Openwork’s mortgage business has been working with Mortgage Brain since its launch in June last year, but has now signed the exclusive agreement as part of a major systems overhaul. This will see Openwork introducing an end-to-end mortgage platform, encompassing capturing initial client details, fact finding, needs analysis, product selection, electronic submission to product providers, payments and MI.
The company believes the use of a single supplier will allow it to provide a more tailored and efficient process for its advisers. Mortgage Brain was chosen following a formal tendering process that considered:
- quality of IT infrastructure
- ease of integration into Openwork’s wider mortgage platform
- strength and lender coverage in terms of electronic trading
- quality of data and data checking processes
- ease of product filtering
- financial terms available
- company financial strength
Paul Shearman, mortgage proposition director for Openwork, said: “We have been hugely impressed by Mortgage Brain’s thoroughness and enthusiasm to work with us and by the improvements that have been made to the system in recent months, particularly around filtering and electronic submission. The backing of Mortgage Brain’s consortium lenders has also been an important consideration in our decision.
“Our new mortgage delivery platform is a critical part of our on-going drive to ensure Openwork’s systems infrastructure is market leading and we are sure that the integration of Mortgage Brain will help us to deliver an easy to use and safe environment in which our advisers can thrive.”
Steve Baker, development director, said "Openwork already has a compelling multi-tie proposition as can be seen by our growth in manpower and turnover since launch in June. These enhancements, initially to our mortgage sales process, coupled with Mortgage Brain's expertise and experience, will put us right at the forefront of intermediary mortgage market not just for choice and fees but now for ease of doing business and regulatory safety."
