Progressive Building Society improves mortgage application process with TietoEnator Mortgage Sales Portal

To enhance the service offered to its mortgage introducers and provide them with another channel for doing business with the Society, Progressive Building Society today announced that it has purchased the TietoEnator Mortgage Sales Portal. The TietoEnator system will enable Progressive’s introducers to manage a number of key processes online – the production of KFIs, the submission and tracking of mortgage applications.



“We looked at a number of systems and found them to be broadly similar, but we selected the TietoEnator system because it offers us a true straight through process and integrates seamlessly with our existing TietoEnator infrastructure” said Tommy O’Neill, Head of IT, Progressive Building Society.



The majority of Progressive mortgages are introduced rather than directly sold to the customer and it is therefore imperative that the Society offers the best possible service to its introducers. “Many of our introducers are expecting to do more and more of their business online and we simply have to move forward to enable them to offer their own customers a superior service” explained Tommy O’Neill. “The TietoEnator Mortgage Sales Portal will allow us to significantly reduce the time taken to process a mortgage and enable introducers to access and track each application online.”



Using TietoEnator’s Mortgage Sales Portal, the introducer will access the Progressive website and complete the details required to produce an online KFI in real time. The introducer can then progress immediately to the application stage, again completing all the documentation online. Once submitted, the application information will pass through into the existing TietoEnator mortgage administration system without having to be re-keyed either at the branch or in Head Office.



“We will all benefit from the introduction of Mortgage Sales Portal” said Tommy O’Neill. “Introducers and customers will receive a faster, more efficient and accurate service and the Society will spend significantly less time on mortgage administration, allowing us the opportunity to grow our direct sales channel.”



Commenting on the contract with The Progressive Building Society, Richard Gammon, Managing Director, TietoEnator Financial Solutions UK said, “I’m delighted that Progressive has selected a TietoEnator front end to complement its existing TietoEnator infrastructure. Building Societies cannot afford to take a back seat when it comes to offering online services to introducers - very soon we’ll have a situation where the introducer will stop referring business to those societies that have not moved with the times.”

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Portman to make 500 redundancies

Portman says it expects to make nearly 500 staff redundant as a result of the merger with Nationwide.



The society will close its administration offices based in Wolverhampton, and says it is likely that the 250 staff who work there will lose their jobs.



The society also anticipates that there will be more redundancies in its Bournemouth offices.

Despite there being 1,100 people working there at present it expects this will fall to 850.

Portman has revealed that it is in the process of distributing approximately 1.2 million merger booklet packs in advance of the Portman annual general meeting, which is to be held on April 23 2007.



Following the announcement, on September 12 2006, of the proposal to merge Nationwide and Portman, the boards of the two societies are now able to communicate further details.

The Portman merger booklet pack will cover, AGM resolutions and voting, proposed merger process and rationale, bonus details for qualifying Portman members and information for Portman savers and borrowers.



Robert Sharpe, chief executive of Portman, says: "Merging two of the largest and most successful building societies will create a mutual of impressive strength and size in the UK retail mortgage and savings market.



“I believe this is a great deal for Portman members. They will enjoy an ongoing interest in the enlarged society and will benefit from a greatly increased branch network spanning the country.



“They will also have access to a wider range of attractively priced products, together with more comprehensive telephone and internet banking services.



“Qualifying members will receive a pre-tax merger bonus of between £200 and £1,000, if they are a saver, and £200 if they are a borrower."



Graham Beale, chief executive designate of Nationwide, says: "We believe that Nationwide has a great deal to offer the members of Portman.



“The enlarged society, with its strong commitment to mutuality, will be in an even stronger position to deliver real value to its members through better product pricing and excellent service.



“As the UK's largest mutual we continue to provide a compelling alternative to the big retail banks."

