Ally Financial took a stake in Better Mortgage, just the latest in the growing trend of banks investing in mortgage fintech companies to enhance their digital lending offerings.
Recently, other fintechs
Ally, through its venture capital arm, added onto
"Our partnership with Ally supports our goal of transforming the mortgage industry across the board and delivering a better mortgage experience to all consumers," Vishal Garg, CEO and Founder of Better.com, said in a press release. "Additionally, with Ally's investment in Better.com, we become partners not only in our shared vision for a seamless customer experience in home finance, but also in the long-term success and future of the mortgage industry."
Better.com will handle the processing, underwriting and closing for Ally's foray into digital mortgages.
Rapid personnel expansion accompanied the investments in Better, as the fintech company nearly tripled its staffing since August 2018.
Better.com focused its rounds of investments on automation to condense turn times and help loan officer efficiency. The company does not pay its loan officers by commission, which it said allows them to act on the borrower's behalf without conflict of interest.
"Providing frictionless, digital experiences to our customers is core to Ally's strategy. We're revolutionizing digital banking by putting all of our customers' core financial services needs at their fingertips," said Diane Morais, Ally's president of consumer and commercial banking products. "With Better.com, we will deliver best-in-class mortgage experiences in a highly innovative and scalable way, furthering our role as a financial ally for our customers."
Update: Ally increased its stake in Better to $20 million as an add-on to the start-up's $75 million series C funding round earlier this year.
