Black Knight launches correspondent platform with AI decisioning

Software, data and analytics company Black Knight this week announced the launch of its correspondent lending platform, which will leverage artificial intelligence and decisioning to originate and sell mortgages.

The timing of the product release isn’t coincidental, as Rich Gagliano, company president of origination technologies, anticipates volume growth in the sector indicated by several correspondent lenders going public — with Home Point Capital as the latest example. In addition to creating efficiency in the origination process, the platform — named Seller Digital — should help customers cut costs, he said.

“Once a correspondent investor has good systems, automation and scale in place, it becomes a less expensive way to buy servicing than in bulk transactions,” Gagliano told National Mortgage News. “Investing in servicing has higher returns with higher portfolio retention/recapture as opposed to gaining new business, and servicers need origination capabilities to best facilitate this. As wholesale business grows, efficacy in third-party origination operations can lead lenders to extend their TPO to correspondents.”

The platform is designed to help customers manage their pipelines and validate origination pricing. Gagliano hopes the integration with Black Knight’s loan operating system will set it apart from competitors.

“Seller Digital acts as the ‘purchase capture point’ to submit loans for sale to the purchaser and truly helps lender purchasers grow their market share, with functionality that has been vetted and approved by hundreds of sellers,” he said.

This development comes a week after the company announced the expansion of its digital closing platform. The revamped Expedite Close includes guided functionality, meant to lead borrowers through all the documents for electronically closing their loan.