New Software Module Helps Lenders Manage Runoff.(Brief Article)

To help mortgage servicers increase portfolio retention in a challenging interest-rate environment, Selectica says it can provide complex, yet flexible technology solutions that help both bankers and brokers.

"The role that Selectica would play in a servicing arena is by converting customer-servicing opportunities into sales opportunities," said general manager of the electronic banking division, Cary Tengel. "Statistics show that in a period of heavy refinancing rates are dropping and many mortgage bankers are experiencing retention rates that are between 20% to 30% of the customer base that is refinancing."

To help mortgage bankers address issues related to portfolio retention, Selectica has built a specialized module atop of its technology, explained Mr. Tengel, an industry veteran who specializes in Web-based technologies for delivery of financial services. The module is called the Relationship Manager Module (RMM), it is "kind of an overall mortgage industry solution," he said.

It is a tool that allows Selectica to write "rules" that help detect the customers who are in danger of leaving.

The first step is identifying "those who are risky," but what is important and much more difficult to do is keep them, stressed the executive. The second step of assisting bankers in creating strategies "that would correspond to different segments of their customer base" is the most important, he said. If, for example, a banker has one million customers and 100,000 of them are "in danger" of refinancing, Selectica technology tools can further ...