Missing the refi opportunity

Had you listened to your mortgage banking group last year and built that online mortgage module they wanted, this spring you could have:

•  Captured thousands of new homeowner “eyeballs” (netspeak for Web site visitors/users) by capitalizing on the immense consumer interest in refinancing mortgages and consolidating debt. It’s not too late to catch the next wave.
•  Booked hundreds or thousands of incremental loans and other products from refi shoppers traversing the Web in search of the best deal. And by leveraging the communications power of the Internet, you could convert a significant number of the loan transactions into complete long-term banking “relationships”.

But if you believe everything you read, you might be thinking online lending isn’t ready for prime time. For example, the current issue of Faulkner & Gray’s “Collections & Credit Risk” contains the ominous cover story entitled, Fear of Online Lending ccr.faulknergray.com/art1.htm.

Don’t believe it! One relatively little-known site, GetSmart www.getsmart.com is already delivering thousands of mortgage leads per day to more than 82 lenders . But you don’t hear much about it. Lenders are keeping results close to their vest. Why tip off the competition in what promises to be the most important distribution medium for mortgages, home equity loans, and revolving credit?