This page outlines features of VMP’s demonstration application form for UK mortgage lenders. This demonstration consists of an application environment which is used for the completion of a full mortgage application, and in practice would be opened from an intranet or internet site. On completion the form data would be submitted online, immediately entering a lender’s application administration system.

The same application environment could be tailored to suit customer advisors in branches, in call centres, advisors using laptops at a clients premises, agents, intermediaries, and customers accessing via the lender’s website.

In practice the VMP mortgage solution would be reconstructed with the lenders existing mortgage application form. Any other features that are required can also be added.

Bespoke Mortgage Application Environment.
Rather than being a linear form, the VMP mortgage application is embedded with in a self-contained environment – with different documents and features. With mortgage application forms being so complicated, the VMP solution is designed to make it intuitive and easy for the user to complete the form and related tasks. Sections are selected from the menu beside the form window, and once the form is loaded, these can be all used off-line. The sections are as follows:

     1. Information pages – Information for the user about how to complete the electronic application, along with information about mortgages in general. Pages of graphics as well as text can be presented to the user to provide as much background information as is useful. These pages can printed if required.

     2. The mortgage application form itself – divided into seven pages.

     3. Dynamic Extra page – As the user fills in the main form, there are 28 instances where the applicant might be required to provide more information – details about a bankruptcy, details about an insurance claim, details of additional recent employment, etc. The form monitors the user, and when it spots that more information is required, on the Extra Page the specific question will appear, along with space for an answer.  If the user has to enter 5 words or 500 words, spacing will adjust live on the page to accommodate this. Note, on this extra page, each answer is a separate form field, and can be entered into the corresponding field in a database. This data is therefore already categorised, without an operator manually having to separate text that would otherwise appear in a one complete block.

The user can switch back and forth between the main form and this extra page.

     4. Submit the form. The form checks that it has been completed and is without errors or omissions. Data is then submitted to the lender’s website. If the user is disconnected from the internet at this point, reconnection will occur automatically. After the form has been submitted, the VMP application will remain on screen, so that the user can save it and print pages, if required.

     5. Declaration. This two page document provides the extensive contractual information about the application, and is printed and signed by the applicant when the form has been completed. It is dynamic, with applicant details appearing on the page. Contract clauses appear or disappear depending on the applicants answers – for example, if the applicant declines to have income insurance, this fact appears on the declaration.

     6. Checklist. This is a list of things that the user must do after a form has been completed such as provide proof of identification, property deeds, and so forth. The checklist is dynamic, and is created as the user fills in the form. For example, if the applicant is self employed, the checklist will show that they must provide their business accounts. If they are employed, the checklist will then remind them that they must provide wage slips.

     7. Direct Debit Form. This form is cross-populated from the main form with the applicants bank details, ready for completing, printing and signing. It would be straightforward to add further forms to this mortgage application environment, such as a bank account application, insurance application forms, and so forth. These could be cross-populated from the main mortgage form, saving a substantial amount of time, and therefore making it very easy for applicants to buy extra services.

     8. Saving applications. The form viewer page has a save button. Data is saved in an encrypted file on the user’s PC. Users can save as many different applications as they wish. Data from a previous forms is returned to a form with the load button – users select the data file they wish to use.

Display of form and documents.
The form looks just like a paper equivalent, with multi-font text, high quality graphics, 24-bit colour. The form is created with vector graphics, and adjusts in size to fit any screen, whatever the resolution, graphics card type, graphics settings, or version of Windows.

Sizing controls: using Zoom controls, the user can adjust size of the form on the screen, to suit their preferences.

Instantaneous page movement. Each page is displayed within 0.2 second, so the user can browse back and forth through the entire form without any delay. This occurs, even when the user is offline.

Form features.
Features on screen.

• Check Boxes

• Drop Lists / Combo Boxes.

• Single line text boxes.

• Multi-line text boxes.

• Field font type and size that varies in different parts of the form.

• Date boxes – dates entered manually or by selecting from a drop down calendar graphic.

• Currency fields – with and without comma separated value, with and without decimal places.

Helping the user.

• Guide messages that appear or disappear, to guide the user through the form.

• Help messages that can be called when the user clicks into a field.

• User can switch back and forth between form, and help pages.

Form simplification.
As the user fills in the form, it monitors answers and instantly “opens” or “closes” different areas of the form depending on previous answers. Unnecessary fields and sections fade into the background – and the form actually prevents the users filling in these fields. Self employed people are guided past questions for employees and so forth. This turns a long complex form, into something shorter and simpler.

Keyboard use.
The form can be completed without any use of the mouse. The route through a form is plotted at design time, and using the Tab key the user moves from field to field, jumping over irrelevant areas of the form. At the end of a page, Tab key will move the user to the first relevant field on the next page.

Form Error Checking.
Error checking routine.
At any point when the form is being completed, and as many times as they wish, pressing the “Show Errors” button will initiate the form to check itself for errors. The user is presented with a count of the total number of form errors and the pages on which they appear.

The number of erroneous fields on the current page is also displayed, and these fields are highlighted in red. On clicking into these highlighted fields, this produces an error message to explain why there is an error – “this is a required field”, “this is an invalid email address”, etc.

Relevant data only.
The form only allows the user to enter data in fields that are relevant to them. As well as simplifying form-filling for the user, this is also beneficial for the lender – it removes the need to query inconsistent answers. For example, with a paper form if the applicant says that they want to pay the application fee by cheque, but also write in their credit card details, this causes administration problems. With the VMP mortgage solution, if the applicant answers that they wish to pay the fee by cheque, they are prevented from entering credit card details, thus preventing confusion. Inconsistencies are therefore pre-empted.

Field “masking”.
The user is forced to enter data in a particular format e.g. Bank sort codes and national insurance numbers.

Form and document printing.
Blank and completed form pages are printed when initiated with the “print” button. This produces high quality output on any PC printer. This option is required for the signing of the declaration (a legal requirement under the Consumer Credit Act). If any statutory requirements change under FSA regulations for the presentation of documents, these can be implemented on all forms within hours.

Further Options.
VMP technology is very flexible – existing features can be tailored and new features can be created to suit the requirements of UK lenders. Many features that are possible with VMP technology have not been included in this demonstration. Please contact us to discuss how the VMP solution can fit your needs.