IBM Mortgage Unit Accelerates Market Presence

IBM Lender Business Process Services, Inc. (IBM LBPS), a wholly owned subsidiary of IBM (NYSE: IBM) specializing in mortgage origination services, announced today that it was recently approved by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to conduct mortgage origination services for federally insured Federal Housing Administration (FHA) loans. It has also obtained regulatory approvals and licenses to provide these services in the vast majority of states, and intends to complete the state licensing process by the end of this year.

“We are pleased to have secured the HUD approval and to be nearing completion on the state licenses essential for us to support mortgage lenders with a private mortgage label fulfillment service,” said Greg Sullins, executive director of IBM Lender Business Process Services, Inc. “IBM’s solid mortgage fulfillment solutions will provide lenders with the technology and analytics they need to make better lending decisions in today’s increasingly volatile market.”
With the ongoing current credit crunch and the disappearance of several 90/10 and no money down loan products, industry analysts predict a slight increase in lenders leveraging federally insured FHA loans for new home buyers. FHA provides opportunities to individuals by offering loans that typically require lower down payments and which are available to borrowers with less than perfect credit characteristics. IBM LBPS’s approval to provide mortgage origination in this space will become an important resource for lenders looking to expand in this area.

IBM LBPS was formed to help U.S. mortgage lenders improve back-office efficiencies in the highly cyclical mortgage market.

For top tier lenders, IBM LBPS provides an opportunity to leverage Services-Oriented Architecture (SOA) approaches, and IBM’s leading technology expertise to standardize and automate their mortgage origination processes to drive down costs and reduce risks.
Mid-sized and smaller lenders get an opportunity to tap into IBM LBPS’s superior mortgage origination capabilities that otherwise would be too costly to develop and maintain.
New entrants, some who may not already be in the mortgage lending business today, but possessive of a strong retail brand and customer base, may also be empowered by IBM LBPS’ offerings to emerge in the near future as leading mortgage players.
Lenders leveraging the IBM LBPS loan fulfillment advantage benefit from a sensible switch from a fixed cost structure to a variable, per-loan arrangement that allows for more consistent performance through market phases. In addition, with the “back office” taken care of, IBM LBPS enables lenders to focus resources on those activities that competitively differentiate their brand, products, distribution network and service experience.