Keep an eye on these technologies on the path to e-mortgages

Joey Burgoon, director of product management, Advectis Inc.

As published in Scotsman Guide's Residential Edition, March 2007.

To be competitive in today's market, cost-effective automation of business practices through information technology is critical. Mortgage-industry players that can capture and process loans faster while reducing the costs of doing so will have significant competitive advantages.

Mortgage professionals must have the latest information on technology practices and must understand how the industry is moving further down the path to complete paperless processing.

Here are seven rapidly evolving trends to watch.

1. Online security

Each year, standards and practices are fine-tuned and improved based on industry needs for managing security risks. In 2001, the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC), a formal interagency that prescribes uniform standards for the federal examination of financial institutions, provided guidance for the enhanced security of technology applications in the banking industry. This effectively mandated that traditional username-password security was inadequate for high-risk online-banking activities. These activities include those that allow monetary transactions or access to sensitive customer data. This guidance was updated in 2005.

Although not every financial institution has implemented these requirements, regulators may soon compel many to do so. These regulations will protect sensitive customer information, improve authentication, reduce identity-theft attacks and impose stricter guidelines for password protection.

Even if your company isn't specifically regulated by the FFIEC, these guidelines are an important reminder that the mortgage industry must take similar steps to enhance and improve security standards. Every organization analyzing a technology solution should pay close attention to available security enhancements to ensure that its data is protected and not vulnerable to security exploits.

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