Recapping This Year’s ICE Experience
By Tim Smith
Chief Revenue Officer, FirstClose
Earlier this month our team headed to Las Vegas for the annual ICE Experience as a proud Platinum-level sponsor. Each year, the ICE Experience brings together more than 2,500 mortgage industry professionals for three full days of specialized tracks, breakout sessions, training, networking and keynotes geared towards helping lenders navigate through current market challenges.
On Monday night we kicked off the opening reception with a bang and introduced our FirstClose signature cocktail – The Equintini. The traffic throughout the exhibit area was awesome. Attendees were connecting with peers, partners, and mortgage thought leaders discussing ways to navigate the shifting market. It was fantastic seeing so many new (and familiar!) faces excited to be back together again in person.
Some of the major takeaways we were hearing in the hallways and in client meetings were:
- This is fundamentally a different housing market than the market that defined the crisis of the mid-2000s.
- Lots of equity means home equity is hot and lenders are definitely looking at how to enter the market and/or expand their current offerings to enhance the borrower experience.
- Lenders are seeking ways to augment their technology to deliver a high touch experience in order to meet borrowers wherever they are.
- Everyone was upbeat and cautiously optimistic that the second half of this year will probably be more positive than the past few quarters.
During the conference, we got to demo our FirstClose Equity™ solution and announce that it is fully integrated with Encompass® by ICE Mortgage Technology™. Through the integration, Encompass users can seamlessly originate HELOCs and home equity loans directly within their LOS and complete the application through closing process in five to ten days versus the industry average of 45 to 60 days.
Throughout the demos, lenders zeroed in on two key takeaways:
- It reduces operational touch points to elevate the overall consumer experience for borrowers; and
- It replaces the tedious back-office tasks with automated data collection, technology enabled underwriting and the ordering of settlement services – enhancing the lender’s processing experience.
Didn’t have a chance to catch up at the show? Let’s schedule a time to meet with our team and visit our profile on the ICE Mortgage Technology Partner Marketplace.
