Although the mortgage industry remains largely dominated by banks, tech startups are starting to attack industry. These players leverage technology and digital platforms to upgrade the mortgage process and are developing a variety of tools and services to improve poor customer service.
With the rise of mortgage tech, we take a closer look today at some of the hottest startups in field from Europe.
Trussle (UK)
Trussle, an award-winning online mortgage broker, was first to introduce the concept to the UK in 2015.
By using proprietary automation and a mortgage monitoring service to compare and track more than 11,000 mortgage products from over 90 lenders, Trussle harnesses technology to secure the most suitable mortgage deal for borrowers.
Trussle’s mortgage “matchmaking” service is free to the end-customer. The platform makes money via a mostly flat fee from the mortgage provider.
Homegate (Switzerland)
Homegate, a Swiss online real estate portal, has been providing online home financing services since 2012 in collaboration with Zürcher Kantonalbank (ZKB). The platform aims to provide clients with greater transparency, lower interest rates and a simple and fast application process, as well as handling of initial and follow-up financing.
Mortgages issued by Homegate can cover up to 80% of a property’s purchase price, up to a maximum loan of CHF 1.2 million for a residential property. The company also offers forward mortgages.
The service is available to people residing in Switzerland full time, with enough income and resources, and no inheritance.
Landbay (UK)
Landbay is a peer-to-peer lending platform that allows lenders to loan money to property investors. The platform enables retail and institutional investors to invest in the UK’s buy-to-let mortgage market. All loans are secured by first-ranking mortgages over tenanted residential properties across England and Wales.
As of February 2015, Landbay was the fastest growing peer-to-peer lending platform in the UK, and as of March 2015, the platform was lending £2 million per month.
LendInvest (UK)
LendInvest is a marketplace lending and investing platform for residential and commercial mortgages created by Montello, a specialist financier based in London. It offers a crowdsourcing alternative to bank-backed mortgages.
The platform lets investors find and invest in new loans and facilitates an online market for completed loans. Unlike most peer-to-peer lenders, LendInvest secures all loans against real estate and is the first peer-to-peer lender in the UK for originating and funding new residential and commercial loans.
Launched in 2013, LendInvest was the first live peer-to-peer lending platform in the world to focus specifically on mortgage loans.
bijBouwe (Netherlands)
bijBouwe is the first online mortgage lender in the Netherlands. It offers high quality origination and management of customized mortgage portfolios.
bijBouwe was launched by Dynamic Credit, an innovative asset management firm and one of the leading direct lending firms in Europe.
Founded in 2003, Dynamic Credit has offices in Amsterdam, New York City and Jakarta.
The firm is working on setting up a mortgage platform bridging investors and the upcoming Indonesian mortgage market.
Interhyp (Germany)
Founded in 1999 and headquartered in Munich, Interhyp is a German mortgage broker that provides its services via Internet and telephone, serving over 300,000 customers.
The company offers access to a variety of mortgage lenders and facilitates the loan application process between borrowers and lenders. Interhyp provides its services directly to customers and also through third party financial advisors.
Interhyp is a subsidiary of ING Direct in the Netherlands and employs over 1,000 people.