Mortgage Broker Broadcast
Developing your knowledge to help you build a successful Mortgage Broker business. Craig Skelton shares his thoughts and experiences on all aspects of mortgage advice covering everything from operating in the banking world, estate agency based advisers all the way up to working as a self employed broker. He will be joined by experts from within the industry and other business sectors which all play a key part in becoming a successful mortgage broker in the modern world.
Mortgage Broker Broadcast
Revolutionising the Mortgage Industry: How Technology and MortgagX are Transforming Broker Processes
Can technology really make the mortgage process seamless and enjoyable? Join us as we explore this intriguing possibility with Ifthikar Mohamed from MortgagX, a groundbreaking app that's transforming the mortgage brokerage industry. Iftikhar shares his unique journey from chartered accountancy to mortgage brokerage and explains how his financial expertise led to the development of an app that's revolutionizing the way brokers and clients manage mortgages. Discover the inspiration behind MortgagX and how it's designed to streamline the mortgage process, cut down on paperwork, and significantly increase efficiency using cutting-edge AI and advanced technology.
We tackle the pain points of traditional mortgage applications and present an innovative CRM system that simplifies the process for both brokers and clients. Learn how features like open banking, integrated credit reference agencies, and ID verification can drastically reduce application times and eliminate manual errors. Iftikhar passionately discusses the importance of leveraging technology to enhance the accuracy and reliability of data, ensuring a smoother, more efficient user experience. By focusing on triangulation and the use of AI tools like ChatGPT, we reveal how brokers can manage administrative tasks more effectively, allowing for better client interactions and increased revenue.
Finally, we dive into the broader implications of technology for mortgage brokers, emphasizing the importance of comprehensive client care. From initial mortgage processes to estate planning, we highlight how technology enables brokers to provide more detailed and personalized advice. Ifthikar underscores the necessity of addressing protection options and financial safeguards for clients' futures, illustrating how new technological tools can enhance professional development. Early adopters of these innovations are already reaping the benefits, offering a glimpse into the future of the mortgage brokerage industry. Don't miss this insightful conversation that showcases the potential of technology to empower brokers and transform the mortgage landscape.
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Hi and welcome to this month's Mortgage Broker Broadcast. My guest this month is Iftikhar Mohammed from MortgageX, and the reason why I wanted to get Iftikhar onto the podcast was to talk about MortgageX. Yes, absolutely. Explain about what it is, what the app does, how it benefits you as mortgage brokers, how it benefits the clients, but also as well, I wanted to get across his personality, how MortgageX has come about and how he's looking to not replace brokers, but look at how MortgageX can enhance the process and streamline the process and help mortgage brokers work a lot smarter. So who better to talk about that than Iftikhar? So let's get him onto the podcast. Iftikhar, welcome onto the podcast. How are you?
Speaker 2:I'm very well, thank you. How are you, Craig?
Speaker 1:Yeah, very good, thank you, Very good. Thank you, I'm very excited about getting you on to the podcast and finally getting you on to the podcast to talk about the exciting thing of MortgageX which we'll get on to shortly, and everything about that and how it's working in the broker world and benefits and things like that. We will get on to that. But thanks for agreeing to get on to the podcast. I'm always excited to talk to people that I've never had any sort of interaction with before. I know we've sort of messaged a few times and I know we've had a brief chat on the phone, but I like to sort of keep the podcast, as I've said, very relaxed and informal. But then just my brain exploring the things you're talking about at this point. So it's very live and real, rather than having preconceived agendas and things like that. It's just very much around, no agenda, and thank you for trusting me with that. And, uh, yeah, I'm looking forward to getting to know you a lot more about your products as well.
Speaker 2:So thank you, yeah, yeah, I mean, I think that's lovely, I think that's that's how it's meant to be, isn't it Right? Then plan, sort of thing. So I think that's pretty good yeah.
Speaker 1:Absolutely, yeah, definitely. So first of all, for those people that don't know who you are, do you want to just do a brief introduction about yourself?
Speaker 2:now, my background is I'm a chartered accountant. That's my background, so I come from accounting background. How I got into mortgages, I'll talk about that first. Right is that you know a lot of our clients at the time. They came and said, look, can you sort of help us with mortgages? Right, we said no, because we are accountants. So we used to sort of, uh, you know, give our clients away to other mortgage brokers, right? So one fine day, you know, we thought you know what? We're giving away so many of our clients to other brokers, why don't we start one ourselves, right? So that's how, you know, I got into the mortgage world. Uh, but this is where all these mortgage things start kicking in.
