The Bath Building Society has joined up with Festina Finance to revamp its direct mortgage lending proposition.

Festina has been working with the mutual over the last year to use artificial intelligence to help transform the way its mortgage consultants interview customers.

The society said a lack of a good front end sales system for direct mortgages sales had been a barrier to growth in the past.

Kevin Gray, CEO at Bath Building Society, said: “This was all proving to be both inefficient and frustrating and we therefore had a clear need to do something to improve this position.”

Festina’s software collects information about the customer’s financial situation and asks relevant questions on their views and understanding of mortgages and the overall economic outlook.

Gray added: “The system allows our mortgage consultants to conduct complete sales interviews in customers’ own homes and offices which now provides a much more professional service to our customers.

“The technology greatly reduces the possibility of errors in the sales process thereby enhancing compliance. The time taken to process an application has also been significantly reduced which will greatly enhance the productivity of our direct sales team and improve the customer experience at the same time.”