Beeline - Bets New Consumer Services

Company: Beeline, Providence, RI
Entry Submitted By: ASTRSK
Company Description: Beeline is a home loan lender giving consumers the shortest path to a new home or refinance in 15 minutes with 5 steps from the comfort of home or on a mobile device. Beeline removes the hassle of tedious documents and eliminates the guesswork and uncertainty for a pre-approval—consumers can link directly to their finances, giving Beeline the most accurate information, and users the lowest rates.
Nomination Category: New Product & Service Categories
Nomination Sub Category: Consumer Services

Nomination Title: Beeline—Securing home loans right from your sofa

On May 19, 2020, Beeline launched as the new digital home loan lender modernizing the home buying process directly from users’ phones providing approvals more reliable than traditional pre-approvals. In tandem with the platform’s launch, Beeline also announced its seed funding—which raised $7.6 million in equity capital to date.

Beeline is the first home loan lender of its kind, giving buyers an easy, fast application process requiring little to no work on their end. In fact, users can complete their journey all the way to close without leaving the couch.

Built out of the need to revitalize and streamline the often complicated, almost-always boring home lending and buying process, Beeline's hero innovation is its "purchase ready" approval. The proprietary platform leverages artificial intelligence to instantly retrieve, identify, interpret and verify a buyer’s actual financial information. This means that instead of digging through outdated paperwork and wondering how a flakey and unverified pre-approval from the bank will play out, applicants receive an instant and verified approval with the certainty to confidently go house shopping and make offers. Best of all, it can be done in as little as 5 steps and 15 minutes.

Aside from cutting homework and back and forths, removing and automating steps ultimately saves Beeline users money — because it’s able to offer very low rates and no origination fees, as well as its Price Pact which will beat a lower rate if a user does manage to find one elsewhere.

Furthering itself from competitors, Beeline is on a mission to invert the power imbalance that typically comes with applying for a loan. Beeline believes people shouldn’t be bullied, judged or made to feel small during what should be a happy and exciting time. This applies to everyone, regardless of race, ethnicity, gender or orientation. The old, outdated way of doing things can sometimes allow a lender or bank employee to insert their own intentional (or unintentional) personal bias when seeing a person who wants to apply for a home loan. Beeline's process has been built digital-first, not only to bypass unnecessary hoops and headaches for buyers, but eliminate inherent biases, discrimination and feelings of judgement. Beeline's focus is providing each and every customer with the best interest rate in a fast and easy experience, no matter who they are. By pioneering this digital process, Beeline sets the precedent for a new, more equitable home loan industry.

From its conception to now, Beeline has created a groundbreaking customer journey, built its tech from scratch, and completed its first purchase-ready approvals for eager home buyers across the U.S. Its achievements in just its initial six months speak for itself as well:

Expanded to 16 total markets in the U.S., with an eye to be in a total of 26 markets by the end of 2021
Immediately following its launch, Beeline's loan approvals rose by 106%
Beeline's Purchase Ready Approvals grew ~90% MoM from April to July 2020 despite the height of COVID-19 and lockdowns nationwide
In the same timeframe, there was a 114% rise in profiles created by Beeline customers
120% growth in profiles created from August to October 2020

Beeline’s dedication to customer satisfaction can be recognized through its customer reviews! The platform has achieved high rankings on Google (4.8 stars) and the Better Business Bureau (4.5 stars). Customer testimonials can be found on Beeline’s site, following this link— https://makeabeeline.com/beeline-reviews/

Beeline’s portal demo is attached to demonstrate the ease in user experience through the platform. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1zXItbEXSSjjZqTpjz39Z18WALm6FwMtU/view?usp=sharing

Additional awards and acknowledgements Beeline has achieved over the past year include:

FinTech Breakthrough Awards: won a category (to be announced in March 2021)https://fintechbreakthrough.com/
Awwwards: Won honorable mention for user experience design and Mobile Excellence Badge for mobile design https://www.awwwards.com/
DrivenxDesign: New York Design Award — Gold Winner https://drivenxdesign.com/d100/
PBN Most Innovative Companies: Recognized as Most Innovative Company — Professional Serviceshttps://pbn.com/pbn-announces-2020-fastest-growing-innovative-companies/
Designers Institute of New Zealand: Best Designer Award (Moving Image) — Finalisthttps://bestawards.co.nz/moving-image/long-form/firme-agency/beeline-surprisingly-simple-home-loans/
Top 9 Lender in Maryland: Best Online Experience https://www.finder.com/mortgages/maryland