Bank of America Digital Mortgage Experience
Company: Bank of America, Charlotte, NC
Company Description: Bank of America is one of the world’s leading financial institutions, serving individual consumers, small and middle-market businesses and large corporations with a full range of banking, investing, asset management and other financial and risk management products and services.
Nomination Category: New Product & Service Categories
Nomination Sub Category: Financial Services
Nomination Title: Bank of America Digital Mortgage Experience
Bank of America’s Digital Mortgage Experience™ seamlessly guides clients through the mortgage process via the bank’s award-winning mobile and online platforms. What was once a cumbersome, paper-heavy and often lengthy process has been revolutionized. Thanks to advanced application prefill capabilities, clients can apply for a mortgage through the bank’s mobile app or online at bankofamerica.com and immediately have many aspects of their mortgage application auto-populated, significantly reducing time and effort. Instead of compiling mountains of paperwork and having to meet in person with loan officers, now clients can take photos of documents and upload them. Additionally, instead of researching different loan types on different sites, clients get a one-stop shop with the Digital Mortgage Experience, including the ability to prequalify as well as compare and lock in rates. In many cases, clients will receive conditional approval the very same day they apply.
The Digital Mortgage Experience simplifies and accelerates the mortgage process for clients no matter where they are in their homebuying journey. Those beginning the process can find out what they can afford by getting prequalified in minutes. Once they find a home, clients can select the right mortgage, lock in their rate and receive conditional approval. After clients apply, the Home Loan Navigator tool guides them through the process to closing.
The Digital Mortgage Experience was designed specifically to address common frustrations with mortgage lending. Rather than replicate the traditional process online, the tool makes applications simpler and faster. For example, entering financial information on an application can be cumbersome. By prefilling this and other information on file with Bank of America, the Digital Mortgage Experience cuts up to 100 questions from the mortgage application process, reducing the time to complete an application to just a few minutes.
Bank of America’s designers also worked to simplify the look and user experience of the Digital Mortgage Experience. They eliminated typing whenever a click is sufficient and set up screens, so that the client only sees the fields that they need to fill out based on their unique situation (e.g., there are different screens depending on whether a client has a co-borrower or not). The ability to take photos right in the Bank of America mobile app further simplifies the process by making it easy to submit documents needed for underwriting.
Another pain point consumers often face is comparing different loan options. The Digital Mortgage Experience allows them to review a variety of options and select the one that works best for their personal financial situation. It also allows clients to prequalify to determine how much they can borrow, making them more attractive to sellers as their prequalification status signals they’re serious buyers who’ve begun the mortgage process.
The Digital Mortgage Experience is consistent with the bank’s high-tech, high-touch consumer banking strategy, which provides clients who are increasingly digital with leading tech capabilities that meet them where they are, while seamlessly marrying the digital and physical worlds. As they use the Digital Mortgage Experience, clients can always contact a professional lending specialist and get the support they need. Bank of America makes sure that this integration of the digital and physical realms is frictionless for the client.
Since the launch of the tool, adoption has steadily increased, with weekly application volumes up 10x. Funding amounts provided through the Digital Mortgage Experience have grown continually and now exceed $500 million. Clients are very satisfied with the experience, with delight scores consistently at more than 80 percent satisfaction. The Digital Mortgage Experience is also clearly resonating with consumers who increasingly use digital tools in their lives, and it is driving the digitization of the home financing experience. Roughly 20 percent of Bank of America mortgage applications are now sourced digitally. Since the rollout of the Digital Mortgage Experience, the time to close has been reduced by roughly 20 percent.
In bullet-list form, briefly summarize up to ten (10) of the chief features and benefits of the nominated product or service.
-One of the first digital end-to-end home financing solutions, the Digital Mortgage Experience makes a complex process faster and easier through automation and simplification. Benefits include:
-Application completion time is reduced to just minutes by prefilling information on file with Bank of America.
-Clients can easily review a variety of loan options and select the one that works best for them.
-Clients can quickly prequalify to determine how much they can borrow; their prequalification status signals they’re serious buyers.
Since the launch:
-Adoption has steadily increased, weekly application volumes up 10x.
-Funding amounts provided through the Digital Mortgage Experience have grown continually and exceed $500 million.
-Client reaction is highly positive, with client satisfaction scores consistently at more than 80 percent.
-Roughly 20 percent of Bank of America mortgage applications are now sourced digitally.
-Time to close reduced by roughly 20 percent