Speaker 2:Obviously, when you talk about accountancy, people talk about a lot of paperwork and you know envelopes coming through and things like that, right. But to be honest, when you came to the mortgage world, I mean it was even worse, right, because you know your bank statements and then the passport copies and you know so many suitability letters. You name it, you have it, right. And we're like, okay, this has got to change, right. So you know, obviously I became a mortgage broker about eight years ago. I've used various CRMs. I mean, there are definitely very good CRM systems out there, but I still think, you know, if you especially take the AI world right, it's moved on quite a lot, but our industry hasn't really right, it hasn't embraced AI and high tech. So that's an area that was lacking, right. So that's why we thought, okay, let's start this project right. So that's how we got into this.
Speaker 1:It's always the case of, like you've seen the opportunity which does make me smile that you've seen the opportunity of the background of being a chartered accountant. You've seen you understand paperwork. I know what my account is like with paperwork, so you've sort of seen that firsthand and dealing with that day to day. But then getting into the mortgage world, not by accident but seeing it as an opportunity. So, yes, like, obviously you've got the things we're going to talk about. But initially, when you got into mortgages, you sort of fell into is that right, would you say.
Speaker 2:You fell into the mortgage world like most of us tend to do uh, yeah, because it wasn't something I was planning to do, because all my life I've been working as an accountant, right, and that's what I've been always good at. But it's like unplanned. Right, because we thought, okay, let's help out our clients, that's how we started. But before we knew it, the business has grown on the mortgage side as well, and you know. But then we thought, oh, this is too much work. Right, because this can be cut down. For whatever reason, people continue to do the same thing. Right, and saying, oh, this is how it is right. But I'm thinking, no, this is not how it should be right, this must be what you are doing, but this is not. This is certainly not what you should be doing, right, so, uh, so that's why, you know, I always fight with myself. Right, saying this is probably not the right thing. Let's start challenging what's out there, right?
Speaker 1:so yeah, and I think it always starts in that way, doesn't? In terms of you sort of seeing the better way of doing something like for you starting you're like not taking anything away from you, and you've been quite humble about what you've achieved over the last eight years, because you've started your own mortgage brokerage. You've got your own mortgage brokerage, your own firm, that you have grown over the past eight years and and sort of built that the business up. So what was the? You've got a mortgage broker world going on. You've got the your business to run. You're still doing your according to linkedin, which that is the only bit of stalking and prepping that I do is generally on linkedin. So you're still from your linkedin profile. You're still running your accountancy firm. You're running your mortgage business. That's sort of going on. And then you've decided to embrace technology and become a tech innovator, as your LinkedIn profile said. So you've got quite a lot of things. Are you still doing your accountancy if the car? Is that still going on?
Speaker 2:yes, wow, yeah so uh, yeah, I mean we are called WIS, so I think that kind of answers part of your question. So W stands for Vijay, who's the director. He looks after the accountancy operations. Myself I look after Right.
Speaker 1:That's where the WIS comes from.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and you know Sunet looks after, you know, the wealth and the insurance side of the business as well. So we kind of split up and of course over the years sort of the team's kind of grown as well, so we have different people looking after operations of different parts of the business. So that has sort of helped us sort of, you know, free up our time to do other stuff that we love to do as well, right, so I think you know you need to love what you're doing as well.
Speaker 1:So, for me, currently, mortgage x is a challenge, right? So I love doing that, right? So, yeah, and I can see this, the smile on your face I do genuinely believe that you are loving that challenge, which will, which we'll talk about. So, but so, how did so? You're on to the podcast. We're going to talk about mortgage x, um, in a bit of detail. So first, first, how did? Like you said, you love a challenge. You saw a better way of doing things, is that? Was that just down to the frustrations of being a typical mortgage broker, with lots of paperwork going on and, like you say, a clunky change, shall we say, with regards to all the parts of the chain together?
Speaker 2:Yeah, partially. Clunky change, shall we say, with regards to and all the parts of the chain together.
Speaker 2:Uh, yeah, partially, but again we did this change in accountancy as well, I mean, we didn't create, we created our own system in accountancy. Because, again, what's you know, we, we, in our accountancy business, we have a paperless office. I mean, people won't believe it, but if you want to come and see, you can come and see. You know, we just don't have any paper. I mean, again, because we use software, we scan stuff and things like that. So if there's any paper, we just destroy it and that's it right.
Speaker 2:Because obviously you can't avoid HMRC sending you envelope, right, that you can't avoid. But we only see it, we scan it and that's out of the way. That's because we have no control over what they are doing. But otherwise we just don't have any bank statements or anything lying around, because everything is kind of automated, because it's our clients, everything is on system. So we've sort of done that. But that's why I was saying, ok, it's very frustrating in this world, let's come and let's do something else. So we've done that. But obviously with the account accountancy we haven't done ai related stuff yet, right, but with mortgage, I thought you know there's so much you can do, right.
