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Special Reports
Loan Origination Systems
Empower Releases Front End Point of Sale Software
By Jennifer Harmon
JACKSONVILLE, FL -- Empower, a division of Fidelity National Financial Inc. and
a provider of mortgage origination software here, has released its Empower Point of Sale Desktop. This new front-end
module provides seamless integration into the Empower enterprise suite, creating an end-to-end loan origination
software solution.
According to the company, 20 of the nation's top 100 mortgage origination lenders
currently use the Empower platform. Empower POS Desktop leverages existing Empower technology with direct access
and integration to industry-leading Fidelity products and services, including flood determinations, real estate
tax service, automated valuation models, credit reports and the industry's premier loan servicing platform, MSP.
In addition, the production is approved and current with industry standard services offered by Fannie Mae, Freddie
Mac and others.
This premier point-of-sale system is designed to work in a call center and/or
branch-banking environment. It can also be used in a standalone configuration on a laptop computer and/or be connected
through a local or wide area network.
"Empower POS Desktop was previewed at our annual user group conference in
March and was received with great enthusiasm from our customer base," said Al Bartello, vice president of
sales and marketing for Fidelity Empower.
"We are optimistic that our customers will rapidly transition to this system
for contact lead management, loan pre-qualification, product pricing and loan opening. It gives our prospects and
customers real-time data integration to the Empower back-office platform, eliminates their need to maintain multiple
systems and gives them an immediate return on their investment."
Empower is a small part of the overall enterprise lending system, said Joe Delaney,
president and chief executive officer of Empower.
"It handles everything from the time you think of taking a mortgage out until
it is packaged," he said. "It allows the loan officer to talk to prospective borrowers, to pre-qualify
them with automated underwriting."
Empower reaches the lending community serving banks, savings and loans, mortgage
bankers and subprime lenders with retail, wholesale and correspondent business channels. Its software accommodates
every aspect of lending from POS through secondary marketing, as well as complete interfacing systems with servicing,
flood, appraisal and title.
In order to meet and exceed technology objectives, Empower created the state-of-the-art
solution client/server application to allow for the creation of a platform to optimize the company's lending operation.
The LOS solution can be tailored so each customer can maximize personnel and financial resources now and in the
future.
"The flexibility makes us unique," Mr. Delaney said, "Empower is
the most powerful loan origination system out there. The system is full service and customizable - totally robust."
Empower reaches customers from coast to coast. "This isn't like a low-end
system that brokers use or small bankers. This is an enterprise system. Every facet of lending is touched."
Approximately five years ago the cost of originating a loan for the average lender
was several thousand dollars per borrower, said Mr. Delaney. Through the advent of the enterprise loan origination
system, that number is now close to a thousand dollars or less per customer.
"Our solution allows lenders, through various loan programs, to have the
ability to customize a loan origination system to adapt to the marketplace," he said.
"It's national, but it goes down to the regional and state level as well.
For example, in Florida some of the lending laws are going to be different than those that exist in California.
"Or some laws exist only in Texas. This is truly a robust loan origination
system that allows you to handle lending across all 50 states."
Lenders have the ability to draw and pull documents, report data for the Home
Mortgage Disclosure Act, and to automatically run loans through automated underwriters through Fannie Mae and Freddie
Mac, Mr. Delaney said.
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