At the end of September K-net launched automated valuation models (AVMs) and electronic identification verification (e-IDs) as part of an ongoing drive to cut the time between application, offer and completion. With AVMs there are no delays caused by appointing and waiting for a physical valuation, while e-IDs reduce the documentation supplied by a borrower, making the process quicker and easier. AVMs and e-IDs can now be used on mortgage applications for loans up to £150,000 on properties valued up to £500,000, with a maximum loan to value of 75%. They have already helped us to issue an unconditional mortgage offer in less than 12 working hours and are a fine of example of how Kensington is harnessing technology to improve its service offering to borrowers.
AVMs and e-IDs were not the only development to K-net this autumn – Kensington also pioneered a new way for lenders to deal with packagers, with the launch of K-link.
K-link is the first large scale connectivity programme of its kind, allowing packagers to link into Kensington’s K-net system so that they can provide their brokers with instant decisions and KFIs direct from the lender.
The first packager partners to be part of K-link were Solent Mortgage Services and Primrose. Kensington is also currently in talks with a number of other packaging partners, including the Professional Mortgage Packagers Alliance (PMPA), whose involvement in K-link will be announced over the coming months.
Further developments to K-net will be announced in the future and these will continue to demonstrate how Kensington is pioneering new ways to enhance the service it provides to both packagers and brokers.
As part of its commitment to service, Kensington knows that it cannot neglect the important role that people continue to play in the underwriting process. With 11 years’ experience of the specialist sector, Kensington has seen how technology has shaped the sector and knows just how important it will be in the future. But Kensington is also aware of the different circumstances that underpin the specialist mortgage market and that a machine could never truly understand the subtleties of these circumstances, which is why Kensington has also invested heavily in its service centre, based at Reading to complement its development of K-net. The overall result is a complete service solution that has been tailored to the needs of brokers and packagers, however they choose to deal with Kensington Mortgages.