Speaker 1:So yeah, I think, like I said, there is a lot of things you can do, and I think the difference is with yourself is that a lot of brokers will whinge and moan about the system it being clunky, whether that's, uh, the the parts of the chain solicitors or estate agents or underwriters or whatever part of the the chain in terms of makes this the whole process an extended um process. So for you like when you're sort of so they're thinking as most, most mortgage brokers will like and I've, I've been there it's a case of we could, this could be so much better, this could be far better process, this is so much more could be done around this. Everybody has that thought, but people tend to just not doing anything about it, just think, well, it is what it is and you just have to accept what, what is happening, what was the sort of? Is that just you, in terms of you thinking something has happened and I want to make that happen? Is that just the kind of person that you are?
Speaker 2:uh, yeah, definitely. I mean, okay. Again, this might come as a surprise. I'm an accountant who doesn't love paperwork. I just hate paperwork. I know that's me right, because it's a challenge for me. I was like, okay, so what do I do to sort of not do this bit? Right? So I always think to myself. But likewise, I'm not alone. Even in MortgageX there are a lot of other people, right, so they think alike, right? So I think that's when everything starts clicking, because you know, whenever I want to do a project or anything like that, they back me. Likewise, when they want to do projects, I back them. Right. So as a team it kind of works very well, right, because all of us don't like paperwork, right?
Speaker 2:I know it will sound weird coming from an accountant and a mortgage broker, but you know, I think if you look at a lot of other industries, you know you don't get much paperwork, right? You know, nowadays you have an app for a QR code or whatever. It is nothing else. Right? Even if you go for an event, you know you usually get your ticket in an app. Now you don't get paper tickets anymore, or you get a QR code. You just scan it and you're in. Right, but you know that's where all the other industries have gone, but we are way far behind, right.
Speaker 2:So that's the change I think we want. You know, we want to challenge ourselves all the time, right, but yeah, like you said, you know I'm a person like that. But but yeah, like you said, you know I'm a person like that, but I'm not alone. Right, we have a team who helps. Right, I've got co-directors who help me. Mortgagex is another project. There's two other directors who get involved in this as well, this particular project. They are very much tech-based, right, it background people who help us a lot with the AI stuff. So, you know, all of us kind of think alike, so I think that's quite helpful when it comes to this, yeah, okay, so enough about.
Speaker 1:Obviously we've talked about your background and your sort of thought process behind MortgageX, so do you want to just explain exactly what MortgageX is?
Speaker 2:Yeah, sure. So for me, MortgageX, the simplest way to explain this is it's an app-based CRM. I'm showing my phone. I think we are the pioneers of that because I do a lot of CRM systems out there but nothing is really app-based. So when I say it's app-based CRM, the client facing is always the app. Obviously the broker's seat come to the CRM, but it facing is always the app. Obviously the broker's seat come to their CRM, but it's an app based, right. So the initial interface is an app.
Speaker 2:Traditionally, mortgage brokers, you know, I've worked in firms before who send out a form for the client to fill, right. So on a Word document, on an Excel, you know they fill that and send it. But if you're a little better than that, you will send out a link saying that, okay, this is the link. You know this filter and send it. But if you're a little better than that, you will send out a link saying that, okay, this is the link. Can you please, you know, fill up the form. You know it's a bit more interactive because, like I said, there are good CRM systems out there which does that right. But this is where our challenge was right. Everybody uses a mobile phone these days and everybody uses a smartphone, right. And if you look at the statistics, 80% of the population today login to the internet using a phone. Right. And we, as in the mortgage world, we don't do that right, Because you know there are a few companies who have apps out there, but it doesn't do the whole journey on an app right, as far as I know not in the UK at least right? So we thought, okay, let's make that difference right, let's make that step. So that's what it is. So it's an app-based crm system, but the difference is there are two big benefits for the customer as well as the mortgage broker. So from a customer's point of view, because you are using an app, you can get your application right. So if you're filling up that link that the mortgage broker sends, i've've spoken to brokers who say look, clients take about two hours to fill this form. Right, we think you can get it done in under 10 minutes. If it's an individual, right, I mean I've done it in eight minutes, but that's me right, Because I always like challenging myself, right. But there are like, if it's a joint application, it shouldn't take you longer than 15 minutes, right. And when I say, fill in this application.
Speaker 2:We do all the funky stuff right. So we go, you know, pick information using open banking. We integrate two credit reference agencies, we integrate IDs and things like that. So all that is done right. It's not only a matter of filling the form, but bank statements are downloaded. By the time you finish this 10 minutes, your bank statements are downloaded, your credit file is already downloaded, your ID verification is already done, right. So all that is done, Everything is done in that 10 minutes, right? So that's the aim, right. So the customer sees a massive benefit, right, Because they no longer have to spend two hours trying to do this application process. So that journey slowed down.
