Several years ago, I was unexpectedly faced with the decision of buying a car. Not at all ready, I aimlessly read articles and bombarded everyone I knew with questions about their cars. And just like an internet review, the feedback was either overwhelmingly positive or negative. Through this process, I did receive one piece of great advice. Simply put, there is no perfect machine out there and not all features and factors are of equal value to everyone. It is important to identify your key needs and important features before you start the shopping and test-driving phase.
For most consumers, the ultimate purpose of a car is to get from point A to point B. But the value placed on key factors such as cost, safety, reliability, lifestyle, efficiency and image tend to vary from buyer to buyer. When the buyer has their key needs identified upfront, the process becomes easier, less time consuming, and they get their desired outcome.
It’s the same when investing in loan origination software (LOS), which can make or break the organization. It can be the cornerstone of productivity, efficiency, and consumer satisfaction. Unfortunately, it can also be the cause of organizational chaos and sometimes severely affect revenue. If the LOS is the problem, the obvious solution is to find one that does meet your needs.
Key LOS Considerations
Before you embark on a LOS shopping adventure, it’s important to establish your goals and priorities. Additionally, you’ll need to identify all your current challenges and outline your expectations for your next purchase. There are a variety of options in the market. A lot of them are great products, but they’re not all great in the same way. That is why it’s important to narrow down what is valuable to your financial institution. For example:
- Outcomes: Have a concrete understanding of your financial institutions desired outcomes for the LOS. Is your goal to simply originate loans from the branch? Or are you looking for a sophisticated system that will originate deposits and lending across all channels – mobile, branch, call center, indirect, and kiosk.
- Sales Goals: Does your financial institution have monthly sales goals? Sales goals are important items to factor in. Cross-selling functionalities within a LOS is a feature to note if you are looking for support in this area.
- Workflow Automation: It’s important to understand your workflows and how you can streamline them through automation. Write out your processes, especially the pain points, and see if a LOS provider can help address and solve those.
- Consumer Site: Today, great customer service starts online. It’s important to evaluate your consumer site. Is it mobile responsive? Is it ADA compliant? If this isn’t something that was previously done at your financial institution, it may be time to weigh the benefits of this feature.
- Support: What kind of IT support are you looking for? Did you have concerns with a previous software that you would like to discuss this time around?
- Integrations: Are there vendors that you are currently contracted with that you aren’t ready to say goodbye to? It’s good practice to ask about vendor integrations to ensure that you are not limited in your choices.
Credit Union LOS Case Study
The Loan Origination System plays a vital role in the success of the financial institution. To read more about this process, check out this case study from California Credit Union. By partnering with MeridianLink, this client consumer loan production for last year exceeded production goals by 110% ($294.9 million).
Photo by Steinar Engeland on Unsplash