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Temenos adds 41 new clients in 2006, secures prime position in IBS Sales League Table

Temenos Group (SWX: TEMN), the provider of integrated core banking systems, today announced that IBS Publishing has ranked Temenos T24™ (T24) in second place in its Sales League Table 2006 in the universal banking category. Take up for T24 saw a 25% increase in 2006 with 40 new clients, giving it a customer-base of 440 banks in this category, the largest of any core banking product. The report also records one sale of Temenos™ CoreBanking (TCB) with a retail client base of 79.



Temenos has appeared in the top two positions of the league table for eight of the last nine years. Andreas Andreades, CEO, Temenos, says: “Our consistency in serving our industry over the past 10 years has been recognised with our placing in the IBS league report. I personally want to thank all our clients that have placed their trust in us for their commitment and support. The strong revenues yielded from our growing raft of tier 1 and 2 wins ensure that we’re able to invest 20% of turnover in R a higher rate than any of our competitors. That we can then roll out this rich functionality to our entire client base gives us our unique business model.”



During the past two years, Temenos has announced eight tier 1 wins with banks such as Deutsche Bank, Fortis and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation.



Having the largest client base across all banking verticals has put Temenos in the best position to launch Temenos Model Bank in 2006. Temenos Model Bank delivers T24 with mostly pre-configured, pre-parametered features and incorporates a global best practice standard that achieves 50% lower implementation time frames. Temenos Model Bank and the associated implementation methodology minimises customisation, reduces costs and also brings tighter controls over project scope and deliverables. The overall result is a quick and safe implementation.



T24 is a functionally rich, thin client, scalable, integrated, modular banking system. It is built on open service oriented architecture, and uses established technology standards such as HTTP, XML and HTML. It offers a single client view across the enterprise and can support large numbers of users with true non-stop resilience. Its fully-integrated architecture enables it to offer a significant cost advantage compared to other competing products. It offers multiple application server support and is the only system available with no end-of-day batch processing and so can genuinely boast of providing real-time 24/7 non-stop banking.

TCB is a modern, scalable retail banking platform that is capable of handling mass-scale business volumes of the very largest banks worldwide. It offers all the functionality required by operations on this scale, but at a greatly reduced cost of transactions and operations compared with other, less efficient solutions. Above all, TCB is a multi-bank system in a single software image that enables banks to develop new products across many channels quickly and cost-effectively.

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Britannia and EBS to launch Irish mortgage JV

Britannia is in advanced talks with Irish mutual EBS to set up a new full service joint venture focussing on the Irish mortgage intermediary market.



The plans entail combining the award-winning expertise of Platform, the intermediary lender of Britannia, with EBS's strong reputation and sales network in Ireland.



Both societies see brokers taking a bigger share of the residential mortgage market in Ireland, as they have in the UK, and see significant opportunities for growth in the broker market.



Britannia Group chief executive Neville Richardson says the proposed JV was an exciting prospect for Britannia, as it would be the first time the Group had operated in residential mortgage markets outside the UK.



He says: "This has the potential to be a very successful and profitable venture for both parties, adding significant value for Britannia's members in the UK and EBS's members in Ireland. EBS shares similar values to Britannia and is very strong in the Irish market. The venture will allow us to exploit Platform's renowned expertise in serving the intermediary sector in a completely new market.”



EBS chief executive Ted McGovern says Britannia's success in the UK intermediary market made it the perfect partner for EBS.



He adds: “In Britannia we see both complementary capabilities and, being a committed mutual like ourselves, a very compatible business philosophy, ethos and values.

“EBS has just completed a successful first full year in the broker market. We believe that, going forward, this channel will account for an even bigger proportion of the overall residential mortgage market in Ireland.



"In order to fully avail of these opportunities I am delighted to confirm that EBS and Britannia Building Society are in advanced discussions to create a joint venture which will serve this market.”



The joint venture will leverage EBS' local market knowledge, established distribution presence and reputation as well as Britannia's experience of intermediary channels.

Discussions have opened with the Irish Financial Regulator and, subject to regulatory approval, the JV is expected to be in operation in the second half of the year.

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Moneyfacts opening up loan system

Moneyfacts is set to take on Mortgage Brain and Trigold with a full application and sourcing system for mortgage brokers.



