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The nation’s biggest mortgage lender, United Wholesale Mortgage (UWM), is integrating Google Cloud’s AI and data analytics capabilities into its lending platform to create a faster and more streamlined process, the companies said Tuesday.
Cloud providers have been players in the mortgage process for several years, with AWS, Google Cloud and Microsoft Azure offering proprietary AI and machine learning capabilities that can be customized for lenders.
Last year, Google Cloud revealed that UWM was using its brand new AI model, Gemini 1.5 Pro, “to enrich the underwriting process and to automate the mortgage application process.” Gemini went “agentic” in December with the launch of version 2.0, and has since rolled out version 2.5.
Addy AI‘s custom AI models for mortgage lenders are trained on Google Cloud’s Vertex AI development platform. Addy AI integrates with mortgage loan origination systems like Encompass and nCino and can provide loan officers with access to the latest mortgage lending guidelines, track steps in the underwriting process, and communicate with borrowers via chat, phone or email.
Last year, UWM announced ChatUWM, a “smart search” tool that helps mortgage brokers understand lender guidelines, matrices and tools and technologies that the Pontiac, Michigan-based wholesale lender makes available to brokers.
In a joint press release Tuesday, Google Cloud and UWM announced a “strategic, industry-transformative agreement” aimed at helping modernize the mortgage lending industry through the use of AI.
“UWM will integrate Google Cloud AI and machine learning tools into its lending platform, enhancing underwriting automation, streamlining document processing and improving client support with AI-driven chat experiences,” the companies said.
The companies will also “explore the use of Google Cloud infrastructure to improve scalability and security, ensuring a seamless and expedited mortgage experience for 50,000 mortgage brokers and their borrowers.”
Thomas Kurian
UWM “is at the bleeding edge of generative AI in the mortgage space, and together we are reimagining the home financing journey, making it more efficient and faster for mortgage brokers and homebuyers,” Google Cloud ECE Thomas Kurian said, in a statement.
UWM rival Rocket Companies also sees AI as a crucial part of its strategy to grow capacity while keeping expenses flat.
Rocket also intends to grow its business by acquiring real estate brokerage Redfin and loan servicing giant Mr. Cooper, both of which have aggressively pursued AI.
Redfin last year launched an AI search assistant, Ask Redfin, that can answer a range of questions about listings and market trends.
Mr. Cooper said in 2023 that a multiyear investment in AI would help it shave hundreds of millions of dollars in expenses in coming years from its labor-intensive call center operations.
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