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VMP
Mortgage Solution |
Standard
Internet Mortgage Forms |
| Reliability. |
High - Forms work both on and offline, and are not affected by internet
slowdowns, busy or stalled servers, or broken connections.
A
VMP form
is crash-proof, even if there is a power-cut, lost data is
automatically restored.
|
Low Half finished forms have to be abandoned because of
network congestion, busy or crashed servers. Given the time
an interview takes, this occurrence is not unusual. When
this happens, mortgage advisors may have to abandon an
interview, or at least endure severe embarrassment.
|
| Look of form. |
Forms
look just like existing paper forms. Pages are scaled to fit the
users PC, and look the same, whatever the computer's settings,
screen resolution, version of Windows, etc.
|
Form
text and graphics cannot adjust in size. Simple, oversized graphics have to be
used so that
forms can fit on the lowest common denominator user's PC. Each mortgage form paper page has to be spread
over 5 to 10 internet pages.
|
| Preventing filling of irrelevant fields. |
The VMP form monitors what the user enters and
instantly blanks out any fields throughout the form that become
irrelevant. |
Internet forms cannot
blank out and hide irrelevant areas actively on the form page.
Instead, a single page has to be further divided into smaller pages
which should only appear if required (e.g. a separate page for
details of each additional person intending to live in a property).
A full mortgage form will consist of around 50
- 100 form pages, only a proportion of which should appear.
|
| Application
Reliability |
Forms
are built entirely without programming. They are built with
technology which has been tried and tested by thousands of mortgage
lenders, and is extremely stable. |
Forms
are typically built from scratch, often as a one-off project, using
server side programming. It is notoriously difficult to test every
aspect of programming on a very long form - there are so many
parameters that can vary. Page ordering is particularly problematic.
In some cases, the results can be flakey -
forms can break-down, particularly if an applicant makes changes to
answers. |
| Speed of deployment. |
Fast A fully usable UK E-mortgage form can be
created and deployed in 3 days. Addition of full intelligence
features and data integration can be achieved within 1 to 2 weeks,
without a substantial drain on staff resources. Existing paper
mortgage forms require little or no redesigning when
converted to a VMP form. |
Very Slow. The huge
difference between the existing paper mortgage form and the internet
form, means that the conversion project becomes a major undertaking
for staff. Programming is slow, and the testing of this programming
is long drawn out. A least 6 months for a fully optimised, fully tested mortgage form
is typical. The complexity of the requirements of a UK mortgage form
may
not always be foreseen prior to the project start. |
| Speed of use. |
High users can instantly move from page to
page, even when offline. |
Pages have to
be sent back and forth to the server, one at a time. Waits of between 5
and 15 seconds for each page to appear are typical.
With so many pages, this makes form filling painfully slow. |
| Productivity. |
High - Forms are filled in 40% of the time that internet
forms take.
|
Low forms take
substantially longer
than paper to fill in. There is lots of dead waiting time for pages to be created
on the server. |
| Future changes. |
Easily made without programming fields and text
can be added/deleted/moved, and the updated form deployed within hours
of the change being required.
|
Even trivial changes
require programming Significant changes can take weeks for programming
and testing to be completed. |
| Spread of users. |
Works on Windows PCs only (Windows 3,
95, 98, ME, XP, NT, 2000).
Counter to predictions of a few years ago, the use of Digital TV,
internet only devices, game consoles, mobile phones, and PDAs, as a means to
access the internet have failed to materialise.
98.5% of UK internet users have access
through Windows PC.
|
Simple internet
forms will work on 100% of computers with an
internet connection.
Extended internet forms, where JavaScript programming adds
some interaction live on a form page (highlighting errors before a page is submitted, for example), have less than
100% coverage. Apple Macs produce problematic results.
Some users of Windows XP, cannot view JavaScript extended
forms, and some non-Microsoft browsers can't run them.
|
| Printing |
Form
and associated documents can be printed in perfect quality on any
PC printer. Form creates its own customised declarations and
checklists. |
Cannot
be printed without numerous formatting errors, inconsistencies, and missed information. |
| FSA
regulations |
VMP
technology can already be used to produce CP98 compliant mortgage
illustrations. Lenders are forearmed for any future FSA requirements
for mortgage forms and documents. |
Cannot
produce FSA compliant documentation. |
| Browsing Blank form. |
User can browse back and forth through
the whole
form,
when blank, when part filled, and when completed. |
User cannot look at
blank form pages can only be shown if previous page has been filled
in and is error free. |
| Filling in a form with incomplete
data. |
User can fill in form, even if they do not have
all of the information required to hand. When they wish they can get the
form to highlight errors, but any errors can be ignored during
filling. An error-free form is only required immediately prior to
submission.
Applicants can part fill a form prior to an interview. An advisor
can continue to fill in a form in spite of some details being
unavailable in the interview. Joint applicants can fill in the form
together or separately. |
The server
only knows which pages to show, if the previous page has been
completed.
A user cannot move to the next page if there are any errors or omissions on
the current page.
Unless the user knows every bit of information in advance,
the form-filling has to be interrupted until the information is found
(form filling in an interview might have to be abandoned simply because an
applicant cannot remember their national insurance number). Users cannot part fill
a form prior to an interview. The form cannot be part-filled during an
interview. Joint applicants cannot fill in the form separately.
|
| Data Quality. |
High quality data the form checks for errors
and omissions. But when these occur, the user can continue with the
rest of the form, and correct the mistakes later. |
Produces lower quality
data rather than abandoning the form every time a user comes up
against something for which they are not certain, there is a tendency
to put in guesses or incorrect information, simply to get past the
forms error checking and get onto the next page. |
| Learning Curve. |
Fast Form is just the same as the existing paper
forms, and is easy for staff to use.
|
Slow Form looks nothing
like existing form. Takes a long time to gain familiarity. Dynamic
paging is very confusing every time the form is filled in, different pages
will appear and disappear. |
| User Experience. |
Users have a high level of satisfaction forms
are designed to make life easy for users.
|
Once the novelty of using internet forms has worn off, users
have a low level of satisfaction. Advisors that experience the form
failing just once in a live interview situation, gain a permanent dislike of
using such forms. |
| BOTTOM LINE. |
Virtually every US mortgage lender
has abandoned any attempt to use internet forms for full
mortgage applications used by advisors, agents, and
intermediaries. 85% of mortgage lenders in the US are now using VMP technology
for applications.
The remainder are using other advanced E-form technology not internet
forms
Agents
and intermediaries prefer to use VMP forms to paper forms,
and do not require any incentive to use them. Most of the
efficiency savings of using forms goes to the lender.
|
Many UK lenders have an internet mortgage form. Few have
persisted with any attempt to use it in branch situations.
Of those that have done so, none that has done so is fully satisfied with the results.
Agents and intermediaries do not like using
internet forms. Use has only been tolerated
when they are paid substantial sums to do so. Much of the cost savings of using internet
mortgage forms are wiped out in development costs, low
productivity and having to pay people to use them.
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