John Tilzey, Sales Director at finova shares his thoughts on homeownership in the digital age and discusses insights on borrower and broker perspectives in mortgage technology.
As the mortgage industry continues to embrace digital transformation, understanding how lenders meet borrower expectations is more important than ever. While our recent report, Homeownership in the Digital Age, focuses primarily on the general mortgage landscape, the insights derived from our survey of over 500 borrowers and 500 brokers can provide valuable context for the equity release sector, even though the dynamics may differ.
Here’s what we found:
Over half of homeowners haven’t remortgaged online
Despite the rise in digital tools, our research revealed that 53% of UK homeowners have yet to attempt remortgaging online. While younger borrowers (aged 18-24) are more comfortable with these solutions, with 50% successfully using apps to remortgage, adoption drops significantly among older age groups. Only 25% of those aged 35-44 and 20% of those over 55 have embraced digital remortgaging tools. This signals a huge opportunity for lenders.
Many borrowers find lender tech lacking
Nearly 1 in 5 homeowners (19%) stated that they don’t find any of the technological features offered by their lender beneficial. This is a concerning statistic; especially given the significant investment many lenders have made in digital transformation. Lenders need to take a closer look at the usability and functionality of their tools to ensure they are providing real value to borrowers.
Traditional communication still matters
Our findings also indicate that borrowers, particularly older ones, continue to value traditional methods of communication when managing their mortgage. Almost half (48%) of respondents prefer phone calls for addressing mortgage-related queries, and 42% believe speaking on the phone is the most effective way to communicate with their lender. This highlights the importance of maintaining human touchpoints even as lenders expand their digital capabilities.
Brokers highlight time-consuming tasks
On the broker side, efficiency remains a major concern. Brokers reported that their most time-consuming tasks when working with lenders include communicating about rate changes, scanning and digitising paper documents, and ensuring documents meet quality standards. Nearly 50% of brokers identified these as key pain points, suggesting that there’s room for improvement in automating processes and streamlining broker-lender interactions.
The path forward: digital transformation done right
These findings make it clear that while there is a growing appetite for digital solutions among certain borrower segments, lenders must take a more nuanced approach to their digital transformation strategies. Enhancing user experience, improving communication channels and supporting brokers with better tools are all essential steps in driving greater adoption of mortgage technology across all lending types.
Download the full report:
To explore the data further and gain insights into how lenders can enhance their digital solutions to meet evolving borrower demands, download the full Homeownership in the Digital Age report on our website here.
- The views of contributors are not necessarily shared by the Council