Speaker 2:But in the back end what happens is, because we integrate this, all the information gets populated on the CRM and that information is accurate because I'll take a few examples If you look at the, I said we use credit reference agencies, so we pick information from the credit reference agency and auto-populate the fact find. So if somebody says I have a credit card balance of 15,500, I mean they usually give you around numbers, right, but we get the most accurate number from the credit reference agency because that's what the bank numbers, right, but we get the most accurate number from the credit reference agency, because that's what the bank checks, right. And if you ask, okay, confirm your commitment, sort of thing, in the fact find, that information is again picked from the credit reference agency. So all that information is accurate, right. So whatever is in your fact find is accurate and the customer doesn't feel it right Because all that the customer does is give a few basic information. Using that basic information, we download the credit files, right, so they don't have to go to Experian or whichever credit reference agency they use and download the forms and send it to us, sort of thing. All that is not needed, right. So we've sort of made use of tech so that we can just streamline the process just using the app. And while you use the app, everything is happening in the background, right.
Speaker 2:So by the time you finish it, we actually can pinpoint a product saying, actually, this is the product that will work for you, right, I mean, strategically we won't show that because we'll say best buy is sort of thing, but the broker will get a summary of the products which we think will work for the client because, say, for example, if you look at, uh, uh, you know somebody who's on commission and bonus, right. So if your commission is monthly, uh, you know you banks treat it in a different way. If it's quarterly, it's treated in a different way. If people get commission on an annual basis, again that's treated in a different way. But we use, you know, the technology that's out there and we build some stuff for ourselves as well to make sure that when we source a product we also look at criteria. So criteria is already built in, so the product that comes out is actually accurate, right, it should work. Obviously we tell brokers to double check whether that's their job, right. But at the same time we think the product is accurate. So all that can be done in that 10 minutes, right.
Speaker 2:So now, if you look at, so that's the bigger benefit for the client, right, they're not spending time. But if you look at the other side, from mortgage broker side, they're not spending much time either because you no longer have to fill up a fact file. Of course there might be soft facts you might want to include because you're having a conversation with the client, but all the information is filled. You don't have to check because already the numbers are picked up from credit reference agencies. You know we use multiple credit reference agencies. So the number we think is accurate, right, so you don't have to check that again, it's all done. You know usually in a fact. Fine, you ask you know how much money you spend on, say, electricity, gas sort of thing? Right, you don't have to fill those. Right, Because if a client even fills it because sometimes in a rush they just put around number and send it right.
Speaker 2:But what the system does? It looks at the credit reference agencies, it looks at the, because we also use open banking. It'll look at your bank statement and pick up those numbers and populate it. So that number is accurate. So you don't have to actually check it. Right. So broker's life is going to be massively easy, right, Because they have less checking to do, because you know you don't have to fill up forms or anything like that, All that sort of populated in the system, right.
Speaker 2:So that's why I think it's you know, this is the kind of tech that we are using, right, and I think a lot of brokers should use tech right. So it will make life easier. Because if you take, you know, two years ago, you know there were a lot of remortgages but now a lot of them have become product transfers right. So the broker's income is actually dropping right compared to what it was, Because a lot of people who have to do a remortgage nowadays end up doing a product transfer, and we know that the profit on product transfers with most banks are like half of what you would normally get. So they had to work harder. And also the workload hasn't reduced, especially with consumer duty and things like that. You know the workload has actually increased, right. So how do you manage that? So if you don't, you know, take on tech. I think you'll spend a lot of time trying to do that right.
Speaker 1:So, yeah, I think it like you say it's, it's embracing the technology that's out there. Now. It's great to hear you talk about open banking and how you're embracing that in such a way, because I think that's just open banking can make brokers lives so much easier, like you say, like, and every broker that's listening to the podcast is thinking about we all know those clients that have. So, like you say, clients will just I've got 15 000 pound on my credit card actually it's 15 600 which can make clients might think, oh well, it's just 600 pound, but that can make a big difference in their what, the amount they can borrow and their application and things like that. So it's great to hear that you are embracing technology like sorry, open banking from that point of view to make everybody's lives better, really easier, because, like you say, clients haven't got to think about exactly what they pin on the gas or electricity.
Speaker 1:Everything's pulled from their credit file or their bank statements, which is obviously that's the truth and not something that can be changed or guessed in any in any kind of way. But the thing so you've got your open banking that you you are embracing as well, but then you've also got from a broker's point of view. We all know that these things of tech, criteria, hope and like things that can help with sort of with criteria. So is that something with the criteria aspects open banking again, and I understand all that and credit rating stages we all understand how those kind of work, so that that bit, from a broker point of view, is not something that's new. What are you like in terms of the criteria aspect of it when you are sourcing the product? Is that something that you use in your own technology to update criteria or is that something that the third party?
Speaker 2:Yeah, so okay. So I kept it a little simple, but I'll explain how we do. We have a concept called triangulation that we use. So with triangulation, we use multiple sources to get the information, so we don't stick to one source. So we have a way that we pull details from the banks as well as and when their criteria changes. We build that right. So that's there. So, likewise, we use third-party applications as well.
