Fairway Independent Mortgage ditches paperwork to accelerate closings

Lender streamlines the process with tech

Fairway Independent Mortgage ditches paperwork to accelerate closings

Fairway Independent Mortgage has emerged as the leading user of digital closings among independent mortgage banks in the industry.

Fairway is now the top independent mortgage bank for digital closings, which include any process involving digital or electronic signatures. It also leads its sector in eMortgages for purchase transactions with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

The Texas-headquartered mortgage company recently ranked #1 for customer satisfaction in the J.D. Power 2023 US Mortgage Origination Satisfaction Study.

About 85% of all closings with Fairway have a digital component, according to Teri Pansing, senior vice president of corporate closing at Fairway Independent Mortgage.

“Fairway has completed more than 150,000 digital closings,” Pansing said in a news release. “Our goal has always been to provide the best-in-class closing experience. We continue to innovate digital closing alongside the in-person experience, aspiring for the very best.”

The lender said the widespread adoption of its digital closing solutions translates into significant benefits for borrowers. Fairway estimates that its digital closing efforts have eliminated over six million pages of paper, saving 100s of trees and borrowers over 85,000 hours at the closing table.

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Fairway is not the only company investing in new tools and digitization.

Madison Mortgage Services told Mortgage Professional America that it’s using artificial intelligence to speed up its origination process.

“AI is big for us,” Madison Mortgage vice president Eric Gasper said in a recent interview with MPA. “We have implemented it into everything: our lead generation, communication, communicating with borrowers, we’re very big into tech. We’re trying to be ahead of the curve - our big investment is on infrastructure for technology and to stay ahead of the game.”

Based on findings from MFM Bankers, 99% of lenders are convinced that technology will be essential in the mortgage application process, while 74% see it as an integral component of the process.

The study also showed that 67% of lenders anticipate that AI and technology will streamline data entry, while 70% believe it will expedite the time it takes to finalize mortgage closings.

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