online application traffic accounts for nearly 70% of applications year to date. For a retail lender not in the direct lending space, these numbers are attributable to the sleek, simple user interface, easy customizations and the secure platform provided by Consumer Connect. By activating the seamless integrations for verification services embedded within the borrower online experience, we have remained agile and scalable in response to the industry refinance surge.”
Consumer Connect offers:
- Modern, responsive design: Homebuyers can easily access and navigate the lenders’ site and application from any desktop, laptop, tablet or smartphone, anytime and anywhere at their convenience.
- Easy configuration and controls: Lenders can control and customize their site design, application flow, specific business process workflow and ensure consistency of their unique and specific brand.
- Automated digital mortgage workflows: From the easy-to-use online application, lenders can automate and authenticate data collection and verification, including employment and income verification as well as identity verification from Experian, which improves loan accuracy and time to close rates.
- Secure online borrower portal: Lenders save time by giving consumers a paperless way to collaborate with lenders by allowing them to drag and drop documents or images into the portal, upload photos from a phone, eSign documents and receive real-time updates.
- Built-in business intelligence: Lenders will gain insight into consumer engagement and keep consumers connected with immediate follow up.
- Reduced closing times: Lenders will automatically receive applications in Encompass underwritten by Fannie Mae’s Desktop Underwriter® or Freddie Mac’s Loan Product Advisor(sm) to help close loans in fewer days.
- Native compliance: Whether or not a consumer completes the entire application, Consumer Connect leverages the business rules within Encompass to ensure lenders are alerted to any compliance obligations they may have, even with incomplete or abandoned applications.
- Automated enablement: Lenders can opt to add a service for submitted and/or incomplete applications to be automatically managed and distributed to anyone within their organization, through Ellie Mae’s LeadManager Essentials solution, which is enabled through Consumer Connect. This service will also provide automated ongoing communication to the consumer throughout the lifecycle of the origination.
For more information about Encompass Consumer Connect, visit: https://www.elliemae.com/solutions/consumer-engagement/encompass-consumer-connect
PRESS CONTACT
Erica Bigley
Ellie Mae, Inc.
(925) 227-5913
Erica.Bigley@elliemae.com
Alexandra Gardell Kreuter
Allison+Partners
(646) 428-0618
EllieMae@allisonpr.com