Transactional versus consultative value propositions have long forked the path of dominant sales strategies among mortgage loan originators. Some originators sell rates, while others sell their expertise.
Never mutually exclusive, transactional originators typically emphasize the former, while consultative originators present holistic solutions that complement borrowers’ unique financial situations.
Borrowers play an important role in guiding these interactions with originators. Some only want to see the lowest mortgage rate, while others want to understand the minutiae of the pricing matrix or range of loan products.
As the universe of consumer financial technologies slides toward self-service and personalization, newly published results from a mortgage origination satisfaction survey underscores consumers’ enduring preference for an advisory-style approach in the mortgage loan process.
On a 1,000-point scale, customer satisfaction with mortgage lenders rose 33 points over the past year to hit 760 in 2025, an increase driven by technological shifts in the industry that have enhanced customer engagement.
Bruce Gehrke, senior director of wealth and lending intelligence at J.D. Power, a market analytics firm that conducted the annual survey, said in a press release that mortgage lenders are recognizing that “the more educated their customers are about the details of their mortgage products, the more loyal and lucrative their relationships become.”
Engaging with borrowers earlier in the loan process — before home shopping has even commenced — can lead to significantly higher customer satisfaction overall when the sale is done and dusted. Satisfaction drops by 64 points when a mortgage lender first engages a borrower at the application stage, the survey found.
Trending results of J.D. Power’s annual survey show a steady rise in borrowers’ preference for advisory-style origination. The 79% satisfaction rating lenders recorded in 2025 for “providing useful guidance or advice” was up from 76% last year, 70% in 2023 and 69% in 2022.
In a high-cost housing market, consumers are looking for competitive pricing as well as confidence in their purchase decision, leading J.D. Power to conclude that the market favors lenders who can maximize rates and a personalized experience for every borrower.
“By blending high-touch advisor relationships with intelligent digital infrastructure, leading lenders are transforming what used to be a transactional, document-focused ordeal into a consultative partnership,” said Gehrke.
Higher customer satisfaction in lender guidance translates into a 2.3 times greater likelihood that customers say they “definitely will” choose that lender for repeat business.
However, some borrowers have balked at the expanded use of artificial intelligence in mortgage origination, driven by a sense of wariness in the technology.
Though 54% of customers who responded to J.D. Power’s survey reported being “completely comfortable” with lenders using AI, 71% said it is “very important” for their lender to inform them AI is being used.
The 2025 J.D. Power study aggregated responses from 10,067 customers who received a new mortgage or refinanced during the 12-month period ending in September.
Among ranked mortgage lenders that met J.D. Power’s survey criteria, 11 exceeded the average satisfaction score of 760, including: Citibank (802), Bank of America (792), Citizens Bank (787), Huntington Bank (780), Movement Mortgage (776), Guild Mortgage (775), Prosperity Home Mortgage (773), Fairway Independent Mortgage Corp. (772), Chase Bank (771), TD Bank (766) and Rocket Mortgage (762).
