Novus Strategy has launched a mortgage journey simulation platform designed to help lenders assess operational changes before committing investment.
Pathfinder allows lenders to model their existing mortgage process using real-world data and test how changes to systems, suppliers and customer journeys could affect performance.
The consultancy said the platform is intended to address a common difficulty facing lenders as they seek to improve completion times, reduce fall-through rates and increase lending capacity while deciding which transformation projects should take priority.
The launch comes as the mortgage market responds to developments including greater use of upfront information, Smart Data and the government’s home buying and selling reform programme.
Rather than requiring lenders to implement changes before measuring their effect, Pathfinder creates a digital representation of the mortgage journey and allows different configurations to be tested in advance.
The system presents projected financial and operational outcomes alongside lender benchmarking. It also includes a Vendor Radar intended to help lenders assess potential suppliers and procurement options.
Novus will demonstrate Pathfinder at its Digital Disruption Live event at the Everyman Theatre in Manchester on 23 September.
The consultancy said the platform also reflects what it describes as Horizontal Digital Integration, or HDI, in which independently operated digital systems are designed to work together across the wider mortgage and home buying process rather than transformation being confined to individual organisations.
Kevin Duncan, Pathfinder product director at Novus Strategy, said: “Pathfinder gives lenders a pathway they can be confident of investing in, because it shows them what the outcomes are likely to be.
“It’s a marked change in how lenders approach innovation and transformation. In the past, innovation programmes relied on analysis and recommendation.
“With simulation, lenders can literally see the outcomes before they invest. That’s why the simulator is going to prove game changing for these lenders at a critical moment for the industry.
“Pathfinder is the catalyst that tells them what they need to do to help bring down time-to-completion, and we’ve already shown that the entire redesign process can take as little as four weeks, even for a larger lender.
“Given that the industry has more of a configuration problem than a technology problem, none of this necessarily warrants changing vendors or rebuilding solutions, and all lenders have the chance to make very quick gains.”
HOW PATHFINDER WORKS
Pathfinder allows lenders to recreate their existing mortgage journey as a digital twin before producing a heatmap showing friction points across the process.
Those points can then be assessed against measures including fall-through rates, completion times and lost lending opportunities. The platform also examines capital velocity — the number of times a lender’s capital turns over each year.
The mapping can include Digital Verification Services, KYC, decision in principle, credit decisioning, valuation, affordability and underwriting.
Lenders can then use a drag-and-drop interface to test alternative journey designs and assess the potential effect of different changes, alongside vendor assessments, industry benchmarking and prioritisation tools.
The modelling also extends beyond mortgage offer to completion, where delays in the wider property transaction can have a material effect on lender performance. Novus cited figures showing the time from a sale being agreed to exchange has reached 134 days.
Pathfinder is intended to show lenders how their current journey compares with others in the market and where changes could produce the greatest operational benefit.
