We’ve just witnessed the dot-com flame-outs of Mortgage.com and iOwn along with the free-fall in the share prices of most other pure online lenders. Is it time to write off the online loan marketplace as a passing fad? Hardly. Despite the rhetoric in the trade press, online lending has a bright future. We predict that within 10 years more loans will be originated online than off, including mortgages. Why the bullish forecast? We are absolutely convinced that deep-down most consumers hate the current loan process. It’s time consuming, confusing, and uncomfortable. Even worse, because consumers can’t readily shop their loan application, at the end of the process they are left wondering if they were ripped off (see, pp. 4-5).
That’s why we recommend in this report that banks embrace “”open lending,”” helping customers research rates and even apply for loans at other lenders. The open model, facilitated by LendingTree and others, can be extended by running it within the confines of the bank’s own Web site, allowing the bank to maintain its primary relationship with the user regardless of who books the credit. Read the latest Bank of Dreams segment, “”Building an Online Loan Center that Really Clicks with Users.
Contents:
• Online Lending Rules
• Mortgage Decision Process
• Embracing Open Lending
• Bank of Dreams (Part 5)
• Building an Online Loan Center
• Loan Research Center
• Virtual Credit Manager
• Loan Application Center
• One-Click Loans
• Innovations: WorthKnowing.com
• Net-Only Bank Watch
• Juniper Launches
• Traffic Watch
• Scorecard: Alternative payments
• Webster Bank Goes Portal