Bank mortgage servicers dominate the top of the first ever J.D. Power U.S. Mortgage Servicer Digital Experience Study, highlighting the slower industry-wide adoption of mobile apps in this area.
The bank lenders have had mobile apps in the marketplace much longer than most non-banks.
Of the 17 mortgage servicers that received scores, seven of the eight highest scorers were depositories, led by Bank of America at 784, followed by Chase at 762 and Wells Fargo at 754.
Rocket, which was No. 1 on the
Rocket scored 685 on the servicer study, while BofA received a score of 643. Bruce Gehrke, director of lending intelligence at J.D. Power noted at the time of that study's release that the servicing environment was becoming more digitally focused, but customers still wanted positive engagement with their institution.
A separate study,
On the recently released
The next highest non-bank on this servicer digital experience study was Mr. Cooper at 698, ranked ninth overall, and now a part of Rocket. At the other end of the scale was PHH/Onity at 665.
"Rocket has invested and focused very much on digital interaction in their process, so it's no surprise that they're being reported well by their customers," said Gehrke. "But, the top of that rank chart is pretty much all banks, and that's showing some of the gap that we're seeing, a lot of [which] is about usability."
For the digital experience on servicing apps, the average overall satisfaction score is 704. This is 22 points lower than mortgage servicer websites, 38 points lower than wealth apps and 35 points lower than retirement provider apps, Power said. Gehrke noted mortgage servicing did score better than insurance, auto finance and utilities.
"The overall framework of an app experience is built on the core pillars of intuitive navigation, fast performance, and visual appeal," said Jon Sundberg, senior director of digital solutions at J.D. Power. "Many mortgage servicer apps are lagging top performers in other industries when it comes to these essentials."
Gehrke added that what Power is looking to do is provide tactical information for its mortgage clients taken from across different industries, showing what works at companies like Apple and Amazon.
This is because customer's expectations are set on what they are seeing outside of the mortgage industry, he said. Most consumers don't have another mortgage experience to equate this with and they are instead comparing it with other products and services.
Power wants to take a look at the digital experience on the origination side of the transaction as well. But Gehrke noted with the end of third quarter drop in mortgage rates, more focus has been on recapture.
