Reverse mortgage lender Longbridge Financial announced the launch of the Platinum Origination Channel, a new distribution outlet for its line of proprietary reverse mortgages offered under the “Platinum” brand name.
The new channel will provide the ability for those who have their own third-party networks to offer Platinum products to their partners as part of their previously-existing product lines. That way, Platinum products can be extended to a wider pool of originators that would not have access to the program unless they worked directly with Longbridge.
Longbridge will also continue to develop its program by working with large traditional mortgage lenders who will offer the Platinum product suite to brokers, many of whom have primarily only originated forward mortgages in the past.
“We had been hearing directly from clients who have their own broker networks that they would like to offer a proprietary program to their broker partners,” said Longbridge VP of Products and Strategic Accounts Peter Sciandra in an email to RMD. “This new process will give our partners a dedicated channel to allow them to offer industry-leading Platinum products to their clients.”
The announcement of this new origination channel follows closely on the heels of Longbridge’s most recent product announcement, the Platinum LOC private reverse mortgage with a line of credit feature. The relatively quick succession between the announcement of Platinum LOC and the availability of the new origination channel is not by coincidence, according to Sciandra.
“We have seen wholesale volume grow significantly over the last year, and it is important to expand the offerings that our wholesale partners have for their own clients,” he said. “The new Platinum LOC product is designed to allow our partners to better compete beyond the existing HECM reverse mortgage market, enabling them to expand their business to more consumers and fuel growth through increased origination volumes.”
Part of the motivation also comes from the direct comparison that consumers will be able to make between more typical options like a Home Equity Line of Credit (HELOC) and a Platinum reverse mortgage.
“Today, many older borrowers are choosing a HELOC or cash-out refinancing over a reverse mortgage,” Sciandra said. “Platinum LOC will provide those who originate in the new channel the ability to offer a low up-front cost reverse mortgage that is specifically designed to meet the financial needs of older Americans. As clients are able to compare the features and cost of our product with HELOCs or other mortgages, we anticipate that Platinum LOC will be very attractive to many borrowers.”
Longbridge will also provide implementation tools for partners that choose to incorporate the Platinum program into their own broker networks, which includes “complete training and marketing support,” according to a company announcement. Training materials are designed to be made available based on what works best for Longbridge’s partners, and can be delivered in a variety of mediums, Sciandra said.
“They can obtain training through online videos, real-time or recorded webinars, and even face-to-face training if that’s what works best for our partner,” he said. “As for marketing, we offer an array of collateral for both B2B and B2C that can be easily customized by the partner.”
Longbridge has also created a new role for a “Strategic Products Manager” being filled by Rob Gonsalves, who previously served as Longbridge’s wholesale sales manager and as director of wholesale lending at Reverse Mortgage Solutions. Gonsalves is expected to work directly with clients to assist in implementing operational process flows and development of growth plans for the Platinum program.
New or existing clients can learn more about this program and the associated training materials at the company website. If an existing client wants to access the associated training materials for the new channel, Sciandra encourages them to reach out to their current Account Executive.
“[Their AE] can give them access to our pre-recorded or PowerPoint training sessions and marketing collateral that are available on our Platinum Web Portal,” he said. “Additionally, we can work with our partners to develop new materials as they have specific needs.”
