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MortgagePoint ยป Your Trusted Source for Mortgage Banking and Servicing News 42 October 2023 F E A T U R E S T O R Y Many companies also use in-house patented technologies to streamline workflows to improve pipeline manage- ment. This robust reporting and pipeline management not only benefits the out- sourcing provider, but also the originator as the information presented is often far more in-depth and utility-based, allowing clients to identify internal roadblocks and create more accurate forecasting. Add it all up, and these efficiency gains help to reduce the cost to originate a loan. Access to Specialized Skills I n a still-tight labor market, offshoring can provide access to a pool of special- ized skills that may not be readily available in-house. Companies routinely provide language skills, technical expertise, and specialized knowledge in areas such as underwriting or loan servicing. Compa- nies providing niche skills like underwrit- ing have internal mortgage underwriting academies that provide in-depth training and certifications for the U.S. mortgage sector. Those certified underwriters receive sign-off authorizations and can approve loans using the supervisory and branch li- censes wherever regulations of such states permit them to do so. Originators outsourcing certain oper- ations can also be provided with skilled experts who can perform compliance reviews of loans pre- and post-closing, which are intended to be sold in the secondary markets or onto institutional investors. Such due diligence activities, which are a high-cost initiative onshore, can be completed by offshore at a fraction of their costs. Scalability O riginators often need to quickly ramp up or down their operations based on changing market conditions or business needs. With that in mind, it makes perfect sense to try and reduce the stress and legal requirements of hiring by using certain offshore resources. This type of workforce management can be left to offshoring companies who can move resources across the spectrum, all while scaling operations as required by their clients. Improved Customer Experience B y leveraging specialized skills and expertise, offshoring improves the quality of service and overall customer experience. This naturally leads to in- creased customer satisfaction and loyalty, especially by helping originators reduce cycle times. Customers are more likely to conduct business with organizations with strong customer experiences, leading to more revenue opportunities and a lower customer acquisition cost. Not to mention, the lender is also able to create specialized workflows and teams to fulfill rush requests, ensuring borrowers meet their closing dates. This results in higher customer satisfaction, increased loyalty, and trust from customers. Value Adds O ffshoring companies are not only providing next-generation services, but are also providing various value-adds to existing services using improvement and automation tools. Within the mortgage space, there are many examples of companies provid- ing automation services in Automatic Document Recognition (ADR)/Opti- cal Character Recognition (OCR) for document classification, versioning, and data extraction. All of these services ultimately limit manual intervention in the processing of loan files. Top-tier firms also provide in-house workflow tools to ensure seamless pipeline management and facilitate the movement of loans in a more streamlined workflow. In addition, firms that have multiple secure work sites ensure business continuity should any onshore or offshore location go down. While there are many advantages to offshoring mortgage operations, it is important to note that there are potential risks and challenges, including language barriers, cultural differences, regulatory requirements, and security concerns. When considering these challenges, it is very important to work with an offshore company who has already addressed these risks. In a still- tight labor market, offshoring can provide access to a pool of specialized skills that may not be readily available in- house.