Category: Press
Loan Vision Case Study Featuring Assurance Financial
As with all forward-thinking organizations, Assurance Financial is well aware that continuous improvement is a necessity for any business, especially one in the ever-changing mortgage industry. 2019 found Assurance Financial looking for answers. With rapid upgrades to much of their customer-facing technology stack occurring, they knew they had to be able to quantify the spend being made and show some return on investment (ROI), but how? With their volume now averaging $1 billion per year, a far cry from the $25 million they did in their first year of business 18 years prior, Assurance found that their general ledger system could not give them the data they wanted to answer the questions being asked by the business.
“It was an old system that was kind of clunky and not very high tech,” said Chad Hebert, Chief Financial Officer at Assurance. “The capabilities weren’t the best.”
Having made the switch from a generic bookkeeping tool in 2012 to the only industry G/L solution at the time, Assurance felt their prior accounting system had reached the end of its useful life after 7 years. It was affecting the company to the point that the accounting team was having to implement other software to make up for what their current system was lacking. Assurance wanted to make sure their next solution was going to be an all-in-one fix. It needed to not only drive maximum efficiency in accounting, but also help them achieve a better understanding of their true cost to originate a loan, while also allowing them to better measure the ROI on many of the technology investments they had made.
“I think one of the biggest things people think about when investing in technology is how they’re going to get the most out of a tool, not just functionally, but also financially,” says Katherine Campbell, Digital Digital Officer at Assurance. “If they invest in something, what is their ROI going to look like?”
Assurance Financial’s new solution had to be for the long term. It would have to support the growth delivered by an ambitious management team, now and far into the future.
The Solution & The Implementation Experience
Loan Vision was not a new product to Hebert. The talk about Loan Vision had been something he had heard about for several years, as it popped up often during CFO round tables, at conferences, and in other industry events.
“This industry is kind of dominated by two players,” says Hebert. “And when you start hearing that people are making the switch from one to the other, and why they’re making that switch, that’s what led me to pull the trigger.”
What made Hebert most excited about the decision to move, was the solution’s ability to condense many of the support systems and processes into one platform, as their current system’s inability to do so was really weighing on his team.
HousingWire recognized Katherine Campbell, Assurance Financial Chief Digital Officer, with their 2022 Marketing Leaders award.
HousingWire’s Marketing Leaders award celebrates the most creative and influential marketing minds of the housing economy. These leaders have a track record of transforming brands, leading teams, and driving business results within their industries. Through marketing strategies, campaigns, and purpose-driven programs, HW Marketing Leaders are strengthening their brands and building their organizations’ reputations each and every day.
Katherine Campbell is a veteran in the financial services industry and currently serves as the chief digital officer for Assurance Financial. With more than 20 years of digital experience, she is an analytics-driven executive with expertise in web conversion, UI, and technical integrations.
Campbell quickly made an impact when she joined the organization in 2018 and has climbed the ranks to be an influential voice within the company — and the mortgage industry at large. Campbell has hand-selected top-tier technology, adopting and integrating over 20 new solutions since joining Assurance Financial. Campbell understands the industry like no other and has the digital expertise to know what technology the Assurance Financial team needs to stand out as a lender and deliver a superior customer experience. Campbell oversaw the implementation of an improved online application process for borrowers, positioning Assurance Financial as a trusted lender and technology leader.
Check out Katherine Campbell’s feature here.
How Assurance Financial’s Focus on Appraisal Innovation Built a Winning Customer Experience
Creating a digital mortgage space isn’t something you need to be thinking about; it’s something you should already be putting into play. The pandemic exposed a lot of pain points of digitizing the mortgage process and some deficiencies with traditional appraisal operations. Now that consumers have had a taste, it has only accelerated demand for a modern experience.
What’s more, the digital transformation that borrowers demand brings cost savings and efficiency gains for lenders. In a recent webinar, Reggora CEO Brian Zitin spoke with Katherine Campbell, Assurance Financial’s Chief Digital Officer, and its Director of Operations, Scott Alexander, on why they prioritized the digital experience, their approach to implementation, and how they’ve achieved success. The trio discusses how the digitization of the space is happening at lightning speed and how the consumer market has gone from surprise and delight to absolute expectation.
Read more and watch the full interview here.
Written by Darius Thigpen, Regorra
Mortgage Banker Magazine recognized Katherine Campbell, Assurance Financial Chief Digital Officer, with their 2022 “Legends of Lending” award.
The publication asked readers and mortgage professionals to nominate mortgage leaders deserving of the “Legends of Lending” award. They set out to find the most talented, ambitious, and legendary individuals who achieve excellence and make a difference in the mortgage industry.
Check out Katherine Campbell’s feature below. Read the full May/June 2022 edition of Mortgage Banker Magazine here.
We’re proud to announce that Assurance Financial has received Total Expert’s 2022 award for “The Technology Trailblazer”!
Each year, Total Expert recognizes its customers who are leveraging their technology to drive the future of customer experience in financial services with “The Expys”. This awards program celebrates high-achieving companies and individuals and applauds ingenuity, innovation, hard work, and customer-centric strategies.
“The Technology Trailblazer” award is described as an organization putting smart technology to work and blazing the trail for the industry. It’s given to a team of early adopters who know the power to transform lies with a strategic, modern technology stack and a willingness to drive meaningful change.
“Incredibly proud of the progressive work this team produces. We offer solutions that serve our customers and internal team that ease and delight this complex product.” – Katherine Campbell, Assurance Financial Chief Digital Officer
Are you ready to work for an industry trailblazer? Reach out to our National Business Development team today!
Assurance Financial CEO and President, Kenny Hodges, was featured in an article by National Mortgage News on the mortgage industry’s increasing alignment with sports brands.
“From bass fishing to the Super Bowl, lenders see a large pool of consumers they can reach through athletic sponsorships.
“When you’re in a college town – in general – those colleges are one of the biggest employers. They’re really the main show in town,” said Kenny Hodges, CEO and President of Assurance Financial. His company has established business partnerships with the athletic departments at Louisiana State University, located in Assurance’s home base of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, as well as with the University of Alabama, University of South Carolina and University of Louisiana-Lafayette.
The sponsorships also provide a natural link between a company and younger consumers ready to enter the workforce, who frequently settle near their alma mater. A lender’s association helps create top-of-mind awareness among them as they begin their careers and enter the home-buying age.
“If you can get behind those types of schools, and show your support, we hope it means something to our customers and to our referral partners,” Hodges said.”
