Officials have noticed a growing demand for one type of interaction
In a bid to ramp up the quality of its customer experience offering, PNC Bank has forged a strategic partnership with Blend, a leader in cloud banking software, to digitally optimize the company’s mortgage application process.
Mortgage Professional America reached out to Peter McCarthy (pictured), PNC executive vice president and head of mortgage, to ascertain the significance of the partnership. He said that, over the years, bank officials have witnessed growing customer demand for simplified, digital-centric interactions.
“Strategically, this partnership helps position us for further innovation in the digital mortgage space as we help our customers navigate one of the biggest and most important purchases in their lifetimes,” he said.
Through PNC’s enhanced mortgage application platform, McCarthy noted, customers are now able to digitally apply for a mortgage and import bank or payroll information directly into their application simply by providing their necessary credentials — decreasing the amount of time it takes to locate necessary documents. Once an application is submitted, customers have a single portal for tracking its status, completing outstanding tasks, and reviewing and electronically signing loan documentation. PNC mortgage loan officers also can collaborate real-time with customers through their online portal, he added.
Read more: Company taps into $28 trillion market with new equity product
McCarthy noted that PNC’s mortgage process immediately gained a number of enhancements thanks to the partnership with Blend. Among those are:
- Overall expanded capabilities to account for PNC’s complete mortgage product set. Through our partnership with Blend, conventional, government, and portfolio products are now all supported digitally.
- Customers are now able to receive a preliminary pre-approval in 15 minutes or less.
- Improved user experience by providing our customers with a one-stop-shop portal for all fulfillment needs. Customers now have a single portal for tracking their application status, completing outstanding tasks, and reviewing and electronically signing loan documentation.
- PNC mortgage loan officers can now collaborate real-time with customers through their online portal.
- Improved cycle times and reduced work for customers by providing PNC employees with the capabilities to digitally verify assets and income without customers needing to provide additional documentation.
Erik Wrobel, head of product at Blend, said the partnership satisfies his firm’s goal of helping companies achieve digital enhancements amid a growing demand for such offerings: “As an organization, our goal is to continue to partner with companies across the country to build the digital-first future of financial services,” Wrobel said in a prepared statement.
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MPA featured California-based Blend last month as it launched a new home equity product that integrates myriad processes at a fraction of the time of its competitors, according to company officials.
“This product is a totally next-generation home equity for the industry,” Gaurav Nagla, head of product - consumer banking and lead on Instant Home Equity at Blend, told MPA at the time. “Everybody has been doing it the old way, capturing all the data in docs from customers starting with application, finding out what they need more and going back and forth.”
Instant Home Equity is an automated, end-to-end solution for lenders, he explained. The product integrates various processes–income and identity verification, title, decisioning, property appraisal, and notarization–into a seamless and personalized experience for borrowers. It also allows for instant approval and the ability to close in just a few days, when it typically takes multiple weeks with a legacy home equity process.
The comprehensive solution integrates income identify verification, title, decisioning, property appraisal, and notarization to achieve what company officials term “unprecedented time and cost savings.” Rather than wait up to a month for approval, the company’s new equity product can determine eligibility in a matter of days.
