BASKING RIDGE, N.J.-The good news for Affinity FCU and its CUSO, CUMAnet, was that by July 2007 it had grown to more than 6,000 mortgage loans in its servicing portfolio.
The bad news was it had outgrown its ability to efficiently manage its portfolio. The credit union and the CUSO subsidiary knew they had to better manage loan servicing, including on loans being sold on the secondary market. Moreover, management was seeking to provide members with convenient, online access to their own mortgage loan information.
In response, the 125,000-member Affinity FCU purchased and implemented FICS' Mortgage Service-a Windows-based residential mortgage servicing solution, and further added FICS' eStatusa, an online tool that enables 24/7 access to authorized individual borrowers' loan data.
Joan Mahon, vice president of operations for CUMAnet, said that Mortgage Servicer provided immediate efficiencies for Affinity FCU's staff in managing mortgage loan data and providing higher service levels to members-mostly due to reporting capabilities that give the credit union's staff better access to member payment and escrow histories, which helps it to resolve members' issues faster.
"These 6,300 loans were connected to a system that wasn't as robust as FICS' was," Mahon explained. "Now the sky is the limit. The way it looks is presented in nicer manner than before."
Mahon said the implementation of FICS' eStatus has had a significant effect on the $1.7-billion credit union and its membership. Members like being able to easily access tax payment information and year-to-date figures for IRA 1098 forms.
They also like the function that enables them to update their mailing address, telephone number, or e-mail addresses by themselves. In addition, members can see exactly how their mortgage payment is applied to principle, interest and escrow.
And since eStatus is available 24/7, members can access this information on their own schedules.
eStatus participation among member has grown more than 2,000%, since October 2007 when it had nine registered users. In May 2008, it had 2,122 members.
"Members like it a lot," Mahon said. "We know they are using it. Members want to know when principal outweighs their interest. This is very easy for them."
Mahon described the cost of making the change to FICS as "not so severe," and said the conversion process went very smoothly.
For info: www.cumanet.com, www.affinityfcu.org, www.ficsloanware.com.
BEST PRACTICES
CUMAnet, Basking Ridge, N.J.
Category: Mortgage Lending
Provider: FICS