The firm already runs a limited sourcing engine for intermediaries called eMoneyfacts used by 8,000 brokers but is planning a complete revamp of its system.



Brokers have welcomed the move as it will provide much needed competition if Mortgage Brain and Trigold merge.



The present eMoneyfacts system is not linked to lenders' back offices and so a full application is not yet possible.



The first phase of its five-stage revamp, which will be completed in the second quarter, will speed up navigation of the website but enhancements will be not be complete until early next year.



It will also display savings, loans, credit card and current accounts products.

Head of eMoneyfacts Paul Yallop says: "The new system will be linked to lenders' back offices to do the processing."

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Nationwide announces new intermediary team

Nationwide Building Society has revealed that subject to its proposed merger with Portman Building Society going ahead, it is to create a new team of senior management dedicated to intermediary markets and specialist lending.



Heading up the team will be Matthew Wyles, who will become a group executive director, with Peter Leydon taking on the role of divisional director intermediary markets and Andy McQueen becoming divisional director specialist lending.



This is the first time Nationwide will have appointed a main board director to concentrate exclusively on intermediated mortgage business across the entire Group's spectrum of activity including commercial lending. Wyles' and McQueen's appointments will take effect from the date of the proposed merger (expected to be 28 August 2007) and Leydon's appointment will take effect from 1 April 2007.

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Britannia buoyant after lending leap in 2006

Britannia Building Society has seen mortgage lending beat average market growth levels, while profits were also up.



The lender saw gross mortgage lending up 22 per cent to £8.4bn in 2006, with profits up from £120.5m in 2005 to £130.4m.



The society says its intermediary lender Platform improved its product range and saw enhancements over the year such as the launch clickapplication, a new online application process, alongside the clickdecision online decision in principle service.



Britannia chief executive Neville Richardson said: "Britannia's record results reflect a growing business that is delivering for its members. Sales of mortgages, personal loans, investment and insurance were increased in an immensely competitive market. This is thanks to our people who are fully engaged, skilled and dedicated in a way few companies can match."

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Muslim mortgage approvals hit £100m

Islamic bank alburaq has reported that it has approved over £100m worth of mortgage business over the last six months.



The bank expects to see the total market grow to over £1bn by 2009.

Alburaq launched home and buy-to-let finance for the UK’s two million

Muslims towards the end of 2004, which offered the Muslim community an

ability to own and invest in property.



Keith Leach, head of alburaq at ABC International Bank plc, says: “We are now seeing the UK market developing very quickly.



“It is also noticeable that the nature of our enquiries is changing and less explanation is now required about how these products work and the focus is now more about how much is the cost.



“At the moment the volume of Islamic mortgage business is only a small percentage of the total mortgage figure in the UK, but based on our current trends we are predicting significant growth over the next two years."



Shariah law prohibits the practice of earning money from money, so the

payment of interest known as Riba is not allowed.



Shariah compliant finance products operate without earning - or charging - interest, enabling Muslims to bank without compromising their principles.



Alburaq recently partnered with Bristol West to launch the home and buy-to-let finance so it could combine its expertise in Islamic banking with

Bristol West’s experience in the UK mortgage market.



A spokeswoman for Bristol West says: "We have opened up some very interesting opportunities for the Muslim community in the UK.



“We are delighted with our partnership with alburaq and we see this going from strength to strength in the future.



“While the product’s structure differs from conventional interest based

mortgages to ensure compliance with Shariah law, the criteria are the same

as Bristol West‘s conventional mortgage range.



“All products benefit from the significantly enhanced criteria improvements Bristol West have made."

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TEMENOS named a leader among core banking vendors by leading research firm

TEMENOS Group (SWX: TEMN), the provider of integrated core banking systems, today announced that Forrester Research has placed TEMENOS in the Leaders category in its report, The Forrester Wave™ Core Banking Suites, Q1 2007. The report also found that TEMENOS T24™, the company’s modular core banking application, received the highest score in terms of core banking functionality and installed base, with some 500 clients and 600 live sites.



