MERSCORP Renews Agreement with EDS for IT and Business Process Services; Goal to Digitize U.S. Mortgage Lending

20 Dec 2006 - PLANO, Texas and VIENNA, Va. – EDS and MERSCORP, Inc. (MERS) today announced the two companies have renewed and extended their relationship for a decade. For almost 10 years, EDS has hosted the company’s IT infrastructure, supported its call center, and helped the organization revolutionize the mortgage industry by eliminating paper assignments and enabling electronic commerce. Most recently, MERS and EDS created the MERS® eRegistry, the system of record for ownership of electronic mortgage promissory notes.

“Our relationship with EDS has allowed us to add many products over the years such as commercial loan registration and the MERS® eRegistry,” said R.K. Arnold, president and CEO of MERS. “As a result, the industry expects us to provide leadership in the transition from paper to a totally electronic mortgage process and to register every mortgage loan in the U.S. on the MERS® System.”

According to MERSCORP, use of MERS enables lenders in the real estate finance industry to save an average of $22 per loan when trading mortgage loans. EDS’ technology and scalability has enabled more than 45 million loans to be registered on the MERS® System. Currently, 60 percent of all mortgage loans originated in the U.S. are registered on the MERS® System.

Since MERS was founded, EDS has developed and managed nearly all of its critical member-related back-office functions and applications. With the agreement, EDS will continue to develop and manage numerous software applications and support systems that serve as the foundation for many MERS products including the MERS® System, MERS® Link, MERS® 123, MERS® Commercial, the MERS® eRegistry and MERS® iSearch. EDS will also continue to provide document processing, imaging and case management software, manage servers, storage and the networks that connect MERS members to these applications.

Additionally, EDS will continue to provide leveraged customer relationship management (CRM) services. By taking advantage of EDS’ Best ShoreSM strategy to deliver cost effective contact center services, MERS has the scalability to reduce or expand support as business needs change and pay only for services used. EDS’ highly trained staff supports more than 4,000 MERS members and 25,000 end users plus title company agents, consumers and county recorders for mortgages registered on the MERS® System. EDS also processes mail related to service of process resulting from mortgage registrations.

“This relationship brings together MERS’ ability to focus on the business side of the mortgage industry while leveraging EDS’ IT and business process expertise to deliver the end-to-end solution needed for MERS to achieve its goals,” said Randy Clapp, regional director, EDS Financial Services Industry. “We’re in full support of MERS as it uses IT to improve productivity and lead the mortgage industry in e-commerce.”
About MERS

MERS is an electronic loan registry created by the real estate finance industry to eliminate assignments when trading mortgage loans. Borrowers name MERS as mortgagee and nominee for the lender on deeds of trust and mortgages that are recorded in the county land records. Lenders then register the loans on the MERS® System and electronically track changes in servicing and beneficial ownership rights over the life of the loan.

Loans registered with MERS are inoculated against future assignments because MERS remains the mortgagee of record no matter how often servicing is traded between MERS Members. Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, VA, FHA, Ginnie Mae, the Federal Home Loan Bank MPF®, California and New York housing authorities, and all major Wall Street rating agencies have approved MERS. Visit www.mersinc.org for more information.
About EDS

EDS is a leading global technology services company delivering business solutions to its clients. EDS founded the information technology outsourcing industry more than 40 years ago. Today, EDS delivers a broad portfolio of information technology and business process outsourcing services to clients in the manufacturing, financial services, healthcare, communications, energy, transportation, and consumer and retail industries and to governments around the world. Learn more at eds.com.

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Annabelle Baxter

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