Home Lenders Adding Spanish-language, Financial Goal-setting Tools and Looking to Opportunities in Home Equity
Wilmington, Del., August 9, 2023 – Keynova Group, the principal competitive intelligence source for digital financial services, today announced the results of its 2023 Mortgage-Home Equity Scorecard, a consumer experience benchmark evaluating the top 12 U.S.-based mortgage and home equity lenders. Bank of America secured first place overall in this annual Scorecard, which assesses the digital channels of leading bank and non-bank lenders used by consumers to evaluate and apply for a mortgage, refinancing, or for home equity needs.
The 2023 Mortgage-Home Equity Scorecard reveals key industry trends, including lenders increasingly offering digital goal-setting tools and Spanish-language services. In home equity, more non-banks are entering the market and some lenders are integrating a soft credit pull.
“With the home lending market impacted by sustained higher interest rates and low inventory, lenders are adding digital goal-setting tools to help home buyers monitor their finances to meet their home-purchasing or improvement objectives,” said Beth Robertson, managing director, Keynova Group. “The slowdown in home buying has also encouraged a rebound in home equity lending, where non-bank entrants are beginning to challenge bank lenders. Coupled with new Spanish-language applications, content and support, the digital home lending market remains dynamically focused on supporting a rich customer experience.”
Key Findings:
More Lenders Offering Goal-setting and Planning Tools
To help consumers better understand and plan for a home purchase or for updates to their home, half of Scorecard lenders are now offering budgeting and goal-setting tools that help consumers monitor their cash flow and savings. Nearly half (42%) of lenders incorporate cash flow analysis into the goal-setting tool and one-third include charting options and graphics to reflect cash flow assessments. Bank of America is unique in offering contextual educational content related to home lending in its planning tool, called Life Plan. It is also the only bank to provide appointment setting with home lending representatives from within the tool. Calculators are another option to help applicants better understand what they can afford and what lending product is best suited to their needs. Nearly 60% of lenders provide a rent vs. buy calculator on their website for first-time home buyers, and one-quarter offer a debt consolidation tool to help consumers determine whether home equity or another lending solution is suitable for their needs.
Spanish-language Resources Increasing Digital Accessibility of Home Lending
The home lending process is complex, so reaching consumers in their first or native language can be critical. As the U.S. Spanish-speaking population continues to increase, lenders are adding Spanish-language content and services to help this growing consumer group. Three non-bank lenders – representing 25% of the Scorecard lenders – are the first to offer a Spanish-language version of their digital mortgage application, and Guaranteed Rate offers the Spanish version of its application on both its website and via its mobile app. Half of the reviewed lenders also now list a Spanish-language customer support number on their website and provide Spanish-language mortgage and refinancing content and product information on their websites.
Non-Banks Adding Home Equity Lending
Though several key bank lenders are continuing to suspend home equity lending, some of the reviewed non-banks, including Guaranteed Rate, loanDepot and Rocket Mortgage, have entered the home equity lending space, with digital options most prominently promoted and enabled across the first two lenders’ sites. Following a trend observed in Keynova’s Q2 2023 Credit Card Scorecard, some home lenders like Citizens Bank and loanDepot are joining key issuers in implementing soft credit pull options that enable an applicant to see what they qualify for in advance of a formal credit evaluation that could impact the applicant’s credit score.
About the Keynova Group Mortgage Home Equity Scorecard
Keynova Group’s annual Mortgage-Home Equity Scorecard, syndicated since 2005, objectively reviews the digital capabilities and user experience at 12 top bank and non-bank lenders in the U.S. This includes eight of the largest financial institutions in home lending: Bank of America, Chase, Citi, Citizens, PNC, Truist, U.S. Bank, and Wells Fargo, and four of the largest non-bank home lenders: Freedom Mortgage, Guaranteed Rate, loanDepot, and Rocket Mortgage. For more information, please visit https://www.keynovagroup.com/scorecards/#credit-cards-and-lending.
About Keynova Group
Keynova Group is the nation’s foremost competitive intelligence firm providing trusted benchmarking insights and analysis of consumer and small business digital financial services, including banking, credit card, home lending and insurance. Since 1999, Keynova Group’s Scorecards have served as the go-to source for leading financial services firms to obtain reliable competitive intelligence and actionable insights. The firm’s proven methodology and highly detailed results help its clients maximize the value of their digital channels to deliver a premier experience to customers and prospects.
For more information:
Meggan Manson
Young & Associates, for Keynova Group
301-371-6995
megganm@yapr.com