The report states that TEMENOS “…offers the strongest overall core banking functionality, without particular functional weak spots. TEMENOS also scored best on international versatility: If a bank needs a strong core banking solution that can comprehensively support multiple languages and character sets in terms of presentation and storage or that needs a strong Islamic banking offering, TEMENOS is one of the core banking vendors to short-list…”



TEMENOS scored 4.78 out of 5 in the core banking category, which reviewed areas such as bank and product management, bank support, sales, and product alignment. Forrester Research also highlights that TEMENOS T24 is one of the core banking systems to choose when multi-channel support is a very strong requirement.

Forrester Research selected vendors based on qualification criteria that included a forward-looking architectural approach, sound success in 2005, global delivery capability, and banking platform and core banking commitment. It then evaluated each against 88 criteria, grouped into current offering, strategy and market presence.



TEMENOS T24 is a functionally rich, thin client, scalable, integrated, modular banking system. It is built on open service oriented architecture, and uses established technology standards such as HTTP, XML and HTML. It offers a single client view across the enterprise and can support large numbers of users with true non-stop resilience. Its fully integrated architecture enables it to offer a significant cost advantage compared to other competing products. It offers multiple application server support and is the only system available with no end-of-day batch processing and so can genuinely boast of providing real-time 24/7 non-stop banking.

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TietoEnator recognised as the most innovative electronic invoicing provider

The British magazine Financial-I has recognised TietoEnator, together with Nordea Bank, as the most innovative electronic invoicing provider.

/>By combining TietoEnator's net invoicing and message conversion capability with Nordea's e-invoicing and banking services, the formatting problems and data processing incompatibilities that have hindered widespread uptake of online invoicing have been overcome.

/>With its Leaders in Innovation Award, the magazine acknowledges companies that demonstrate an ongoing commitment to product innovation. Innovation leaders are identified across more than 50 categories and researched by a team of journalists, working together with leading consultants and analysts.

/>Mats Wikström, Director and responsible for international markets at TE Digital Innovations, said that E-invoicing now starts to pay back after several years of investments.

/>"Interest in e-invoicing is increasing rapidly outside the traditionally strong Nordic region and starting to attract a wider range of customers. In order to achieve market penetration by reaching private and corporate customers, cooperation with banks is vital. We expect the growth to continue and accelerate during the coming years as the added value from e-invoicing becomes more apparent and the amount of users increases", Wikström said.

/>The European market has an annual volume of about 28 billion invoices. In 2006, market penetration in Europe was approximately 2%, with an annual growth rate of 60-100%.



Based on volume and market share, TietoEnator is a market-leading provider in the Nordic region and Germany, as well as one of the leading providers in Europe. The company offers one-stop-shopping capability for e-invoicing and e-payment services. The aim is to support the digitization of the financial value chain by providing state of art e-services for the international market.

/>TietoEnator's Digital Innovations has more than 150 e-invoicing services specialists in Sweden, Finland, Germany and the Czech Republic providing services for an international market.

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New commercial loans system for Derbyshire

The Derbyshire, has selected Phoebus Software’s ‘Commercial’ package for origination and servicing of its commercial mortgage portfolio, delivered initially through the society’s “Salt Commercial” brand.



The Phoebus installation will enable brokers to conduct their business with Salt Commercial, including proposal submission and case tracking, using the Web as well as introducing document imaging technology.

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Skipton reports 14.2% mortgage balance growth

Skipton reports 14.2% mortgage balance growth



Skipton has reported its group mortgage balances grew by 14.2% in 2006.



The society also unveils a record year for 2006 as its assets reach over £10bn.

John Goodfellow, chief executive of Skiptons called its 153rd year “a milestone in its history”.



He says: “As well as having an impressive year for growth, many other financial records, including mortgage lending and retail inflows, were broken in 2006.

“However, success has not been solely the preserve of the society - the Skipton Group, with its 17 subsidiary companies, has also achieved some outstanding results.”



