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CapQuest's mortgage services director, Melanie Leask shares CapQuest Mortgage Servicing's
experience of choosing a software provider while Phoebus's MD Paul Hunt explains
his side of the story
Outsourcing software and systems support, and choosing the right partner to supply
these, are decisions of the highest strategic importance.They can only be undertaken
if the user has complete confidence in the supplier's ability to deliver to the
highest standards.
In 2007, the CapQuest Group — a manager of overdue debts in the unsecured loan sector
— decided to set up CapQuest Mortgage Servicing (CMS) as a loan servicing supplier
to mortgage lenders. Although CapQuest had its own systems in place, the demands
of the mortgage sector (and especially the need to comply with FSA regulation) meant
that new systems needed to be put in place. The choice was between developing systems
in–house, or outsourcing to a systems supplier that could deliver the right solution,
in a flexible, user–friendly way, and within budget. In order to bring CMS to market
within a short timescale, the decision was made to use bought–in software and systems.
Requirements To meet the needs of our mortgage lenders, we needed a highly sophisticated,
fully automated mortgage servicing system, that could be integrated with any other
systems and services that wc developed for our clients, either at startup or in
the future. Our aim was — and is — to provide a full post completions mortgage service
to our clients, with a particular strength in collections, litigation, and recoveries.
Our pledges to our clients include a fast response to new account boarding, account
management changes and requests for performance information. This is combined with
leading edge workflow servicing and dialler technology, with our in–house development
teams delivering flexibility and speed of response. We also offer data warehousing
competence to drive analysis and inform collections strategy decisions. A key condition
for choosing a software and systems supplier at the outset would have to be their
capability to support us in delivering these service promises.
We also needed a system that was sufficiently adaptable, flexible, and responsive
to be able to accommodate any developments in a fast–moving marketplace. We were
therefore looking for a systems and software supplier that would offer us a developer
licence. That would allow our in–house systems developers to enhance the new system
over time to meet our evolving needs.
Choosing a supplier Having considered a number of options, we chose Phoebus Software.
Phoebus has extensive experience and an excellent reputation in the mortgage servicing
marketplace, including the provision of similar software to GE Money, Crown Mortgage
Management and Oakwood Homeloans. Brought in at an early stage, Phoebus provided
us with advice and guidance in addition to its IT solutions, which was a huge benefit.
We wanted to be challenged and to be asked questions, and Phoebus's wide experience
in providing servicing systems within the mortgage sector enabled them to act as
a true business partner in the run up to our launch.
Now, more than 12 months since our launch, I am pleased to report that the Phoebus
software platform has lived up to our highest expectations. We are able to offer
our clients the cost–saying benefits of a highly automated system, combined with
the highest levels of customer service that will meet and exceed the need to comply
with the Regulator's principle of Treating Customers Fairly.
We have also successfully integrated new elements that will keep CMS ahead of its
competitors. These include a finace module which provides our clients with full
finacial integeration between the servicing platform and accounting functions for
bank reconciliation, trail balance, client financial reporting, and system transactions
reporting."
The Phoebus view Paul Hunt, managing director at Phoebus says in some ways the job
at CapQuest wasn't as hard as others. I Ic explains that in the case of a new entrant
to market, the job can be easier — there is no legacy system. For an existing player,
the problem is the same if existing systems cannot cope with the new activity (very
often the case), thereby creating a barrier to entry. In either case, the message
is simple.
Another thing that helped the job to go smoothly was that this was a meeting of
minds at a personal level. While IT may seem rather dry and technical, it's essential
the people on both sides can do business together. One of our directors had worked
with the operations director at GE Money. They spoke the same language.
My advice to a mortgage lender or servicer looking to update their systems or enter
the market, is to know exactly what you want to achieve before you bring anyone
in. Decide where you want to go before you start the journey. Otherwise, in the
words of Yogi Berra, you might end up someplace else. |
