Sagent VP of Software Development Shelli Girard on the Future of Mortgage Fintech for HousingWire
Shelli Girard, Sagent VP of Software Development, has been on the receiving end of some well-deserved recognition recently, recently highlighted by HousingWire’s Editors’ Choice Awards, on the heels of Shelli’s 2022 HousingWire Tech Trendsetters award win.
HousingWire’s Lesley Collins said of Shelli, “Girard was recognized as a 2022 HW Tech Trendsetter for her ability to be a steady hand in a tough market. Using her combined computer-science education with more than seven years of expertise in mortgage ops, she has built industry-changing LOS, decisioning and default-management platforms.”
Collins went on to talk with Shelli about the emergence of fintech in the mortgage industry over the last few decades.
Shelli explained,
On the software side of things, I couldn’t be more excited with how we’ve driven iterative innovation across aging industry infrastructure. As ‘visionaries who get the details,’ we maintain the industry knowledge required to operate in such a highly-regulated environment while embracing new technology to simplify the complex servicing space for our clients.
Shelli went on to talk about the current state of the market and how it’s influencing the industry’s tech planning moving forward.
Shelli said, “After periods of overwhelming demand over the last few years, our position in the current market cycle gives clients and colleagues the opportunity to pause, figure out where they’re currently lacking on the technology side.”
By focusing on improvement now, our clients and customers can lay the groundwork for success throughout future market cycles.
As for the back half of 2023 and how mortgage teams can shore up their tech to weather what comes next, Shelli said:
“After periods of overwhelming demand over the last few years, our position in the current market cycle gives clients and colleagues the opportunity to pause, figure out where they’re currently lacking on the technology side, and focus on where to make improvements on behalf of customers, internal challenges, and the future state of the marketplace.”
Whenever we begin discussions with a new client team, we focus on speaking with the entire team, learning about their challenges, and creating a prioritized list of pain points we can tackle.
“For example, if there’s an area of code that causes performance issues, we try to dive into that straightaway. Sometimes, those pain points aren’t technology-based: they have to do more with information silos, flawed processes, or single points of failure.”
“ In those scenarios, our integrated teams work with theirs to streamline information flows and optimize development processes. With an eye to the rest of 2023, we can’t predict the future, but we can be ready for it. By focusing on improvement now, our clients and customers can lay the groundwork for success throughout future market cycles.”
Shelli closed out by reflecting on newer projects she’s excited about:
“One thing I’m especially excited about is our Mortgage Assistance Hardship project.”
When borrowers face hardship, we want our technology to facilitate a seamless process that ultimately ends in them staying in their homes.
“Our digital experience for mortgage assistance determines the best approach for users based on a series of questions about their hardships and then prompts them to upload necessary documents for their applications. From there, our consumer self-serve platform, CARE, will keep them updated on application status (all with no calls to the servicer needed).”
Two others projects that Shelli (and Sagent) are especially excited about: one streamlining the escrow experience within CARE, and the other speeding boarding time on our LoanBoard onboarding platform.
Borrowers found that managing the escrow process was challenging and usually required a call to a customer service representative (CSR) to gather necessary information. To make it easier for borrowers, we’ve created a dashboard from which borrowers can view escrow analysis, manage payments, and show escrow disbursements all in one place. This also frees up CSRs for other, more complex customer support questions.
To learn more about Shelli Girard, check out her full interview with Lesley Collins for HousingWire, and don’t miss her HousingWire Tech Trendsetters award and her Sagent Standout employee spotlight profile which gets to know Shelli behind the scenes.