Skipton Group announced that at the end of December 2006 its assets were up 15.0% to £10.5bn, its pre-tax profit was up 62.0% to £147.7m, and interest rate margin was 1.02% (down 0.06% from 2005).



The building society’s assets were up 14.6% to £10.1bn, its pre-tax profit up 63.1% to £91.0m, interest rate margin was 0.72% (down 0.02% from 2005), and its management expenses ratio was down from 60p to 57p per £100 assets.



Year-on-year Group mortgage balances grew by 14.2% and retail investment balances grew by 17.5%.



Goodfellow adds: “The business has seen growth in all of its core areas; during 2006, retail balances grew by £914m, ending the year at £6.1bn.



“With regard to borrowers, rising interest rates have been fuelling speculation that repossession figures are set to rise.



“At Skipton, however, prudent lending – with applications assessed individually on their affordability merits – means this is not an issue.



“At December 31 2006, the society had only six properties in possession from a population of 73,000 loans."



He adds: “Core areas such as savings and mortgages remain at the heart of the Group, illustrated by the fact that mortgage origination through the society, Amber Homeloans, Pink Homeloans, Skipton Guernsey and the Connells Group totalled £11.5bn last year.”

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BM Solutions has been voted as best overall lender for 2006

BM Solutions has been voted as best overall lender for 2006 by Square Mile

Mortgage Finance at its annual awards.



Beating off strong competition from Portman/The Mortgage Works and Abbey, BM Solutions reclaimed the award it previously won in 2004.



Andy Wilgoss, managing director of SMMF, says: "We had a phenomenal year with BM Solutions and they were our number one lender for business.



"BM Solutions were consistent throughout the year with the tried and tested mix of rates, service and relationship.



"Their relationship management strategy at all levels is testimony to the quality people they employ."



Adrian Moloney from Portman/TMW scooped business development manager of the year with Tony Bachelder from Halifax and Paul Dignan from Bristol West Mortgages both making the shortlist.



Wilgoss adds: "Whilst Moloney now operates as a regional manager, we are

grateful that he still looks after us as his professionalism to do the job

to the highest level is a credit to him.



"He certainly went the extra mile when needed and the end result was an increase of 100% in business placed with Portman/TMW in 2006."

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Finacle from Infosys positioned in the Leaders Quadrant in the Magic Quadrant for International Retail Core Banking Solutions

Finacle from Infosys, today announced that Gartner, Inc. has positioned Finacle core banking solution in the Leader Quadrant in the recently released ‘Magic Quadrant for International Retail Core Banking (IRCB) 2006’ report.



Magic Quadrants depict markets using a two dimensional matrix that evaluates vendors based on their completeness of vision and ability to execute. The Magic Quadrant has 15 weighted criteria that plot vendors based on their relative strengths in the market. Magic Quadrant for IRCB assesses the impact of transition and volatility in the market, vendor consolidation trend, and a technology evolution that promises to enhance business agility on key international vendors and their products that serve this market.



According to Gartner, “Leaders are vendors that possess a strong banking market understanding, have a measurable strategy for disaggregating core banking software functionality into component-based constructs, exhibit highly developed and certified development and delivery of quality methodologies, and have extensive marketing delivery and sales channels. Leaders also share conspicuous operational organization approaches that are relevant to the business and a willingness to extend resources to ensure a successful customer experience”.



Vendor qualification for inclusion in the 2006 IRCB Magic Quadrant was centred on market-established players and some relatively new entrants that show strong promise. The evaluation began with 31 candidates for the IRCB Magic Quadrant for 2006 and resulted in a qualified group of 18 combinations of vendors and products that represent the major movers in retail core banking systems. The selection criteria served to cull vendor products that possessed sufficient market traction and momentum, supported basic retail functionality and international support, and provided evidence of short-term viability.



http://www.bobsguide.com

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GE Money Home Lending

GEMHL outlines its 2006 results



GE Money Home Lending has said it achieved double-digit growth in its core mortgage business during 2006, with significant volume generated through new and existing products and partnerships.



