Why Is Your eClose Technology Investment Not Paying Off?

Expert insights to help you capture and retain those elusive savings.

While eClose solutions in the mortgage finance industry have been around for many years, the challenges of the pandemic in 2020 accelerated the appeal among lenders. Since then, the desire to have eClose options available has continued to grow, with more and more lenders recognizing the competitive advantages these digital solutions provide.

But despite the potential for a strong ROI, many lenders who invested in eClose technology have failed to actualize its full potential. According to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s 2022 Technology Profile Survey, 81% of lenders surveyed reported being equipped with hybrid eClose solutions, and yet only 33% of them reported having reached a usage rate of 25% or higher.

What’s standing in the way? One key reason is a dual process where eClose is not the default closing process.

While these companies may have implemented eClose solutions as an option, they often continue to rely on traditional, paper-based closings as their default process. As a result, these lenders are missing out on the opportunity to fully maximize the benefits of their technology investments, including a more streamlined process, reduced costs, and improved customer experience.

Send the right message to your settlement agents.

It’s understandable that a dual process will always provide a manual option for closings as a fallback, but a lender’s default process speaks volumes to their settlement agents. If their default process is a manual, paper closing, then at best they’re communicating an indifference, and at worst it says that a paper closing is their preference.

An eClose default closing process sets the expectation for settlement agents that digital closings are the standard and paper closings are the exception. It communicates that the lender is fully bought in.

“By not having a default eClose process, the lender gives the signing agent the impression that they’re impartial to how the agent chooses to conduct their business,” says Janelle Lindseth, Senior Product Manager at Docutech. “When given the option to choose, they’re far more likely to choose the path of comfort and least resistance. If they haven’t yet acclimated to eClosings, they’re more likely to continue their process in a paper-based way.”

Once eClose has been established as the lender’s default process, they can generate enthusiasm among their partner agents by educating them on the benefits. In addition to the benefits for the agent, they should also have a clear understanding of all the ways an eClose positively impacts the borrower’s experience.

Digitize the documents, automate the workflow, humanize the experience.

Paper closings create manual impacts for the entire downstream closing, which adds operational costs that keep lenders from actualizing their maximum ROI. Digital, however, is often the way borrowers expect, and even prefer, to engage. By digitizing the closing wherever possible, lenders are not only increasing the potential for return, but they’re also elevating the experience for the borrower.

With a focus on digitizing closing documents and automating workflows, an eClose default process is not only more efficient in terms of the closing and the post-closing teams, but also decreases manual work and opens opportunities to provide more time on customer interactions. An eClose default process provides clarity and digital efficiencies that help streamline a lender’s operations, while retaining the humanizing experience necessary for a borrower to feel supported and at ease during the final step in their mortgage journey.

Don’t miss out on automation opportunities.

One of the ways many lenders miss out on automation opportunities is through a lack of integration. To optimize the loan origination process, it’s important for lenders to tie all their disparate systems together. By integrating their eClose solutions with their loan origination system (LOS), they get a seamless exchange of data between different systems. For example, lenders who use Docutech’s system are seamlessly integrated with dozens of LOS platforms. For Docutech clients, eClose data flows directly back to their LOS with no lift on the part of the lender.

Docutech’s partner landscape includes more than 60 integrations with third-party and proprietary solutions. By connecting industry-leading LOS with portal systems and eClose technology providers across the mortgage ecosystem, Docutech is able to help lenders optimize their loan origination process.

The art of the possible – a case study.

Lenders leveraging Docutech’s end-to-end solutions are able to optimize ROI on their eClose technology investments. With proprietary solutions such as Solex® eClose and eVault, and their dynamic document generation engine, ConformX®, they’re simplifying their processes and seeing success.

When measured by eClose volume sent, Docutech’s top 20 clients have an eClose-sent average of more than 72%. Even their top 30 clients had a significantly higher eClose-sent average compared to the MBA survey cited earlier, coming in at nearly 54.5%. And of all of the eClosings sent, a spectacular 89% successfully closed digitally.

The opportunities are there for the taking.

Lenders who make eClose their default process are charging into the future by maximizing the full ROI of their closing technology. They’re seeing increased operational efficiencies drive cost savings, while providing an enhanced closing experience for their borrowers at the pinnacle moment of their journey. By embracing eClose as their primary closing process, championing a commitment to the transition from paper to digital to their internal teams, and promoting the benefits to their partner agents to improve buy-in, these lenders are reaping the full rewards of their technology investments.

If you’re interested in maximizing ROI on your company’s investment in eClose technology, contact Docutech and let us help you discover ways to prioritize your eClose process.