Centerbank Mortgage Co. completed a companywide installation of a loan processing system, designed to improve loan processing efficiency at the company's offices throughout the United States.
Developed by Associated Software Consultants Inc., Middleburg Heights, Ohio, the system runs in a client-server evironment and integrates the processing operations of 25 Centerbank retail mortgage offices and eight regional wholesale lending units. The program, called UniForm, uploads information into the company's central processing site in Waterbury, Conn.
Company Sought to Cut Costs
According to William P. Scully, vice president of technology at Centerbank Mortgage, the company converted from a mainframe processing environment to cut maintenance and technical support costs, and to gain the flexibility that client-server technology provides.
"We selected a system which could handle increased loan volumes and meet our expectations for reducing the overall time for loan processing by 20%," said Mr. Scully. "That's important when you're running a LAN-based system supporting more than 260 users." LAN stands for local area network.
The new software enables residential mortgage lenders to automate all aspects of loan processing. Its screens, forms, and fields can be customized to match workflow in particular areas, such as data input or underwriting.
Advantages of Systems
A benefit of the client-server environment, said Mr. Scully, is that is gives users access to additional applications, such as E-mail, Lotus programs, and on-line data bases.
Another advantage of the system, said Mr. Scully, is that it supports laptop originations, something the company plans to do in the near future. Loan originators will be equipped with laptops running Uni-Form. When they meet with clients in the field, they will be able to capture loan information and transfer it electronically to the central processing site, he said.
Uni-Form was chosen after the company reviewed several other products on the market, said Mr. Scully. It was found to be "the most feature-rich and cost-effective," he said.
"As an investment Uni-Form started paying for itself once we converted from a mainframe environment," he added.
Servicing more than $7 billion in loans, Centerbank Mortgage is a wholly owned subsidiary of Centerban, based in Waterbury, Conn.