Speaker 2:So we, just because we use all three, the answer should be the same, right? So if it's not, we've built logic to go and verify which one is correct, right? So that's what we do. So, with using triangulation, it helps us, you know, refine our answers right, so that the sameulation, it helps us, you know, refine our answers right, so that the same thing goes with, you know, credit reference agency. That's why I said we use multiple agencies. So if somebody's credit file has, let's say, a mispayment, right, and two reference agencies notes that and one doesn't, right? So there's a logic built in to see, okay, see which one is correct, right? So, because if two is saying yes and one is saying no, that means, you know, it's very likely to be yes, right, because two. So that's the logic we built in.
Speaker 2:So that's why we use triangulation. So with a lot of our decisions, it's based on triangulation. So, likewise, even sourcing, we use multiple sources. Right, because sometimes the answers can differ. It's very rare, but it does differ, right, because I'm not using the examples, but there are various sourcing tools out there. So we use multiple sources and then we make sure that the answer is correct, but we give out to the client. So that's why we are very confident that it works right. So, yeah, so that's the logic we use to get the information.
Speaker 1:Okay, thanks for getting a bit deep into that and I do understand that that's given a great explanation from how you sort of got the triangulation point of view, something you sort of said in there which, um, I wanted to to explore a little bit, because if I'm a broker, sat here listening to the, to how you're embracing ai and technology and things working, thinking well, ultimately in the future, am I going to be cut out of this?
Speaker 1:Is there, is there a no need for a broker anymore? But actually what you said in there was there's still some a bit of the due diligence from a an advice point of view, from a recommendation point of view, from a broker's point of view, of doing their part of this. All you're not from what you're saying and you'll create me from wrong. What you're saying is that you are just trying to help the process, not to eliminate and get rid of brokers altogether. You run a mortgage broker firm and that's not what you're saying. It's just to help brokers work smarter, work a lot better, like work in terms of an embrace technology that is there to make their lives a lot easier.
Speaker 2:Correct. That's right. Yeah, I mean again, you know I'll use an easy example here ChatGPT. I use ChatGPT a lot. I write letters. I sometimes go and check whether my letters are correct, right, so I use that, right, and sometimes I'm stuck for words and I'm thinking let's get some views, Right? I mean you don't just copy and paste what you get from ChatGPT because everybody knows you've copied and pasted them, right? You use your sense after that to see whether that actually does make sense, right, because sometimes you know they write funny stuff, right, so you have to make sure you do that.
Speaker 2:So, likewise, what we're saying is this is there to make life easy for you, right, it's not to sort of replace you. So if, like I I said, your revenue is dropping, uh, because you know people are using product transfers nowadays and obviously the housing market isn't what it was two years ago, right, because you know people are still not buying. So if your revenue is dropping and obviously costs have gone up, we know that cost of living has gone up, right, so everything has gone up in price. So you're hit by revenue coming down and you're hit by cost going up, right, so what that means is the income you're making is actually starting to drop, unless you're getting so many new clients, right, which is not the case for everybody, right. So then you've got to find ways of sort of reducing that cost, right, and you know, increasing your revenue. So if you are using tech to help you with that, maybe you can go and talk to more clients. Right, because I've got a client who signed up for the app.
Speaker 2:He's telling me that he hasn't sold insurance in the last two years, right, and I'm thinking why? Right, because he said I don't have the time to do it. Right, and I'm thinking, no, you should have the time to do it and you're supposed to do it. Right. But you know that's the issue you have. Right, because they're struggling. They're still servicing their whole clan with product transfers, but they're still not selling their insurance. Right, but he's saying what do I do? I've got to service them. So you know, I mean he's seeing the benefits of it, right, so, so hopefully other people will as well. So it's definitely not here to sort of replace brokers and, of course, fca, I mean, I think if the comes up with guidance, uh, these kind of transactions always have to have a mortgage broker at the end, right? So. So that's why we say whatever results we get, we are you know we are fairly certain that the answers are correct.
Speaker 2:But we always tell brokers to check it right, because that's their job. But it's only here to sort of uh, cut down that admin right, because we think, uh, I speak to brokers, they tell me, like you know, I always ask this at the end of the call how much time you spend on admin. They say like about 50 50% of the time. I mean that's pretty bad, right, if you're spending 50% doing admin. I mean, I think, if you use the app right, this is our calculation right. Percentages might vary slightly, but I think brokers should be not spending more than 20% of their time. If they are using tech, right, obviously I like to relate it to my app. But at the same time, if you are using the tech properly, you shouldn't be spending more than that. Right, because even another feature we have is the suitability reports. Right, suitability reports. The system does it right.
