Ian McKenna, director at the Financial Technology Research Centre, believed Vertex was in a position to supply a system similar to its life and pensions proposition, which can supply an end-to-end system which would link the lender with the broker’s desk.
He said: “Where sourcing is right now, there needs to be a quantum leap forward. We need a system which talks instantly to the lender and sees multiple decisions taken for the broker. There is a gap in the market and gaps only exist for so long.”
When announcing the sale, Tom Drury, managing director of Vertex, said the deal ‘represents the natural evolution in the development of our business and will ensure that Vertex has the backing it needs to continue to develop successfully’.
For McKenna, the emphasis now switches to Trigold and Mortgage Brain to see if they can make advances in the market as Vertex could overtake them.
“The news on Vertex makes a link-up between Trigold and Mortgage Brain more interesting as if the sourcing systems don’t go in to fill the gap, someone will. There would be benefits if you could access the whole of market on two platforms but there is the constant challenge between competition and consolidation.”
Bill Safran, CEO of Trigold, admitted it was always willing to work with other companies but he was unsure what Vertex’s next move would be:
“Vertex is in a strong position in the mortgage arena and I would expect them to try and capitalise on this position. However, it will be interesting to see if the new company retains the likes of The Exchange and 1st Software. They like every player has decisions to make and we’ve always been open to working with other parties as that has put us in our current position.”
