Google gets into the mortgage game with Roostify

This week, Google announced its partnership with Roostify in launching Lending DocAI, software that captures and extracts information from mortgage documents. The technology is Google's first-ever product for the financial services sector.

"I think [Google] recognizes that banking and financial services are relatively unpenetrated when it comes to cloud computing," Roostify co-founder and CEO Rajesh Bhat said in an interview."They also know that mortgage, in particular, has a very robust opportunity for true disruption."

Roostify facilitates mortgages and home equity loans through digital engagement between banks, consumers and third parties on its lending platform. Google's software aims to speed up the mortgage closing process by accurately automating document data capture and credit decisioning through artificial intelligence. The partnership, which began in late 2019, will leverage Roostify's operational scale and customer list and Google's computational clout and artificial intelligence markup language capabilities.

Google's product, which is similar to those offered by Blend and Ocrolus, doesn't compete with Roostify’s offerings and Bhat isn't concerned about the possibility of Google's technology eclipsing their own within the mortgage space. He sees the partnership as a "strategic bet" and a "key point of value" for his company's customers.

"What we're doing is extremely idiosyncratic," Bhat said. "I think from their perspective, they recognize that their ability to deploy these capabilities and to be able to deliver real value. The lines of business are really predicated on partnering with companies like us that have a good understanding of the workflow and how to deliver outcomes."

This wouldn't be the first time a tech giant has entered the lending fray in recent years. Google and Amazon have obvious name recognition, some in the industry view them as net gains and not potential losses of market share.

"Anytime a tech giant or any large company wants to move into the mortgage space, I see that as a positive," Paul Anastos, chief innovation officer at Guaranteed Rate, said in an interview. "It's probably validation that it's a large industry with a lot of opportunity and it can continue to grow through greater technology. This helps to bring it forward. We see this as only a good thing."