Speaker 2:I know there are some CRMs who populate certain things, but here, based on the notes that you've written, it pulls up that detail. It does like what a chat GPT does. We have our own GPT. It writes a letter for you. Obviously, the letter will come out. We think it's good enough to send, but it's the broker's job just to verify that it makes sense, because this is AI, at the end of the day, that we are using. It's to make life easy for you. But if you have to still make a few corrections, you can.
Speaker 1:But we think the letter is good enough to go I think, like, say you, you are using it for a lot of brokers it's just having that template there. So, like with everything, like a lot of people use chat, most people use chat gpt now just to give that foundation for somewhere to start. Whatever you're doing, like you say, sense checking your letters, whatever you're using it for, it just gives you that basis to then to then tweak your own personality into that document or whatever that. Whatever you're using chat gpt for, I think the the big point for me is what you sort of said there was about. The big point for me is what you sort of said there was about protection. It's about the other sides, aspects of the income that brokers can forget about when they're busy, and retention of those clients as well, which, which I'll explain. But I think, like I said, there's a lot of brokers I see where they are just busy, just doing mortgages. They may be broker free, free, free, so they're not charging a broker fee and they're just very transactional in terms of mortgage, mortgage, mortgage, mortgage, mortgage and and they're they are not offering that. They're not talking to the clients about protection and the reasons why they can, how they can lose their home and and all those aspects of it. They're not spotting other opportunities, like sort of referrals to financial advisors for pension advice or investment advice. All these are the things that brokers have, like wills and estate planning. All these are the things that brokers can talk about with their clients, but don't because they don't have the time. This is great for me because I'm like thinking that this is where you're using technology to give you more time to work smarter, to use that time wisely, not to just waste it, but use the time wisely to to develop your protection knowledge if that's the gap or develop your sales skills in terms of protection and all those things. And then making sure you've got part of the process to talk to your client about protection from the start, all the way through the process and then at the end still making sure because a broker that's just transactional, that's just doing the mortgage, your mortgage, your mortgage, because they don't have time to do anything else. Like that's not something I believe in Now. That's not something like if they hand off to a hand off to a protection advisor, that's okay, but yeah, but I'm very much around if you're doing the mortgage, if you're getting somebody into a hundred thousand, two hundred thousand half a million pound into debt.
Speaker 1:You should make sure that it's the client's choice to leave, not anybody else's, because they're your client. You should be looking after the client. It's the client's choice to leave, not anybody else's, because they're your client. You should be looking after the client. It's about your advice and recommendation.
Speaker 1:So you have to talk about protection, because when the worst happens and it happens to people every single day as a broker once you experience that for your client and your client rings you up and says, okay, this partner's not here anymore and the main breadwinner's not here, and then we're not, what do we do? What do we do? You've got to tell that client so say, well, I could have talked, you could have had income protection or you could have had life cover, but I didn't do, I didn't talk to you about that, I didn't refer to you as my client, to somebody that I work with, to do that. When you get those calls and you get those experiences, you want to make sure that that doesn't happen to you again A to your client, but B to you as a mortgage broker.
Speaker 1:So this sort of thing is and this is why it's great to get you onto the podcast because and I'm sort of getting like motivated and passionate about it because it will it's not here to take out, it's just to streamline the process, to build, have the ability to broker, not to cut them out but for them, give them the ability to develop themselves personal development from a product knowledge point of view, with its protection, whether it's wills, estate planning just to see the clients with, to work with them and see the opportunities that's there as part of consumer duty as well. That's surrounding all this, to sort of say, look, you have got a show, you've not got a will in place. This is what's going to happen. Your protection, this is what we need to talk about this, what can happen, and it's just making sure that you've got the time and effort with your client to go through a proper job and not just cut corners and take short calls.
Speaker 2:This is what this is for me the benefit for that, for what you're talking about, what you're developing and I'm sure it will when we'll talk about the future in a bit like I'm sure it's going to continue developing, but this is a massive plus from a broker point of view yeah, definitely, yeah, I'm sure they will benefit because we have a few early adapters and they're liking it, and even our clients are liking it because they're like, okay, you know, because quite often what our brokers do is, I mean, this is a tip I'm giving away, because when they have the initial chat, they just get the client to use that while they have the chat right, so they know, in 10 minutes, at the end of the conversation, we already have the bank statement and the product is also ready for them, right, they just need to do the checking, right, so it is, you know, we've seen the fruits of it, right For sure.
Speaker 2:But you know there are few early adopters because we are still a new product out there, because we've been around for about two months now, right, so it's not very long since we've launched. Yeah, uh, so there are a few early adopters and they seem to be liking it as well, which is good, yeah and I think, like you say, it benefits not only the client.
Speaker 1:It benefit, like you say, not only the brokers, but it's benefiting the clients in a in a big way as well.
