Vernon Building Society has partnered with FintechOS to support investment in a unified mortgage platform covering the full lending lifecycle.
The platform will span the origination workflow from initial enquiry and decision in principle through to application, underwriting, offer, completions, product switches and further advances.
It will run above Vernon’s existing core infrastructure, avoiding the need for a full system replacement.
The mutual said the investment is intended to modernise its mortgage lending capabilities and improve the experience for members, brokers and colleagues.
FintechOS said financial institutions are increasing IT spend, with budgets rising 7% in 2026, but that Accenture estimates banks spend an average of 75% of technology budgets maintaining existing systems.
According to the Building Societies Association, building societies provided 32% of all UK net mortgage lending in the first half of 2025. The sector’s total mortgage balances rose to £493 billion, while total assets reached about £677 billion.
UNIFIED ORIGINATION
The FintechOS platform will bring Vernon’s end-to-end mortgage origination processes into a single system powered by FintechOS 8.
It includes decision workflows, built-in compliance rules and no-code configuration, allowing Vernon’s teams to design and launch new mortgage propositions without relying on complex technical change.
The platform is also intended to unify product and pricing governance with origination, allowing the society to configure business rules, eligibility criteria and offer logic within a governed layer above the core.
FintechOS said the approach would support versioning and auditability, while reducing rework across systems and helping the society respond more quickly to changes in market conditions, risk appetite or policy requirements.
The system also includes FintechOS Dex, an AI copilot within FintechOS 8, which provides in-context guidance across the product lifecycle.
The platform supports AI-enabled document ingestion and data extraction, aimed at reducing friction in document-heavy parts of the mortgage process while maintaining human oversight, traceability and audit readiness.
BROKER PORTAL
For brokers, the platform will provide a dedicated portal to register, submit applications, track cases in real time and receive more transparent lending decisions.
Vernon said the change would replace processes that previously required manual coordination across multiple systems.
For borrowers, the society said the platform should shorten the path from application to offer, while enabling the lender to bring products to market more quickly.
Teo Blidarus, chief executive and founder of FintechOS, said: “The real cost of legacy technology isn’t only what it takes to maintain, it’s the opportunity cost: products you can’t launch, policy changes you can’t implement quickly, and experiences you can’t deliver.
“Forward-thinking building societies like the Vernon are choosing a pragmatic modernisation path: modernise above the core, unify product and pricing logic with origination execution, and move faster without the risk and disruption of full system replacement.
“Their leadership recognises that the institutions willing to move first will shape the next era of UK lending, and we’re proud to be the platform powering that ambition.”
Vernon Building Society grew its mortgage book 4.6% to £439.5 million and total assets 5.4% to £534 million in 2025.
Darren Ditchburn (pictured), chief executive of Vernon Building Society, said: “This is an important step forward for the Vernon. Our partnership with FintechOS gives us a modern, flexible mortgage platform that will significantly improve the experience for our members, brokers and colleagues.
“It allows us to combine the stability of our core banking systems with the innovation needed to support future growth.
“Most importantly, it helps ensure we continue to provide great service, quicker human decision making and a more transparent mortgage journey, while remaining true to our mutual purpose.”
