ADA, Mich.-A true Software as a Service mortgage platform has enabled one CUSO here to more than triple its lending volume while keeping staffing costs minimum.
With the help of the XetusOne Loan Origination platform, Member Advantage Mortgage, a $4-million CUSO, boosted its mortgage loans from 60 per month to more than 200 per month, all with just three loan officers on staff.
The CUSO said the key to its newfound efficiency is XetusOne's supreme flexibility, which allows officers to do credit checks, collect and upload documents, underwrite and close loans from any computer in the world. All they need is Internet access and a browser.
"We could have people out in the field and they are able to function fully as an independent office," said Jennifer Durham, noting that the solution cuts out loan set-up staff and assistants. "They can work by themselves without assistance. You would have to do really big volume to justify an assistant."
"Most of our competitors have taken a traditional client/server architecture software and they've put that in a data center (via SaaS). You still, by and large, have to have some kind of software on the client," added Scott Stein, vice president of Palo Alto, Calif.-based Xetus. We were built from the ground up a handful of years ago to be a true web application. As long as you have Internet Explorer 6.0 or better, that's all you need."
With previous systems, processors usually handled only about 50 loans and that was with the assistance of a closer. Now Member Advantage Mortgage relies on its three processors to cover 60 to 100 loans at a time. The time line for closing has not suffered despite the small staff, as Durham pointed out that the CUSO averages a turn ratio of about 30 days.
With no up-front hardware or software expenses, Xetus also brings a unique fee structure to the table that is especially attractive for CUs and CUSOs that don't have the budget for capital expenditures. The servicer charges solely on a per loan basis at different increments in the underwriting and closing processes.
"There are stages throughout the process where you can use our software free of charge-for all of your pre-qualifications for instance," Stein pointed out.
The fee structure and SaaS platform has enabled Member Advantage Mortgage to grow its business without concern over future costs to be incurred by that growth.
"With Xetus you're able to have the comfort of working when you want and how you want," sad Durham. "It's flexible enough to accommodate any type of business you do whether it's a portfolio with a credit union or a secondary loan. It's interface allows to you have that flexibility."
