Daniel Tannenbaum, the founder of Tudor Lodge Digital spoke to four companies who offer traditional services such as finance, mortgages, law, and insurance – and how they are using modern technology to streamline their processes.

James Anderson, Operations Director, MT Finance (Specialist lender)

“As a customer-centric business, we would find it hard to operate in the way that we do without a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system. Our CRM system provides a central view of all the interactions we have with our brokers, borrowers, and solicitors, so we can immediately see how a case has progressed, enabling us to provide a first-class service to our clients.”

“The other thing that has been hugely helpful throughout lockdown and beyond is our internal messaging platform. This helps provide a channel for instant messaging which bypasses traditional email and can be more responsive and collaborative. We really love this in the tech and marketing teams, where email is typically only used now for threads with external parties.”

“At MT Finance we always make a point though of really thinking through the new technology which we do employ. It’s so important to make sure that tech always augments the one-to-one relationships which are at the heart of our business.”

Simon Taylor, Founder of Get Indemnity (Insurance broker)

“Technology continues to be the largest driver of change in the insurance market. Growth opportunities have typically favored organizations that have been able to adopt new technologies, whether that’s improving the customer journey, creating efficiencies, or utilizing data to make better decisions.”

“The largest barrier to implementing new technologies have been legacy systems. This has created opportunities for smaller and more nimble organizations to take advantage of an array of technologies from API’s, IoT, big data, AI, blockchain, advanced automation, and cloud computing.”

“Open banking remains miles ahead of open insurance, but the untapped potential of the insurance market remains obvious. With changes to where we work, how we work, and the time spent completing administrative tasks well underway, the future looks increasingly bright.”

“To actually grow the insurance industry we need to make insurance more affordable to individuals and businesses that don’t currently purchase. Underinsurance remains a real challenge and can have devastating effects when the safety net isn’t there to protect them or their customers.”

“With a range of new initiatives the insurance market is following the banking industry to allow for better connectivity. The ability to capture and transfer detailed risk information between third parties will create efficiencies and offer opportunities for participants that can pass those savings on to the customer.”

A spokesperson for RQC Group (Compliance firm)

“Working in financial compliance, we have seen a real opportunity for innovation by offering elearning training. We offer over 40 courses covering FCA compliance, SMCR, anti-money laundering, market abuse, anti-bribery, UK cybersecurity, SEC compliance, and US cybersecurity, with all our UK courses CPD-certified.”

“Previously, regulated firms would have to spend large sums to send their employees to training centers or courses across the country. In partnership with global-leading LMS provider Docebo, we have been able to compose a broad array of online training courses from just £30 per course. With a Q&A and certifications to ensure knowledge attainment upon completion, customers are getting the full experience that they can transfer into a regulated environment. Through technology, we now bring financial regulated firms cost-effective, scalable training solutions.”

Dan Kettle of Octagon Capital (Specialist lender)

“Technology has helped us make huge strides in servicing our loans and mortgage enquiries. Being able to take a customer’s loan requirements means that we can use APIs to pull in eligibility requirements from multiple lenders – so we can provide some indicative terms, including loan amounts and LTVs in just minutes.”

“From an underwriting perspective, we can fast-track things using electronic forms and signatures to move things along. We also have basic tools that can check the value of a property and its sale history – and even just Google Maps and Street View to prove that the property exists, the area and the type of road that it is on.”

“The state of the economy and risk appetite by lenders will always play a role in terms of our profitability, but from a technology standpoint, we can certainly deliver faster quotes and process applications quicker than ever before.”