Here’s what your vendors must stay on top of— so you can stay focused on your business.

Lenders and vendors face greater accountability at all levels yet find themselves relying on antiquated tools and “last year’s” technology resources. At the same time, a complete paradigm shift has occurred, allowing those who embrace advances in technology, artificial intelligence, and blockchain to gain a competitive edge, if they are applied in a strategic and synergetic manner.

Technology that delivers an AI overlay and data centric approach will help lenders and investors better aggregate data, analyze markets and value, increase quality, reduce errors and turn times, and bring context and clarity to private lending. The industry is ripe and ready for a well-considered reassessment of how technology provided by the right vendor partners can better serve us.

The following top 10 checklist of S’s establishes a bar for choosing the right vendor partners. If your service providers don’t fall in line with this checklist, then maybe it’s time to reevaluate.

1. Standards

Does the provider’s tech stack meet the wide array of compliance and regulatory standards to mitigate fraud and any form of data breach? Does it ensure adherence to policies, rules, and regulations?

We must have confidence that our data is protected. A high-value tech-stack integrates robust validation of regulations, client-specific rules, and data standards. It incorporates these needs into the system design, eliminating time-consuming and error-prone back-and-forth between lender and provider. What’s more, technology should be able to flex as organizations pivot, adapt, and update processes and procedures to meet requirements and growth aspirations—without unnecessary added costs.

2. Solutions

Does your provider have to use multiple software platforms to offer their services? The needs of the private lending industry have surpassed simple form-filling portals. Modern lending products call for modern solutions.

Does your vendor partner offer a transparent client portal to manage service coordination, order management, client relations, and user management? Or is there a bevy of unrelated software to manage? A complete suite of flexible solutions can improve overall quality and efficiency and reduce the time, costs, and frustration of integration pains.

3. Service

Your vendor partner’s services and technology should integrate client relations with top-notch customer service tools. From online customer access and order transparency to constant communication and follow-through, your provider should constantly keep your team members informed and make them a priority throughout the process. To offer the best customer experience, look for solutions that provide order visibility, customizable notifications, integrated communication tools, full order histories, and clear resolution paths.

4. Specialization

Are you a lender, originator, investor, buyer, or seller? Whether your vendor partner offers title, valuation, insurance, inspections, draw management, servicing, LOS, legal docs, fulfillment services, or other offerings, your provider needs the experience and capability to meet your specific needs. Engaging the right provider with the right technology is critical to a successful and long-lasting partnership.

Many technological solutions were designed and developed by those outside the private lending industry. The right vendor partner understands your business and develops products, services, and solutions that directly address the challenges inherent in the private lending industry.

5. Support

You might run a small lending shop with limited resources or be a large organization that must stay on top of the demands that come with heavy volume. Depending on your business and the roles of your staff, you’ll need access to responsive technical support and training. Look for providers that offer a variety of support and training to fit your needs.

6. Security

You work with personal information and sensitive data. Make sure your provider’s technology has policies, processes, and auditing methodologies that keep data secure.

Conduct thorough background checks and verify a potential vendor partner’s compliance with industry standards such as ISO 27001 or SOC 2. Additionally, assess the security posture of any third-party software you use within your mortgage systems. This includes conducting regular audits to identify any vulnerabilities that could be exploited by hackers. Data encryption, fault-tolerant backup systems, security policies, and disaster recovery procedures are imperative for reliable systems, regardless of where your technology lives. Don’t be afraid to ask your provider about their security protocols and processes that should already be in place.

7. Satisfaction

Does your provider’s platform adapt to changes in your business? Technology should not dictate how you do business. Rather, it should adapt to meet your needs.

Current technology can meet these challenges without the weeks or months of delay we experience with old-school systems, even for a simple form update. Providing new products and customizable workflows should be a simple process that can be implemented within a short period for a provider who prioritizes being able to develop solutions quickly. Technology that can respond to industry changes overnight sounds like a dream, but it is tangible and real.

8. Savings

Managing multiple software programs, manually shepherding orders, and coordinating vendors creates unnecessary overhead. Automation is not a luxury in technology; it’s the norm and should streamline the relationship with your vendor partners and customers. Auto-placement of orders, automatic data validation, customizable product configuration, and notifications are part of any truly automated solution. Having the right vendor partner can alleviate the need for additional staff and allow you to allocate employees to focus on their areas of expertise.

9. Sustainability

If your provider’s technology is 2 years old or more, it’s out of date and can jeopardize the quality and accuracy of your business. Technology moves fast, and so do changes in regulations, rules, and customer requirements. Technology should be able to adapt to changes in the industry and business needs. Ask your provider how their solutions manage change in all these areas. They need to be agile, adapt to constant innovation, and develop systems that improve processes.

10. Strategic

Does your solution offer the tools and resources to expand your business? Your provider should be a strategic partner who understands your vision and can implement configurable processes, custom offerings, automated functionality, and integration services that react to your business processes as you grow. Look for providers who offer a multitude of products and solutions as well as a variety of report and data delivery options.

As we become aware of innovations in technology and what is truly possible, we can and should expect our technology to address the pain points that are specific to our industry and we encounter in our day-to-day operations. As technology consumers, it’s time to demand that our tech catch up with changes in our industry, new challenges, and the ever-increasing pressure we face to provide clean, quality, and accurate loan profiles for borrowers —and with fewer manual interventions to help mitigate fraud.

If your provider isn’t focused on next-gen technology that evolves with the industry and improves on current processes, it’s time to seek out one that does. Keep the “Top 10 Ss” in mind as you vet the many vendor partners that support the private lending industry. Remember: If technology doesn’t solve a problem, it’s not a solution.