As the secured loans market continues to boom across the UK, brokers eager to set themselves apart from the competition are looking to embrace innovative ways of using technology to optimise efficiency and provide a better overall service for their clients.
Preventing incidents of electronic theft and fraud, which cost the UK economy around £1.3 billion in 2002 alone, has become a growing concern facing these
businesses.
Accessing and transferring confidential information online is rapidly revolutionising the way loans are secured and transferred against an existing mortgage.
Yet this development in
the industry has not happened without a sizeable investment, both in terms of time and money, sourcing and developing appropriate systems robust enough to cope with growing demands, while also remaining highly secure.
Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) already under pressure to offer competitive interest rates to maintain vital market share, have also had to seek out the most cost-effective systems available, often on an extremely tight budget.
This in part necessitated the need for SMEs like Prestige Acceptance to deploy a range of services and technologically advanced systems, in addition to the standard security systems currently in place within the company. These systems were customised and then linked, effectively providing the total solution required by brokers and introducers alike.
Key decision makers operating in various areas of the financial services industry are aware of
the vital need to maintain and develop rigorous systems to ensure that processes remain completely secure.
To date,
we’ve invested around £25,000 trialling and installing new technology systems, with the aim of enabling us as a company to offer our brokers, introducers and ultimately the consumer, greater security and a more efficient overall service.
Improving systems
Prestige Acceptance, which currently has around 20,000 client records stored on a secured server internally, is continuously searching for ways of improving its data back-up, storage and operating systems, always with client data security in mind.
Over the past year alone, the company has sought to improve its IT systems by introducing three new software packages, and the company is currently piloting a new IT interface system due for implementation before the end of the year.
USB analysis application
One of the first systems implemented by Prestige Acceptance, to ensure greater security of information within the company server, has helped protect against incidents of data theft – a key issue for any financial services company.
The USB analysis application – a specialised technical administrative system – records the movements and processes of each logged computer user and functions via an external service.
In the event of unauthorised downloading or uploading of data, the USB analysis application reports back to the company’s chief technical officer, who then determines whether company information or client data was tampered with or removed.
In order to further enhance the effectiveness of the USB analysis application, each computer will be installed with a USB protector tool, which will protect against localised leaking of information to external sources.
To further support these systems, Prestige Acceptance also operates its own IT policy and each member of staff is contractually bound to this agreement. Both the USB analysis application and Protector allow us to physically prevent private and confidential material from being removed from the premises by staff or external sources.
However, our stringent IT policy, which includes procedures such as monitoring emails and exercising limits on email in cases of resignation, gives us as a company and in turn, the broker and customer, even greater security.
Intelligent Mortgage Application Processing
Prestige Acceptance recently introduced a new system into the company’s IT framework, which essentially offers intermediaries and introducers greater access to client data and records.
Intelligent Mortgage Application Processing (i-MAP) is an innovative secured loan and mortgage processing system provided by Invent Software, which has been designed to assist with the processing of mortgage and secured loan applications.
By accessing the third party system, mortgage intermediaries have access to the website which enables them to track live deals and report on progress, ultimately offering them swifter access to relevant information.
I believe implementing this system will allow the company to differentiate itself from its competitors. We’re currently trialling the system internally and feel confident that it will offer our partnering brokers much greater flexibility and access. Ultimately, it will also improve overall efficiency within the company, as we envisage that costs and time will be reduced significantly.
The intention is to offer the service to brokers at the end of this month and those interested in gaining access to the system will be issued with a company username and password.
The website operates from a secure socket layer which has a 128 byte encryption to ensure that communication is completely secure and each individual file contained within the i-MAP system has its own protected password, for which only authorised personnel have access.
Sharepoint website
In order to further protect client data, Prestige Acceptance is currently registered with Richmond Compliance, a Bristol-based compliance and regulatory consulting service.
Richmond Compliance has access to all of the company’s compliance documents, all of which are stored off-site on an external security server. In the event of loss of information, for example, in cases of theft or computer hacking, Prestige Acceptance would be able to retrieve company data via the Sharepoint website, for which only both companies involved have access.
After evaluating systems and practices, we identified that using the external Sharepoint was the most cost-effective way of ensuring data protection. If a breach of security occurs, the service will allow us to restore data and operate as normal within 24 hours.
Voice over Internet Protocol
Prestige Acceptance is also currently investigating the introduction of a new IT interface system. The Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) will essentially allow Prestige Acceptance to make calls to brokers, and customers from anywhere in the world.
Designed to operate from a data network, the VoIP system will allow both parties to communicate via the internet and will operate as a free call service for brokers via Soft Phone software. In order to have access to this facility, brokers must have internet access, a PC speaker and a microphone/headset.
The system will offer greater flexibility, effectively functioning on a 24/7 basis, and will further reduce the company’s outgoings, as call expenses will be reduced.
The company aims to install the new software towards the latter part of the year. Initially, we intend to lease out the software so that we can test the product and assess whether it will help us enhance our overall service offering to brokers.
VoIP is just one of a number of systems we intend to test and implement, if successful, before the end of this year. Our primary goal is to respond to the needs of brokers by offering a high quality, efficient and secure service.
By implementing appropriate systems and installing technology-based support systems, such as VoIP and the i-MAP system, Prestige Acceptance is confident that not only will it help deter online fraud, but that confidential information received via mortgage brokers, lenders and consumers is securely protected and readily available on demand.
