How fintech company Iress is helping brokers to keep pace with changes
The following article has been written in association with Iress.
“There’s been turmoil in the market - and a lot of change,” reflected Jacqueline Durbin (pictured), global head of product for life, pensions and mortgages at Iress, a fintech company that develops software that underpins a large part of the mortgage market.
Key among Iress’ product range are Xplan Mortgage - a one-stop advice, sourcing and CRM system for mortgage brokers and advisers – and Lender Connect, which helps speed up the mortgage process by using API technology to connect a broker’s business directly with lenders. It has a 10,000-strong clientele, ranging from international financial services brands to advice firms of all sizes, from challenger banks to insurers, to investment managers, traders and brokers. Individual users of its software total half a million.
“Whether it’s rate changes and products being withdrawn or new products coming to the market, with that churn of products it’s been really difficult for brokers to keep pace. Our technology is absolutely key to mortgage professionals coping with the current challenges, so we have to make sure that it is available and up to date, to support them 24/7, because mortgage brokers obviously don’t work nine-to-five.”
Durbin continued: “It’s really important for us that we’re engaged with them as we develop our software, so our relationship with brokers is essential.
“As lenders innovate, we’re making sure that their products are available to the broker community and developing our software in line with market needs. It’s about making sure that our software is easy to use and adopt, and intermediary feedback is essential for us in developing technology that’s going to make a difference. We see ourselves as a conduit between the broker communities and mortgage lenders.”
Durbin has been with Iress for eight years and is quite clearly passionate about both the company and the work she does.
“I work for the sourcing side of the business, so this is about software that is focused on supporting financial
“What differentiates us is the breadth of our technology, enabling us to connect different products across different markets, to really improve the experience of those using it. Innovation is absolutely at the heart of what we do. It’s a balance, because while we have to innovate, we’ve got a responsibility to maintain and not disrupt what we already provide. It’s about being reliable, accurate and consistent, always.”
Vital to the evolution of Iress’ offering is the insightful feedback it receives from mortgage advisers.
“We need to make sure that we are talking to our clients about what else we need to do to support them,” Durbin emphasised. “In terms of the UK market we work with everyone from one-person operations to nationals and large networks, and that’s an important part of our product development strategy. We have to make sure that our products work for every type of company.”
Iress has done much to improve mortgage connectivity, aiming to make it easier for brokers to process applications, and to get instant decisions in principle from lenders.
“Mortgage connectivity will continue to be a big trend and one that we will see more lenders embrace and, hopefully, more brokers as well,” predicted Durbin. “It’s about streamlining their journey and removing duplication, so that they can provide a better customer experience to their clients, that they’re quicker in doing so and, consequently, they can service more clients as well. Efficiency is at the heart of that.”
“We’ve got a very loyal client base,” considered Durbin. “We need to continue to evolve to maintain that. It is an exciting time, and what makes it exciting is the greater openness of the market to collaborate, to connect different, complementary technologies together. We can easily use API technology to plug software together, so we are working with Lenders and tech partners to innovate and that’s what makes me feel optimistic about technology in the mortgage market, that openness and that collaboration. At Iress, we have a good team of collaborative people, really focused around a common goal of developing technology that is going to make a difference.”
Durbin hoped the mortgage market could be entering a calmer time.
“We’re coming out of a period of rising interest rates, hopefully into a period of stability, with innovations to help enable a buoyant market,” she suggested, urging advisers to come onboard.
“My message to brokers is that the technology is there to help them. Investing maybe even half an hour of their time to learn about our technology will help them reap the rewards, for every mortgage application that they do. So I would say to them, try to embrace the technology and the support that’s available to you. It will yield better outcomes for consumers.”
