Collecting upfront fees via credit card in the mortgage origination process is designed to increase pull-through and conversion rates for borrowers. The easier the experience, the more likely they will complete the payment. And the sooner they invest in the journey, the more likely they will finance with you. Paying their upfront fees with a credit card also presents a handful of benefits to the borrowers that they wouldn't realize with a check or money order.
Ease of Use
Consumers have become accustomed to online payment systems, whether well-known platforms like PayPal or new-age applications like Venmo. So it only makes sense that the next generation of homebuyers expects a quick, easy way to pay their upfront mortgage fees. Utilizing a payment processing solution that collects fees via credit card provides that exact experience. This can save borrowers time and unnecessary hassle, making the first bit of the mortgage origination process more convenient. This also gives your internal processing team confidence that borrowers made the payments, shortening the time to close the loan.
Security & Peace of Mind
Collecting upfront fees via credit card can also provide borrowers with added security and peace of mind. In general, credit cards offer better fraud protection. And when lenders partner with a payment gateway that includes tokenization, that's an additional layer of defense designed to keep sensitive information safe and secure.
Incentives & Rewards
Using a credit card for upfront fees also gives borrowers a chance to earn rewards and other incentives. For example, many credit card companies offer rewards programs that allow customers to earn points, cash back or other perks for using their cards. This can be particularly beneficial for borrowers looking to save money or who are interested in maximizing their credit card benefits.
How to Implement the Process
Understand the Challenges
To implement a collection process that accepts credit cards as payment, mortgage lenders must establish relationships with credit card companies and set up payment processing systems. This can be time-consuming and complex and require significant resources and expertise.
In addition, mortgage lenders must consider the various requirements and regulations for processing credit card payments. These can include reporting requirements, security standards, and other compliance obligations. Failure to comply with these regulations and requirements can result in penalties, fines, and compliance issues.
Choose A Proven Solution
To make collecting upfront fees via credit card more convenient, secure, and efficient, mortgage lenders can use tools like Fee Chaser by LenderLogix. Fee Chaser is a powerful tool that allows mortgage lenders to automate the fee collection process and integrates seamlessly with Encompass® by ICE Mortgage Technology™, the leading loan origination system for the mortgage industry.
With Fee Chaser, mortgage lenders can efficiently and accurately collect upfront fees from their borrowers without needing manual processes or complex payment systems. Fee Chaser provides mortgage lenders with a simple and intuitive interface, which allows them to quickly and easily set up payment processing, manage fees and expenses, and track the status of their borrowers' fees, all in real time because of the powerful API capabilities.
Lenders that use Fee Chaser can gain insights into their fee collection processes, enabling them to make data-driven decisions to optimize their fee collection strategies, such as:
- discovering fee leakage associated with fallout
- determining whether or not to bundle all application fees or separate them into multiple fees
- identifying the best time of day to automate a fee collection process
- pinpointing how to best leverage reminder messages to ensure all payments are collected
Collecting upfront fees via credit card in the mortgage origination process can significantly benefit lenders and borrowers. By offering borrowers the option to pay their fees with a credit card, mortgage lenders can provide a more convenient and secure experience and increase their pull-through and conversion rates.
We'd Love to Help
If you're looking to adopt a platform that meets the above needs, our Fee Chaser solution is worth checking out. Lending institutions that use Fee Chaser receive 94% of their payments within 24 hours and 60% within 5 minutes and claim to save anywhere from 15-20 minutes per file in operational time.