The group claimed it has outperformed the general market two to one, with 37% growth in like-for-like business. It achieved 47% growth in the final quarter of the year, and said that research indicates that the specialist sector will grow by 35% by 2009.



Looking ahead, Colin Shave, chief executive, said 2007 will be another important year for the group. He added: “Our aim is to drive growth by continuing to provide our existing partners with attractive products, superior service and technology to help them meet the needs of their consumers. In addition, we intend to build upon our recent entry into the buy to let and direct to broker markets, broadening our reach and ensuring our products are available through different channels. This represents a further step towards diversifying our distribution network and offering within the marketplace.”



He continued: “In addition, our research suggests that growth of the specialist mortgage market within the direct broker channel will outstrip general growth in this market by two to one. We are keen to have a significant presence in this channel, adding to the growing partnerships we have already established within the broker and packager industry. 2007 will see us develop this further, potentially working with selected networks and mortgage club partners as the year progresses.”



http://www.mortgagesolutions-online.com

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Islamic Mortgages

UK to become a leading global centre for Islamic finance



The Economic Secretary, Ed Balls, has set out new measures to establish the UK as a leading global centre for Islamic finance.



In his speech to the Euromoney Annual Islamic Finance summit, Balls argued that the Government has a role in helping industry overcome barriers to the development of Islamic Finance in the UK.



This includes legislation in the Finance Bill 2007 to facilitate the UK issuance and trading of Sukuk – the Islamic equivalent of conventional securitizations - diminishing Musharka – the Islamic equivalent of a loan repaid in instalments and Takaful – a Shari’a compliant form of insurance - to be published alongside the Budget. He also stressed that Islamic finance will become a key priority of the work of the Chancellor’s High-Level Group.



The Government also welcomed industry developments, including a Memorandum of Understanding signed today between the International Capital Markets Association and the International Islamic Financial Market to set standards for Islamic Capital Markets. He also spoke of the launch of the Islamic Finance Qualification in October, a joint initiative between the Securities and Investment Institute, and the Ecole Superieure des Affaires, one of the leading business schools in the Middle East, to develop qualifications in Islamic Finance.



Ed Balls said: “I am pleased to be able to outline these reforms alongside the announcement of a Memorandum of Understanding to help set standards for Islamic capital markets. Today is an example of public and private sectors working together to fulfil our shared ambition of creating major international markets in Islamic finance with London as their centre.”



http://www.mortgagesolutions-online.com

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Intelligent Finance issue a formal mortgage offer within 24 hours

IF offers 24 hour mortgage offers



Intelligent Finance has pledged to issue a formal mortgage offer within 24 hours of receiving a completed mortgage pack as part of its new service standards.



Cammy Amaira, director of sales at Intelligent Finance, says: "When your profession is mortgage sales, there is nothing more frustrating than delays in processing.



“We're confident that we can deliver our new mortgage promise consistently providing the broker provides the necessary documentation in the mortgage pack to support the application and a valuation has been done on the property.



"I'm delighted that we're now in a position to offer an even better service. This reflects well on us as a lender but, more importantly, leaves clients with a good impression on the service provided by the broker.



“This can be crucial in building a long-term relationship with clients."



Simon Ring, proprietor of Ring Associates, says: "Brokers have huge expectations of the service they should receive and it's the differentiating factor for any successful lender."



http://www.mortgagestrategy.co.uk

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Cumberland Building Society selects Alaric

Cumberland Building Society selects Alaric technology for online banking



Alaric International, a leading supplier of advanced technology solutions for the card payments industry, today announced that it is providing the technology platform for the launch of a new online banking service for Cumberland Building Society.



The internet banking solution will be offered to personal and business customers later this year and is being delivered in partnership with Sandstone Technology, a leading developer and integrator of specialised software, services and solutions for the financial services market.



