A mortgage bank by the name of “360 Mortgage Group” is making some lofty claims, one being a 15-minute full mortgage approval.
The company says its customers can “receive a true loan approval in 15 minutes on average,” which sounds shockingly fast.
Their claim is even more bold in that they don’t rely upon mortgage loan officers. In fact, they refer to their new proprietary fintech system as the NOLO platform, which is short for No Originating Loan Officer. Ouch, loan officers.
The company goes on to say that LOs can actually slow things down and cause problems when they have “interfered with the process, as is standard in the industry.”
How the NOLO Platform Works: Data Mining
- 360 Mortgage Group is pitching an entirely-online loan approval
- That it can generate in as little as 15 minutes
- Without the need for a loan officer to guide the borrower
- All thanks to data mining technology
The 360 loan approval is generated entirely online, without the need to speak to anyone during the process, namely a loan officer earning a commission.
So you might be wondering how borrowers can get real home loan approvals in a quarter of an hour without getting any sort of guidance from a professional.
It sounds too good to be true, but 360 Mortgage Group seems to take a lot of pride in their tech-driven platform that is driven by data mining.
Basically, prospective borrowers input some basic personal information to complete an authentication process, then NOLO “mines key identity data to generate personal verification questions.”
Once a borrower’s identity is verified, they can be begin answering simple yes and no questions about their proposed loan scenario.
The NOLO system is integrated with leading verification vendors so borrowers don’t have to manually submit things like pay stubs and bank statements.
But if they do, the system allows them to submit photos of requested documents digitally, with no delay.
If all that works out as scheduled, an approval can be generated in minutes. And more importantly, a loan can be closed in as little as eight days.
By the way, they’re big on security too, employing things like 256-bit bank-level security, multi-factor authentication, and 24/7 security monitoring.
And if you want to speak to someone, you can, a so-called loan adviser, via both online chat or phone.
What Does 360 Mortgage Group Offer?
- It seems they only offer conforming loans and VA loans
- Which might explain why they can dole out approvals so fast
- Relying on the automated underwriting systems of those entities
- To give borrowers a loan decision in no time at all
So I surfed around their website and found that they only appear to offer conforming home loans (those backed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac) and VA loans.
That would explain how they can generate approvals so fast, using those automated underwriting systems to their advantage.
They note that the 360 loan approval is “validated by the applicable government agency or sponsored enterprise at the time the approval is issued,” so there’s no second guessing.
I took a look at their mortgage rates and they seemed pretty attractive, offering a 30-year fixed for 3.75% and a 5/1 ARM for 3.25%. Their VA 30-year fixed was priced at 3.25%.
The rates are even better than they look because they don’t charge any lender fees. Look out for third-party fees though.
To date, 360 Mortgage Group has funded $12 billion in mortgages and apparently saved 3,750 trees along the way.
They are yet another fintech mortgage disruptor trying to changes things up for the better, though at the cost of a human’s job.
Aside from its direct-to-consumer online mortgage business, Austin, TX-based 360 Mortgage Group also has a wholesale (mortgage broker) and correspondent lending business.
(photo: Alan Levine)