Polly, a software-as-service mortgage technology firm that operates a loan-trading platform, integrated with six mortgage insurance providers to streamline the mortgage process for loan officers and mortgage lenders.
The San Francisco-based fintech will embed quoting capabilities of Arch MI, Enact, Essent, MGIC, National MI and Radian to Polly’s product and pricing engine to streamline the process of calculating, quoting and comparing mortgage insurance offerings across all providers, the firm said.
Through the integration, users will receive a list of rates, premiums and summaries on the impact of distributable net income – the maximum amount that can be distributed from a trust to a beneficiary. When a quote is selected, the user will receive documentation from the applicable mortgage insurance provider. Polly’s cloud-based product also will provide an explanation when a quote is not provided, as well as suggestions for changing parameters.
The tech firm aims to provide customers with “the right tools and workflow automation to navigate an ever-changing market,” Adam Carmel, chief executive officer of Polly, said in a statement.
“We often receive feedback that legacy processes remain cumbersome and time consuming, so we are thrilled to partner with all six essential mortgage insurance providers to streamline the mortgage insurance process for lenders and borrowers,” Carmel added.
Mortgage loan-trading platforms benefited from the recent historic origination volume, but rising interest rates and regulatory actions have become a threat to these platforms. The Mortgage Bankers Association expects refinance originations to decline 64%, to about $840 billion, in 2022.
Some platforms also are expected to be affected by the suspension of the 7% cap for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac‘s purchase investor property and second-home loans. When the cap was in place, private-label electronic mortgage clearinghouses with Wall Street investors benefited. With many investor property and second-home loans expected to return to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac portfolios, some firms are expected to take a hit.
Polly raised about $57 million from three rounds of funding since its launch in 2019. Most recently, it raised $37 million in a Series B funding led by venture capital firm Menlo Ventures in January. Movement Mortgage, First American Financial and FinVC joined existing investors 8VC, Khosla Ventures and Fifth Wall.
At the time, the company said it planned to invest in artificial intelligence, machine learning tools and expand its client base. Carmel said it has increased customers by about three times during the past year – including some of the country’s top 100 lenders.