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November 2023 ยป thefivestar.com 63 November 2023 T H E P O I N T that we think is unique in the industry. We offer that in the marketplace as an indepen- dent software provider, as well as a rules library that we have created. We are starting to use that to kick off remediation action as well. This is doing the next best action in the background where, again, it will allow the process to move faster, the borrower experience will be better, the borrower can get what they want faster, and we can be more responsive to the consumer. Q: BSI Financial has always been technology-focused. What has changed, if anything, in terms of customer expectations over these past few years? Are you seeing changes as far as customer expectations are concerned and what are they expecting you to bring to the table? How has that impacted your philosophy or approach? I think of us as mortgage-focused, sitting in the broader spectrum of con- sumer finance. If you look at every other consumer finance product, everything is going more digital. Customers are relying more and more on mobile apps. Our in- dustry needs to go down that same path, so things need to become more friction- less for the borrower. That results in more texting, more digital communication, and further enhanced self-service. As a mortgage servicer, BSI Financial can access more data, so we are using that data to serve the needs of the borrower without having to pick up the phone and call us. Our call center and customer service team are always available and will always be there to serve the customer's needs, but borrowers often have a desire to get a digital-first customer experience. Some of the big companies like Am- azon and Uber have set the bar on what the consumer experience looks like. When the consumer says, "Hey, this is how I can board a plane, or this is how I can order food, or go shopping," they may come to our site and ask, "Why is this not the same thing?" What the pandemic did was, because everybody was at home, digitiza- tion was accelerated in the entire economy. Five years ago, not many people made video calls. But now, doing a Zoom or a Teams call is how we conduct business today. Digitization has accelerated so much that what was supposed to happen in five or seven years took place in just two years, and that has also led to a change in the consumer experience as well. When con- sumers are applying for a forbearance, they want a digital-first experience. That digital-first experience does not mean that compliance can be compromised. Q: What are the challenges of maintaining that balance where you are trying to serve what the customers have come to expect, as well as advancing technology, but you still need to serve this baseline of compliance? What is that process like? That's a great question. What I would say is that we think of it as it must start from thinking of the customer experience first and designing that process first, and then layering technology on top of it. We think of ourselves as a technology-forward, technology-first company, but we think of it as letting us design the right process, and then layer technology on top of it. The second part of it is, just like when processes were performed by humans, there had to be extensive quality control, checking, and testing. That same thought process of rigor and testing has to be done when the process moves into a more