Sandstone will be delivering full internet banking functionality for the new system through the implementation of its industry-leading Direct Banking platform, BankLink. An extension of Alaric's Authentic authorisation, switching and ATM management system already implemented at Cumberland Building Society will interface with both BankLink and Cumberland Building Society's host system. This will provide a 24x7 source of information for the system, including continuous real-time transaction and balance data availability, in addition to authorisation of online transaction requests. The new system is due to go live in late 2007, following pilot testing.



"Our new internet banking service will enable our current account customers to securely view and manage their accounts online 24-hours a day, seven days a week," commented John Kidd, Finance Director and Secretary, Cumberland Building Society. "The solution offered by Alaric and Sandstone delivers the flexibility, speed and world-class security to ensure a robust, reliable and convenient service for customers."



"We are delighted to be strengthening our relationship with Cumberland Building Society and extending our existing service offering for this key solution," added Steve Lomax, Director of Sales Marketing for Alaric International. "Authentic offers a proven, high performance and versatile platform to support the delivery of internet banking capabilities to banking customers. To be implementing such a key project in partnership with Sandstone is an exciting opportunity for us."



Authentic is Alaric International's highly configurable, scaleable credit, debit and charge card authorisation, payment gateway and switching solution. The Authentic system enables easy integration of existing payment systems with new delivery channels via its simple point-and-click configurable mapping technology and transparent business logic.



http://www.finextra.com

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Stroud and Swindon use MSP

Stroud Swindon provides real time KFIs with TietoEnator’s Mortgage Sales Portal



In a strategic move to improve the efficiency of its mortgage service to customers and intermediaries, Stroud Swindon Building Society has announced the purchase of TietoEnator’s Mortgage Sales Portal. The two phase project will enable Stroud Swindon to provide on-line Key Facts Illustrations (KFIs) in real-time and in the second phase to offer customers real time Acceptance in Principle (AIP) documentation. The first phase of the project is due for completion in early 2007.



Customers and intermediaries can apply for a Stroud Swindon mortgage via the company’s website but there’s currently no straight-through process for processing the application. Instead the applications are re-keyed into the existing TietoEnator mortgage quotation system and the KFIs and application forms are e-mailed to the customer or intermediary.



Commenting on the project, Keith Henley Senior Manager – Business Information Systems at Stroud Swindon said, “Our current response time for sending out KFIs is too slow, taking up to 24 hours. This will be done in real-time once the TietoEnator Mortgage Sales Portal is up and running. A fast, efficient web-based system will ensure that intermediaries have even more reason to use Stroud and Swindon and, importantly for the Society, a web-based offer enables us to attract many more customers from outside our traditional catchment area.”



The Mortgage Sales Portal will enable true straight-through processing of a mortgage application form, resulting in huge efficiency gains for the Society. Phase one of the project will enable customers and intermediaries to apply for a mortgage on-line and receive their KFI immediately. The application data will then transfer seamlessly into the TietoEnator back-end mortgage processing system without the need for re-keying. Phase two of the project will allow the Society to provide automated AIP’s to customers alongside the KFI document, thereby immediately reassuring the customer that they satisfy the Society’s lending criteria and further reducing the time required to process the application through to the approval stage.



“We shortlisted a number of vendors for this project” said Keith Henley, “and one of our major considerations was the need to interface the new system with our existing TietoEnator mortgage processing engine. Although all the vendors could create this interface, we considered TietoEnator to offer us the fastest and lowest risk option.”

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Marlborough Stirling -> Vertex

Marlborough Stirling today announced it has re-branded as Vertex Financial Services, following its acquisition by Vertex Data Science in May 2005. Under the new brand, the company will offer the combination of technology and outsourcing capability needed to manage open and closed book administration and new business acquisitions within the life and pensions and investment markets, as well as distribution, point of sale, application processing and servicing for the mortgage sector. The company also announced the appointment of Andrew Colvin to the position of Managing Director of the Life and Pensions business unit, effective November 14th 2005. Andrew joins from EDS, where he was UK Head of Insurance.





http://www.vertex.co.uk/vertex/main/home.jsp

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