The last few years have seen a spate of natural disasters, from historic flooding to out-of-control wildfires, making it more important than ever for financial institutions to partner with the right provider of lender-placed insurance to protect their assets. Servicers and investors need an insurance partner that will not only provide a range of products, but leverage technology to make the whole process efficient and transparent for the financial institution and the homeowner.
SWBC, an international financial services company founded in 1976, delivers streamlined lender-placed protection programs that satisfy regulators, servicers and homeowners. SWBC is a flexible partner for financial institutions of any size, with scalable mortgage protection services that allow clients to pick the programs that fit them best.
Financial institutions have a range of options to choose from, including web-based self-service, perfect for smaller portfolios; MortgageFlex, which lets clients control customer contact but leverages SWBC technology; and full outsourcing.
Not only is SWBC adaptable to the many business needs of investors, but the company is able to work with multiple carriers on behalf of servicers, ensuring that the best possible insurance plan is in place to protect the servicers’ collateral.
“SWBC is not simply an insurance tracking vendor, and as such we have products that fit the many needs of the institutions we work with, including auto loan insurance tracking, collections, payment solutions, mortgage originations, and more,” said Janet Loriot, executive vice president, Financial Institution Group-Operations for SWBC. “We are made up of 16 different divisions and many more products to address the many needs of our clients.”
COMPLIANCE AND REGULATIONS
Meeting regulatory guidelines from numerous governing bodies, including the CFPB, the GSEs, the FDIC, the NFIP, and individual states, is one of the most important aspects of any LPI partner, and top of mind for financial institutions.
SWBC has built a robust legal and compliance team that stays ahead of the changing compliance landscape by monitoring for new and updated requirements through a number of industry boards, GSE discussions, industry-specific conferences, a wide range of contacts with servicers, and more.
“Our team is constantly reviewing the state of the industry— not only with recently implemented legislation, but also legislation and audit topics that are being discussed,” said Mark Hein, chief executive officer of SWBC’s Financial Institution Group.
More than 300 financial institutions rely on SWBC’s 30 years of experience in providing LPI services, which includes 20 years offering full outsourcing services. SWBC’s expertise allows it to keep informed and ahead of changing compliance requirements while still being flexible to the business needs of the investors that servicers are doing business with.
“Many times different investors have a different appetite for risk, and SWBC prides itself in being able to accommodate those differing needs,” Loriot said.
The company’s track record in the industry and reputation for excellence are some of the reasons that one of its owners, Charlie Amato, was appointed to the board of the Federal Reserve of Dallas representing the San Antonio area in 2016.
INSPIRED TECHNOLOGY
SWBC has long been a pioneer in developing innovations to serve financial institutions, and recently has made significant investments in infrastructure and technology to provide best-in-class solutions designed for an industry that is constantly evolving.
SWBC’s AutoPilot client portal is an intuitive, mobile-responsive web platform that delivers transparency for both servicers and their customers.
Using AutoPilot, financial institutions can successfully manage their insurance services with easy, on-demand access to their portfolios, records and performance reports from third-party partners.
The portal not only provides a high-level view of their business, but enables staff to efficiently perform day-to-day tasks and operations. With AutoPilot, servicers can review borrower insurance status and updates, research loan-level details, pull call recordings, and order policies, letters, and quotes — all in a single cloud-based platform.
In addition, if the financial institution leverages SWBC’s Payments program, staff can originate and track card-based and ACH loan payments and access data from all SWBC services.
These capabilities solve some of the most pressing pain points for servicers and investors, streamlining their workflow in a way that leaves a clear trail for auditors.
“The AutoPilot portal is the lender’s one stop for all their needs, not only for our lender-placed insurance product, but for any product that we are currently providing services for the lender,” Hein said.
SWBC’s innovation benefits customers as well. At IMCOVERED.com, customers can use the intuitive platform to view the status of their insurance, monitor claims, look at the history of any letters that were sent to them, and upload their insurance information — from any connected device. Customers can even take a picture of their policy for upload or make a payment. And if they have questions, they can interact with SWBC’s AI bot, Emily, to get answers.
“As a society, we continue to move in a direction where immediate answers to questions are expected, and self-service is the fastest way to provide that information,” said Hein. “For clients, providing them a solution like AutoPilot portal solves that need.”
With SWBC’s AutoPilot, financial institutions hit the organizational sweet spot where they can manage regulatory concerns, solve operational challenges, and provide incredible service to their customers, all in the same place. The client portal is just the latest in a long line of innovative products and services, which speaks to the company’s overall culture.
“At the heart of SWBC, you’ll find our core values: integrity, service, trust, commitment, accountability, excellence, and teamwork. As an organization, we live this every day, whether it’s servicing our customers or recognizing and working with our teammates,” Hein said.
To learn more about SWBC, click here to visit their website.
