Is empowering your borrowers good for your company?

With a focus on enhancing the borrower experience and streamlining default management operations, this self-service platform revolutionizes the way borrowers engage with their servicer when facing difficult times. By integrating with online banking sites and providing a user-friendly interface, as a part of the whole EarlyResolution offering, the EarlyResolution Borrower Portal empowers borrowers, increases contact rates, reduces cycle times, and optimizes overall efficiency within the latest regulations. 

Designed to assist all loan types, it offers a single platform that can deal with all types of debt (e.g., mortgage, auto, consumer, personal etc.), all in the same place, simplifying a lenders technology platform which, in turn, makes it much more cost effective.  

EarlyResolution is purpose-built to help servicers regulatory and compliance requirements, stay aligned with investor guidelines, and reducing credit risk all while markedly improving the borrower experience. To meet regulation standards, EarlyResolution provides approved language, process controls and the consistency with rules thus preventing regulatory breaches that would often lead to fines. It introduces an era where streamlined, customer-centric approaches are the norm, and avoiding undesirable audits and compliance issues is a must.  

EarlyResolution offers a comprehensive toolset for default management, giving your operations leaders the ability to manage and ensuring they have ample coverage over the entire process from initial contact through underwriting and settlement. It incorporates collections, workflow management, underwriting and decisioning, dedicated borrower portals, streamlining operations and making life easier for both servicers and customers. 

If we take a moment to focus on the EarlyResolution Borrower Portal and what makes it the essential tool for loan banks, service companies and credit unions perhaps we can answer that question.  

It’s easy to understand why in prosperous economic times, banks, mortgage lenders, loan service companies often prioritize lending and loan origination over managing default situations. However, neglecting the servicing default space can quickly evolve into a higher risk situation when unforeseen downturns, such as the unexpected COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, catch organizations off guard.  

One might consider the actions of a major U.S. servicer that had embarked on a digital transformation journey years before the pandemic, included in their transformation was the incorporation of a customer-facing self-service portal. As the pandemic unfolded and customers faced financial challenges, the utilization of the self-service portal skyrocketed, experiencing an unprecedented 600% daily increase in transactions. This surge pushed customers to seek assistance independently, alleviating additional strain on the call center. 

In stark contrast, servicers, relying primarily on phone calls and printed letters, found themselves unprepared when the pandemic struck. Faced with the need to hire and train new staff for their call centers, these companies incurred substantial expenses and introduced significant risks by thrusting new personnel into complex situations without adequate preparation.  

Due to the absence of any kind of digital interaction, a must in this day and age; customers found themselves increasingly frustrated, often enduring long waits in hold queues. Even now, three years later, these servicers grapple with the repercussions of hastily implemented measures during the crisis peak. Moreover, the heightened focus on reputational damage in recent years underscores the importance of avoiding suboptimal service during times of crisis. 

Perhaps it would help if we highlighted some of the benefits that the EarlyResolution Borrower Portal brings: 

Borrower experience focus: It is seamlessly integrated with the servicer’s online banking site — the Borrower Portal offers a user-friendly and intuitive interface. It can be customized to meet corporate branding standards and is optimized for mobile devices, providing a consistent experience across many platforms. 
Utilization of EarlyResolution core capabilities: By leveraging the power of EarlyResolution, the Borrower Portal incorporates the business rules and a decisioning engine for automated workout generation, calculations, and business rules execution. It seamlessly integrates with key systems such as core systems of record, letters, text/email systems, imaging systems and e-Sign vendors. 
Flexible architecture: Loan servicing companies have increased control over branding and messaging throughout the platform, delivering a personalized and cohesive borrower experience. 
Analytics optimization: Gain valuable insight into user interaction and patterns with built-in Google Analytics. Monitor borrower engagement, usage trends and key metrics to make data-driven decisions and continuously optimize the borrower experience. 

The solution includes: 

Enhanced customer experience: The EarlyResolution Borrower Portal offers a self-service channel for borrowers that enables them to take control of their financial situation and find the best workout solution. This improves customer satisfaction and builds trust. 
Increased borrower contact rates: The Borrower Portal facilitates effective communication and collaboration by seamlessly integrating with online banking sites, which results in higher borrower contact rates and improved responsiveness. 
Reduced cycle times: The direct interaction with the customer eliminates manual handling and expedites the overall process. This streamlines operations, reduces processing delays and accelerates cycle times. 
Real-time status updates: Borrowers have instant access to real-time updates on the status of their assistance program. This transparency empowers borrowers with the information they need to make informed decisions and stay engaged throughout the process while reducing the servicers call volumes. 
Technology footprint reduction: By consolidating various functionalities into a single platform, the Borrower Portal reduces the technology footprint for loan servicing companies. This simplifies operations, improves efficiency, and lowers costs. 

If all of these actions are happening in the background, you might ask, what would it look like for a customer? Here is a typical journey to demonstrate what ERBP can do:  

As we inferred at the beginning, we don’t have a crystal ball that can help see into the future, we do however have a solution that can make the future just that little bit brighter for banks, loan service companies and credit unions and, of course, their customers.