Washington Mutual Scales Down to Four Servicing Sites.

Washington Mutual will eliminate 2,700 additional mortgage jobs between the end of August and the end of this year as part of its massive cost-cutting drive, and the company has completed the consolidation of its loan servicing operation.

That's the message WaMu chairman and CEO Kerry Killinger delivered to participants at a Lehman Brothers investors conference here last month.

Mr. Killinger left little doubt that WaMu remains committed to the home loan business, calling mortgages "an integral part of our strategy."

He said WaMu has reduced the number of its loan servicing operational centers from eight to four, and he said WaMu is "moving quickly" to consolidate loan origination systems as well. He said Washington Mutual's retail banking success reflects a high-volume, low-cost business strategy.

"This is also the strategy we are applying to the mortgage banking business."

He said that checking accounts and home loans are the two most important financial relationships that a consumer typically has with a bank, and they serve as an excellent platform for cross-selling additional products. "Our goal in mortgage banking is very simple, and that is to make the mortgage banking business fully competitive in the marketplace by the end of 2005," Mr. Killinger said.

Toward that end, Washington Mutual continues to consolidate its operating platforms by closing sites and eliminating redundant technology systems. Mr. Killinger said the consolidation of the company's loan servicing systems is already largely complete.