"KB PRO is lender-inspired system putting the missing piece of the criteria jigsaw in lender’s hands"
Knowledge Bank has launched a new lender-focused criteria system, KB PRO, that gives lenders a dedicated system to better manage their criteria data and a range of tools to improve how their criteria is communicated to brokers.
KB PRO offers head office staff, BDMs, underwriters, internal sales teams and brokers a consistent source of criteria data and wording updated in real-time.
Knowledge Bank says its research found that most lenders do not have an internal system on which to store their criteria with many using spreadsheets or their intranet, which may not always tally with what is on their website. KB PRO solves this problem by providing one single source of information for their whole business. As well as providing a single point of entry to keep the whole eco-system up to date, it also means the information that internal lender teams have access to will mirror exactly what brokers see when they search for criteria on Knowledge Bank.
KB PRO will display any instant blockers that will prevent the lender lending on a case as well as all of the criteria they will lend on. If the lender won’t lend on a particular case, it will show the other lenders who will.
There is also an ‘at a glance’ feature which highlights recently updated criteria to help pinpoint what and when changes have been made so that all staff are kept informed to save misunderstandings.
KB PRO also introduces a historic log of the lender’s criteria changes, revealing when criteria changes were made so any queries on historic cases now show what the prevailing policy was at any given time.
The ‘case builder‘ functionality allows lender staff and BDMs to build the case as the broker makes an enquiry, either over the phone or in person. Results are displayed with any ‘blockers’ that would stop the case progressing with the criteria conditions that would need to be met. This fast-tracks the new business enquiry process as they can understand quickly whether the outstanding conditions can or cannot be met, stopping time-wasting, failed applications that will inevitably fail later in the application process.
The launch of KB PRO will see the beginning of several new product releases from Knowledge Bank to bring about better communication and efficiencies across multiple teams and departments in relation to lending policy and new business enquires from brokers.
Nicola Firth, CEO at Knowledge Bank, said: “Lenders using KB PRO are demonstrating a real investment in more accurate communications with brokers and a commitment to consistency with regards to criteria messaging across their business.
“Lenders and brokers across the industry acknowledge that criteria sourcing is now firmly embedded in the mortgage advice process prior to a product search. KB PRO is lender-inspired system putting the missing piece of the criteria jigsaw in lender’s hands to ensure their team are all on the same page and at the same time.
"Knowledge Bank holds over 140,000 criteria across seven different lending types from over 260 lenders and is the UK’s largest database of mortgage lending criteria and so we recognise our responsibility in helping lenders to achieve the levels of communication needed to avoid wasted time on failed applications that are an on-going source of frustration for brokers and their clients. Nothing is more frustrating to brokers than hearing a BDM tell them something different to what is on the lender’s own website or speaking to two different people and getting two different answers.”
