"There’s a range of challenges facing small businesses at the moment so it’s never been more important for them to be able to get a quick financing decision."
Atom Bank has launched broker-instructed valuations and made key improvements to its commercial mortgage underwriting process.
Broker-instructed valuations will allow brokers to directly instruct a property valuation at any point up until an Agreement in Principle is issued, including before brokers have even submitted a lending application to Atom.
This type of valuation will be optional, so if brokers wish, they can still choose to have Atom instruct the valuation after an offer has been issued. A broker-instructed valuation could allow for a reduction in the time to completion by up to two weeks, while providing more certainty over the lending decision and loan facility, along with greater control and visibility over the progress of a case. For customers, it’ll mean faster decisioning, a higher level of certainty on their loan and earlier drawdown due to a more efficient application process.
Tech improvements for commercial mortgage applications
Atom has also transformed its underwriting process for commercial mortgage applications. The improvements include faster decisioning, with the average time it takes for an underwriter to assess a case being cut by half. The bank has also added new team members and increased underwriter mandates to allow more cases to move to offer without being passed on to a higher mandate holder.
Atom has improved its broker portal, with 171 new enhancements to the business lending journey, to ensure brokers are only asked once for all the information needed to provide a lending decision and have reduced internal data capture to allow the underwriting team to make faster lending decisions too.
David Castling, head of intermediary distribution at Atom Bank, commented: “We’re excited to be introducing broker-instructed valuations, which offers a huge range of benefits to both the broker and their customers, including faster decisioning and more certainty. We also know slow underwriting processes are one of the key barriers that brokers face when seeking a lending decision, which is why we’ve taken the time to implement so many key tech changes to support our broker community.
“As a digital lender, we’re constantly innovating and looking at the ways in which we can improve our processes, to make the experience of borrowing faster, easier and better value than others in the market. There’s a range of challenges facing small businesses at the moment so it’s never been more important for them to be able to get a quick financing decision. These transformative changes will enable brokers to support businesses effectively, as they continue to rebound and grow.”
Louise Chapman, commercial director at VAS Valuation Group, added: “Brokers who instruct valuations directly with us stay in charge of the application all the way through to completion. This reduces friction in getting a deal over the line, delivering improved efficiencies and dramatic time savings. Atom is a bank seeking to streamline processes, and this change in the instruction path will help to further refine the mortgage application journey for customers and brokers alike.”
