Global consulting firm Accenture announced plans Monday to acquire loan originations and software document management services firm Mortgage Cadence.
Accenture sees the deal as a move that will add an 'advanced technology platform' to its existing processing services for mortgage lenders.
The move comes at a time when mortgage firms are concerned about compliance, new regulations and partnerships that leverage technology to deliver efficient and cost-effective mortgage business processing.
Mortgage Cadence is expected to become part of Accenture Credit Services, a unit of Accenture that focuses on financial services, providing clients with tech solutions, outsourcing and consulting.
Mortgage Cadence’s technology will be used by Accenture as its core loan origination platform, helping clients process mortgages. Accenture will continue to offer the software to lenders through Accenture Software if they wish to acquire the software individually.
"The U.S. mortgage industry is entering an era in which efficiency, speed and the customer experience will be more crucial than ever in determining winners and losers," said Terry Moore, global managing director of Accenture Credit Services.
"By adding this key mortgage processing asset, we will enhance our end-to-end credit services capabilities and bring a new generation of mortgage processing services to the industry. This offers lenders improved speed-to-market, cycle-time, costs, and productivity."
Once the transaction closes, 190 employees working at Denver-based Mortgage Cadence will join Accenture Software.
While consolidation is currently underway in the mortgage tech and business processing sectors, Moore says the Mortgage Cadence deal is less about consolidation and more of a "capability play."
"We look at the mortgage lending process in terms of manufacturing," he told HousingWire. "As all of us know – lenders included – the process is pretty inefficient today and unreliable from a customer’s perspective. Those who materially improve their manufacturing capability and cost structure will turn out to be the winners in the space."
The move comes at a time when Accenture sees the mortgage space shifting again. After being refi-heavy, purchase mortgage originations are coming back into focus.
The firm went looking for an acquisition target that could help Accenture create efficiency and effective automation for mortgage firms moving from a heavy refi environment to purchase originations.
Moore told HousingWire the merger brings in the necessary components to effectively manage underwriting tasks while integrating the firm’s LOS and document management capabilities at a time when many other systems are not integrated.
