YORKSHIRE BUILDING SOCIETY

facilitate debit card payments as a way of paying mortgage fees and into online savings accounts . A year later , YBS became the first UK lender to allow mortgage applicants to complete an entire application online . Conveyancing was also brought into the online mortgage application process in the same year .

And it is mortgages where the most impressive progress has been made in recent months too . Enter Nick Mortimer , Head of Marketing and Ecommerce , responsible for key brand messaging and driving ecommerce activity .

“ Mobile devices , especially tablets , are delivering much greater volumes of mortgage application traffic ,” he explains . “ Around 40 percent of our applications begin through mobile devices , and we are about to launch a fully-responsive

mortgage and savings applications process on mobile .” The amount of existing borrower transfers being carried out online has also risen , last year seeing a jump of 60 percent . Webchats are also being incorporated into the YBS website , again helping customers to achieve more online .

Further enhancing the convenience factor for customers is a 10-minute mortgage agreement in principle service , rolled out last year . “ If you ’ re looking to buy a house , one of the first things an estate agent will ask is whether you have a mortgage agreed . In terms of ease , simplicity and confidence , it really helps ,” Mortimer continues .

Overall turnaround times were halved during the course of 2016 . Average turnaround for an application now lies at around 11 days , compared with 23 just over a year ago . Central to this has been listening to feedback from brokers , who account for around 60 percent

136 May 2017