Mr. Cooper, the nonbank that officially left the name Nationstar behind on Monday, is already the most unique name in the mortgage business.
As part of the company’s rebranding efforts, Mr. Cooper rolled out a number of features designed to improve its customers’ experience with the nonbank, including moving its customer service operations back to the U.S.
But one of the features the company is rolling out along with its rebranding effort is something almost unheard of in the mortgage business – a mortgage-linked credit card.
When using the Mr. Cooper Home Rewards credit card, customers can earn cash back that will be applied to the principal balance on their mortgage.
The Mr. Cooper Home Rewards credit card will provide customers with 1% cash back on “most everyday purchases.” That money is then applied to the borrower’s mortgage principal.
The company tells HousingWire that the credit card offering is first of its kind for a nonbank, although as one commenter points out below, GMAC Mortgage did offer a similar credit card before the housing crisis.
So, offering a credit card around a mortgage is not entirely unheard of in the industry, but this is certainly one of the first to do so since the crisis.
Earlier this year, Chase Mortgage rolled out an added incentive on its Sapphire card designed to attract Millennials to get a mortgage through the bank. Under that program, existing Sapphire credit card customers who get a mortgage with Chase will get 100,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards points, which can be used for travel, gift cards, cash back and more.
But Mr. Cooper’s offering is different because the rewards go directly to the borrowers’ mortgage balance.
“We’re excited to soon offer our customers an easy way to put a little extra toward the principal balance of their home loan with Mr. Cooper,” Kevin Dahlstrom, chief marketing officer at Mr. Cooper, said. “The Mr. Cooper Home Rewards Credit Card is one of several new products we'll be rolling out to help our customers realize their dream of homeownership and give them a more rewarding home loan experience along the way.”
Details on the card beyond that are sparse at this point. The company tells HousingWire that more information on the card will be coming soon.
[Update: This article is updated to reflect that GMAC Mortgage offered a similar credit card before the housing crisis.]