Speaker 1:Because, like you say, when you get in, if you're going through a mortgage, like we take things for granted in the mortgage industry, as mortgage brokers, we take clients knowledge for, for granted that. But people these are sort of things that the processing of a mortgage or buying a house for a client could be every five years, could is every through two years. It's not something they're doing every single day like we are. I think we sort of really underestimate that in terms of what. And so clients want a better process, they want a streamlined process. They want to have the ease and less distractions within what they need to be doing day to day because we've all got busy lives. So the mortgage part of it if they can go into the app, submit the applicant, submit their information, go through the process, use open banking, everything's pulled together. There's benefits to brokers, but massively from a from a client point of view, because it makes life a lot easier for them yeah, definitely it will, because at because, end of the day, you need to keep the client happy, isn't it?
Speaker 2:because they, if somebody goes through a journey quite quick, they're like, oh wow, why spending two hours? Right, I only spent 10 minutes on that, right? So they go and talk to other people. So, when they talk to other people, invariably you're going to, you know, look, better compared to the competitor out there who gives you a form to fill. So it makes a big difference. So I think we will see results of it in the months to come, because currently, like I said, the feedback has been really good. So people who have kind of taken it but obviously you have to have that open mind saying that, look, tech is out there, I want to use this tech. Right, so you have to go with a have an open mind, otherwise it's difficult, right, because a lot of the brokers, like I said, you know not a lot, there are a few brokers, because I've been on various stages as well right? So there are some brokers think, oh, this is actually going to take away my job, right, but if you start with negative, you're not going to do anything, right?
Speaker 1:So, yeah, Absolutely, and that's the thing is that you've got to be I've talked about it too many times, about being, as a broker you've got to be adaptable. You've got to embrace technology, embrace change, but then, with being adaptable, you are then and I think we are within the mortgage industry we are becoming more adaptable. We have lost the stigmata from years and years ago and the financial advisors and the mortgage advisors and the whole process and the whole system and the whole industry. We are losing that from a as the I don't know what. Know what I don't want.
Speaker 1:I want to be politically correct. The old guard, the old school, whatever you want to call it. They are retiring, they're selling the client banks, they're moving on. You've got so much like new people going to industry. I'd like work with some amazing people that are just starting out in the industry, that are really looking to build their business, build, build a brand, grow and become a long-term future in this industry. So things like this. You're not looking to replace them, it's just looking to streamline the process, and I think the right brokers will welcome this with open arms.
Speaker 1:I think this is how it can work for me. They say, if you start with a negative of well, you're just looking at how to replace me and you can hear those. I can hear those people now who listen to podcasts, but well, they're just about. They just need to looking to get rid of the brokers.
Speaker 1:After this is the, it's the end of the world as we know it and the rest of it that's not and that might happen in the future. We never know what's going to happen in in long ways in the future. However, as what you're trying to produce, what you are producing here and you're trying to change, you're not replacing the broker, it's just enhancing their, the time and their business to make sure for them to to work a lot smarter. So, and in terms of, I knew we that we'd sort of have, we should be like time wise. I knew we just wouldn't struggle to talk and fulfill the the time of the podcast, but I wanted to let you say you're only a few months in. What's the future like? Are you busy with what's happening now, or you think about the future of the product, or where's your head at for you right now and the business?
Speaker 2:We have a roadmap. So this is what you're seeing is only the surface currently right, because there's so much that we are adding on. We've also gone live with something called Amy. Amy is a voice assistant right, we give this as an optional thing to the mortgage brokers. If they want, they can have this as well.
Speaker 2:So, on the app, you have something like Alexa built in right, so you can ask questions. So if you are, say, for example, I'm the mortgage broker and let's say I'm doing this podcast, right, and somebody wants to ask a question I'm not there, they can go and ask questions. So Amy will try to answer some of the basic questions, like you know, what's a fixed rate mortgage? What's a variable? It can. Also this is the difference between Amy and something like Alexa right, it can have a dialogue flow, meaning it can ask questions. So, for example, if somebody is trying to consolidate debt, right, they can ask a question Okay, I want to debt consolidate. Then it'll ask question like how much do you want to sort of consolidate? Right, and it'll get those. It'll do the calculations on the fly. So it's very intelligent. That way, it can have a human-like conversation, so that we can have a human-like conversation so that we build that as well. So that's there, it's live, and it's optional for sort of brokers if they want to use that as well. We don't charge for that. That comes free with the app anyway.
Speaker 2:Then we've got something called preemptive underwriting, which is just gone live. So with preemptive underwriting, we can tell how much a client can actually afford, right, because we have access to open banking and we have access to the credit files, we can underwrite a case. Actually, we actually can underwrite a case. So when I say underwrite a case, it'll tell you how much the client can afford. It can even go back, if needed, up to two years to look at the client right, their history. So if somebody's income has suddenly gone up to 50,000 from being, I don't know, 25,000 or whatever it is, we can see that history. So we will do this. The system can do a lot of things that the underwriter will do in the background. So that's why we call it preemptive underwriting.
