For years, lenders have faced a common hurdle— the slow turnaround time for bringing new, compliant mortgage products to market. The 7-10 day window to review, approve, and launch a new product has long been the industry norm. However, in today’s fast-paced financial environment, this timeline is increasingly becoming outdated.
The UK’s mini-budget announcement in late 2022, led by the Truss government, triggered widespread market disruption. Almost 1,000 mortgage products were withdrawn in a single day, leaving lenders scrambling to adapt to rapid interest rate changes. The outcome? Burned-out teams and thousands of disgruntled borrowers.
Though the scale of disruption in September 2022 was unprecedented, the housing market is now stabilising, and borrowers have higher expectations. The chaos of that period served as a wake-up call, highlighting the need for lenders to have better safeguards in place for future volatility. The industry cannot afford a repeat of those delays.
To meet the demands of today’s market, lenders must shift towards dynamic pricing engines and more granular product management. As competition increases, adopting digital tools will be crucial for maintaining customer service standards and staying competitive, even in volatile conditions. Yet, many lenders are still held back by outdated processes, struggling to leave behind the 7-10 day market cycles.
The mortgage sector still lags behind other industries when it comes to embracing technology. Many lenders continue to rely on legacy systems that lack the flexibility needed to efficiently manage and price mortgage products. This manual, resource-intensive approach leads to delays and increased risk of errors, leaving lenders at a disadvantage during economic turbulence.
Such inefficiencies translate into longer product-to-market times, a major setback during periods of rapid financial change. Lenders find it harder to quickly adjust pricing, introduce new offerings, or even assess and manage risks effectively. To stay competitive and meet borrower expectations, embracing technological innovation is the way forward.
A more streamlined process is essential for lenders to remain agile in today’s marketplace. By leveraging cutting-edge technology, lenders can adopt a holistic pricing strategy that allows them to offer competitive rates swiftly and accurately. Advanced digital tools now enable the automation of product repricing in response to real-time market fluctuations. Some pricing engines even offer an “always-on” model, mitigating the negative impacts of last-minute rate changes on brokers and, by extension, their clients.
The days of slow product launches and one-size-fits-all mortgage products should be a thing of the past. Lenders must integrate dynamic pricing systems into their operations. By using data-rich models, they not only reduce risk but also open up lending opportunities to a broader pool of customers while maintaining efficiency.
With interest rates changing faster than many legacy systems can keep up with, lenders need to explore new digital solutions that integrate with existing platforms to deliver faster, more tailored decisions. The ability to respond to market shifts in real-time will be critical to the industry’s success going forward.
The traditional 7-10 day timeline for bringing new mortgage products to market is no longer viable. To remain competitive and meet the challenges of an evolving financial landscape, lenders must embrace technology that enables faster, more flexible pricing and decision-making.
Chris Little, Chief Revenue Officer
