The materials available in this article are for informational purposes only and not for the purpose of providing legal advice. You should contact your own advisors with questions regarding the mortgage lending content herein. The opinions expressed in this article are the opinions of the individual authors and may not reflect the opinions of MeridianLink, Inc.
According to Fannie Mae, 90% of homebuyers in 2024 reported interest in a more or fully digital mortgage process, citing faster and easier experiences as key drivers in this interest. Additionally, millennials and Gen Zers, who expect a convenient, digital-first process, are continuing to make up a growing portion of mortgage borrowers as they ramp up plans to purchase homes in the coming years. The mortgage industry knows these things, which is why lenders and financial institutions’ top priorities in 2025 include adding digital products and solutions to their operations, improving borrower experiences, and increasing end-to-end efficiency.
As a result, financial institutions are spending to improve their tech stack. In just 3 years, they’ve nearly quadrupled their spend per $1B in assets, going from $200K in 2022 to almost $780K in 2024. Even so, digital operations are evolving at a dizzying speed, and it can be challenging to keep up. Neobanks and other digital platforms are siphoning off business with competitive rates and robust digital experiences that legacy systems simply cannot replicate; a narrow scope of technology investments and an insufficient change management plan leave holes in the transformation process; and fragmented data systems prevent institutions from getting the full picture of consumers to create more personalized, relevant interactions that bolster loyalty and boost revenue.
So, how do you keep up, stay ahead of the competition, and achieve the seamless digital-first operation today’s borrowers demand—and frankly, that your mortgage business needs?
It’s about digital progression, not perfection. We’re helping our customers take a clear, strategic look at their current digital state, identify opportunities for growth, and develop an actionable plan to improve each area step by step.
From leveraging data analytics for personalized borrower experiences to integrating automation for greater efficiency, the possibilities are vast. But true digital progression requires more than just implementing new technology and hoping for the best — it demands a thoughtful, iterative approach that drives real impact.
It helps to think of digital progression as a journey, not a destination.
It may sound cliché, but to borrow from another trite phrase, it’s a cliché for a reason. ‘Digital progression’ and ‘digital transformation’ often seem like the same concept on the surface, but we at MeridianLink® intentionally use the term ‘digital progression’ because we believe that this phrase captures the ongoing nature of these improvements in a way that ‘transformation,’ which has an endpoint, cannot.
It’s simply impossible for there to be an endpoint to digital progress — something that is, by definition, constantly evolving and advancing. There is no straight path to the pinnacle of digital mortgage lending achievement because the pinnacle will always change and the path to success cannot be predetermined. In fact, with every improvement your institution makes in response to market shifts and technological advancements, you’re continuing to chart the path ahead.
Every financial institution’s digital journey is different, and your unique challenges, goals, systems, and borrowers shape your ideal path. Cookie-cutter plans won’t cut it. You need an approach that’s tailored to your circumstances and support from experts who understand those circumstances and can offer guidance based on your requirements.
That’s why we created the Digital Progression Model.
Building off over two decades of experience with thousands of institutions nationwide, the MeridianLink Digital Progression Model takes a strategic, multi-phase approach to growth that’s rooted in your needs.
It all starts with our Digital Progression Assessment, which helps you and our team of experts understand your current digital state and priorities. Then, we dive deeper into those results, developing a bespoke blueprint for continuous progress and helping you execute each phase with confidence.
Progress is measured against five key indicators of digital sophistication: consumer experience, data centricity, instant decisioning, process automation, and share-of-wallet growth. Within these indicators are five maturity levels ranging from beginners just starting their journey to experts who’ve achieved and are maintaining best-in-class service. Since the process is continuous and cyclical — assess/iterate, design/adjust, and execute — you’ll not only develop your digital mortgage lending operation, but you’ll maintain it, as well, throughout the technological breakthroughs and evolving markets to come.
With your digital strategy in place, the next crucial step is to deploy the right technology to bring your plan to life.
That’s where MeridianLink® One comes in — a powerful, integrated mid-market lending and account opening solution engineered to operationalize your digital vision.
With the ability to connect MeridianLink® Mortgage, consumer loan origination, and deposit account opening solutions, you can seamlessly deliver a unified, omnichannel digital experience that meets borrowers where they are — without disruption.
What does this look like in action? Here’s an example…
A mortgage applicant, in the middle of their loan process, decides they’d also like to open a checking or savings account with your financial institution. With just one click, they can start that process, without ever leaving their current session. No need to exit, restart, or navigate back to your main website. Everything happens in one seamless experience.
Thanks to direct platform integration, the application even pre-populates fields using data from your core system, saving applicants time and reducing friction. And with an automated, intelligent cross-sell engine powered by accountholder data, you can present relevant, personalized offers to qualified applicants — deepening relationships and driving revenue growth.
Now, let’s bring it back to your mortgage business, specifically.
MeridianLink® Mortgage is the engine behind your digital progress. As a cloud-native, 100% browser-based SaaS solution, it’s designed to help you reduce costs, shorten time to close, and most importantly, focus on growing and evolving your business for years to come.
It includes a comprehensive suite of tools, customizable workflow automation, and powerful open APIs, to simplify every part of the mortgage origination process. From a best-in-class native product and pricing engine to a built-in electronic document management system, versatile web portals for both consumer direct and third-party origination (TPO) channels, and seamless integrations with our point-of-sale solution and hundreds of trusted vendor partners, it’s everything your mortgage business needs in one powerful platform.
Let’s take this next step in your mortgage lending digital journey together.
Watch our on-demand webinar: “Fast, Frictionless, & Fully Automated: The Path for Mortgage Digital Progression.”