Speaker 2:So we have built up some of those clever features as well which have just gone live. But likewise we are adding a lot of other things as we go, because we have a roadmap and we want to stick to that and obviously we've got the finances to help us as well. So, therefore, we know we can go through that journey. So what you see today is probably not what you'll see in three months' time or six months' time or years, because, again, like I said, you need to keep embracing technology, right? Otherwise your app that you build, or app-based CRM you build, will be obsolete in no time. Right, because other people will catch up. Right, because they'll come up with something. They'll come up with something smarter, but we have to keep doing it as well, right. So we have a lot of things in our roadmap, but, you know, watch this space because they are coming, right. So coming one by one, and we're working on some of the projects parallelly, right, so hopefully they'll start coming in soon as well.
Speaker 1:Yeah, excellent I think, like I say you, you buy, you've to embrace technology, but then also you've got to it's not going to be, this is the end of the road. Well, you've created something and then that's now working and you just leave it. You've got to be constantly developing and moving forward. And moving forward because, like I said, there'll always be a competitor that's bringing something out, or you're wanting to be. From what you're saying and the way you've. You've come across you want to be the forefront of this, to then sort of move brokers thinking in terms of embracing technology, and you want to be the, the business that is there helping brokers to embrace that technology by making their lives easier. So, yeah, I think you've given yourself a a ticket back onto podcast in six months time to update where we're at and how you're getting on and things like that.
Speaker 2:So thank you for that.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, no, no, yeah, like I said, so I'm sat here as a broker right now. I've listened to you on the podcast. Obviously we've not got, we've just skimmed the surface in terms of what you're doing and the whole product and the pros and things like that. I'm sat here thinking I want to understand more about mortgage x and what it does and the app and how it works and what's the what. How do people reach out to you? How do people sort of start looking into what you're offering?
Speaker 2:yeah, uh. So I mean, people can connect to me on linkedin. I'm more than happy to connect people through LinkedIn and talk to them. We are also presenting a lot of social media. We go as MortgageX. If you type on social media, you'll find us. We are on different platforms, as well as websites as well. Do get in touch in any of those means. Like I said, we are quite forward looking, right. So therefore, you know we are open with all these sort of new sort of means of communication. So if you want to contact us using those means, please feel free to do so. I mean, we can arrange a demo and show exactly how it works, right? And if people want to play around, we have, you know well which we can show them, right? So, uh, you know we can do that as well yeah, excellent.
Speaker 1:So I think we'll make sure that in the show notes we've got all your links in there for your linkedin. Get the demo both through to your website and everything else, so we'll make it as easy as possible for people to reach out and get the uh, the demos booked in. Definitely, definitely, it's the car.
Speaker 1:Thank you so much for coming on to the podcast. Thanks for coming on. Thank you for trusting me with no agenda and just being very, uh, conversational. I really appreciate that and it's been great to talk to you. It's been great to hear a lot more about you and your the personality side of it, rather than just sort of seeing the the tech side of it, and it's good to hear how you sort of you really are like wanting to develop the broker, the broker role, to make it easier for them to then work smarter and then, obviously, um, embracing technology and adapting to, to change the receipt. But thank you so much for your time. Thanks for coming to the podcast and, like Noel said, no doubt we'll get you back on in six months' time to updates on where we're at.
Speaker 2:Thank you very much, Craig. Thanks for having me, and you know it's lovely being here on the show, for sure. Thank you very much, Craig.
Speaker 1:Well, thank you. Thank you for listening. Thank you, ithaca, for coming on the podcast. I think, fair to say, I really appreciate you being a guest, giving a true, honest account of yourself, sharing exactly what MortgageX is and, as as I've said in the podcast, all the links to the to MortgageX and booking demos and links to Ithaca and his social media profiles all within the show notes. So so reach out, book your own demo, have a look at what MortgageX is offering. That can help enhance your current process. Any thoughts or comments or feedback, leave them in whichever platform you listen to or watch the podcast on. So thanks very much for that.
Speaker 1:I've also, if you've not seen already, I've got a new podcast out, daily podcast every Monday to Friday, which is called the Morning Mindset. Also links in the show notes as well to that. Looking at just daily inspiration, daily practical advice in terms of the morning mindset and running a business and being self-employed. So have a listen to that. Any thoughts, feedback on that then? Uh, please again, leave them on whatever platform you listen to or watch their podcast. Thank you, if you are thinking about becoming a self-employed mortgage broker or or looking to set up your own mortgage broker firm, brand and business, or you're looking to accelerate the growth of your existing one. Please see my website, craigscaltoncouk, and that will on. There will explain how I can help you develop and grow your business and, as always, don't forget to run your own race.