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49 May 2024 » T H E P O I N T F e a t u r e d C o n v e r s a t i o n s W i t h M o r t g a g e ' s B e s t a n d B r i g h t e s t reporting mechanism to show/share how we're doing on our commitments. We see it internally, but we believe in holistically making that publicly available so that folks can understand the progress that we've made. It's been excellent to see that, over the past few years (since 2021), we've helped nearly 34,000 Black, Hispanic, and Latino customers purchase a home and aided 50,000 customers in refinancing their mortgages. That's about $30 billion in mortgage credit, so that's a tremendous success there. We still have more to do, but we're building on a good base as we continue to move forward. Then, specific to that homebuyer grant I talked about, we've paid that out to more than 8,600 households, which is $43 million in grants through December 2023. We view the Chase Homebuyer grant as a way of addressing the two biggest barriers to homeownership. When we think about that responsible or sustainable homeown- ership model, the grant can be used for down payments and can be used to offset closing costs. Q: How do innovation and digitalization help make responsible homeownership possible? We think of this as the glue that helps hold it all together. We have a digital front-end called Chase MyHome which helps customers at every step in their homebuying journey. Everything from determining how much they can afford, to searching for homes, to managing their mortgage and understanding the value of their home. As we build that out, we are focused on exploring features such as providing customers tools to help them understand their options and accessing offers they may be eligible for based on information we may already have about them. Customers can use Chase MyHome to explore the full suite of our products and our pricing so that they are the most informed they can be. We're also working to enhance digital income and asset verification tools which will help make the closing process even more streamlined. We also continue to use hybrid eClose, where we can help meet that customer's expectation that they want to be able to use their phone or the website. They want to engage with us where they're already at. We aim to be able to provide "All things home. All in one place." From getting your mortgage, to understand- ing your options once that mortgage is created, we're there with you all the way. What if you're looking for help with down payment options? What if you want to pay an extra $100 a month, what does that do to your amortization calculation? What if you want to see how much equity you have in your house? We can help with all of that and more. What we've seen is that meeting customers' expectations for digital engagement creates much deeper relationships. Q: As a Black and Latina woman myself, advancing Black, Hispanic, and Latino homeownership is very important. Would you say that the industry is moving at a good pace toward that, or do you think we still have more work to do? I think we are making progress. It's a national, industrywide challenge. It will take national and industrywide participa- tion and solutioning, and it's day-in, day- out work. It needs to be something that's embedded, that's part of strategy, that's part of culture. I'm very proud of the work that Chase has done, and we'll continue to engage with partners throughout the industry to help move the needle. Q: What piece of advice would you offer to millennials struggling to attain homeownership? As a member of that generation myself, I would say that the biggest recommendation, and the biggest piece of advice I have, is to educate yourself. Understand the process, the options, and the necessary qualifications. I believe Chase is one of the organizations that can work with you to help you achieve that dream of homeownership, but you need to determine what is best for you. We have plenty of tools to help you do that— check out chase.com/personal/mortgage/ tools-and-education. We aim to be able to provide 'All things home. All in one place.' From getting your mortgage, to understanding your options once that mortgage is created, we're there with you all the way."