18
WHAT
DO DATA
INITIATIVES
MEAN FOR
LENDERS?
e mortgage industry is waking up to
disruptive technology and digital innovation
that could prove to be transformative. ese
innovations include data initiatives that
have been rolled out to establish or update
data standards, transmission protocols, and
platforms across the industry. According to
Fannie Mae's Mortgage Lender Sentiment
Survey released in January, 74 percent of
lenders believe these initiatives are valuable to
the industry.
Noting that the mortgage industry
continues to be focused on improving data
consistency, transparency, and flow across the
mortgage lifecycle loan, the survey indicated
that enhancing data accuracy and consistency,
enhancing borrower experience, and reducing
repurchase risks were the key benefits of these
data initiatives, according to the lenders.
It also noted that lenders felt that larger
institutions were more likely than smaller
ones to find these data efforts valuable, and
that mortgage banks and credit unions were
more likely than depository institutions to
perceive these efforts as valuable.
In terms of challenges, 34 percent of
lenders felt that updating and integrating
IT systems was a major challenge, followed
by 32 percent saying that finding key players
to follow data standardization requirements
was a big hurdle. Working with third-party
technology vendors and ensuring data quality
and accuracy also were some other challenges
listed by lenders.
According to the survey, when asked to
provide ideas on how to derive more value
from these initiatives, lenders suggested
developing clear standards of practice,
addressing compliance issues, and ensuring
system integration across players.
While data standardization efforts are
critical for an industry transitioning to a more
streamlined digitized world, the findings
show the industry must address the need for
more innovation and end-to-end integration
issues and help all players effectively compete
in a technological environment.
