The Association of Expert Mortgage Advisors, whose members account for almost 50% of all mortgage broker business in Ireland, has announced that its broker membership is going digital and moving to a common electronic mortgage trading platform.
The move is part of AEMA’s plan to target some of the €12m in cost savings and productivity gains over the next four years that both the industry could achieve if all adopted an industry standard electronic mortgage trading platform.
AEMA plans to implement the standards-based Mortgage Trading Exchange (MTE) package from mortgage software specialist Mortgage Brain, already used by over 180 broker firms in Ireland.
The platform allows both brokers and participating lenders to send, track and administer mortgage applications and related documents electronically. The system provides a single point of integration to all lender platforms. The savings stem from the fact that lenders need only integrate MTE once to their back office, rather than having to build and maintain multiple bridges to the systems of different broking firms.
AEMA chair Trevor Grant said: “We have identified the urgent need to migrate to a digital process and drive more efficiencies and improved levels of customer service in our business. We have now acted by selecting Mortgage Brain as our e-trading partner to enable all of our members to use the mortgage trading exchange (mte) module to deliver applications and supporting documents electronically to all lenders in Ireland in conjunction with their own individual CRM systems.”
In Association with
Michael Quinn of Mortgage Brain said: “The estimated €12m in savings that the Irish mortgage industry can make by adopting an industry standard is very significant. The productivity gains will be shared by brokers and lenders alike. We are delighted to partner with AEMA in calling on the industry to leverage the benefits of a common mortgage administrative platform in order to achieve these substantial gains."
Formed in 1986, Mortgage Brain is jointly owned by Barclays Woolwich, Lloyds Banking Group, Nationwide, Royal Bank of Scotland, Santander and Virgin Money. Mortgage Brain Ireland was established in 2002 and holds the exclusive distribution licence for Mortgage Brain software in the Republic of Ireland. Currently Mortgage Brain Ireland has more than 180 broker companies with over 300 individual mortgage advisors using their software.
Brokers can trade electronically using Mortgage Brain’s trading software called the Mortgage Trading Exchange (mte). This allows them to send and track applications and documents electronically with participating lenders.
Photo: Mike Quinn (left) and Trevor Grant
