The board of Origo, which consists of life and pensions companies, has given the go-ahead to develop an implementation plan in consultation with the mortgage industry.
Frank Eve Consulting Limited has been engaged to drive the project forward. It will be meeting with industry representatives over coming months to secure sponsors within the sector to invest in the standards.
The standards will drive electronic commerce and create the standards needed to help systems across the industry integrate. This plan will then be developed and rolled out over the next two to three years.
Frank Eve, managing director of Frank Eve Consulting Ltd, said: “With volumes reducing and margins squeezed, the mortgage industry has to find ways of reducing costs and integrating technology solutions to provide intermediaries and consumers with a better, more compliant service.
“This is an exciting project that can change the face of e-commerce in the mortgage industry and speed up the process of systems integration.”
Paul Pettitt, managing director of Origo Services, commented: “Origo does not supply software, it is not a portal and doesn’t have any vested interest in commercial activity.
“We are here to provide a viable economic model for e-commerce activity in the industry that delivers a competitive marketplace at lower cost.”
Pettitt added that Origo has a number of services that if extended to mortgages could be of immediate benefit. “One example is UNIPASS(r), the digital certificate that allows advisers to access systems without the need for passwords and log-ons.”
Paul Duckworth, chief executive of xit2, said: “Anything that heightens the attention of e-trading is a good thing, although I suspect the mortgage industry is way down the road to making this happen anyway.”
