Vida and Zoot sign technology partnership to create new end-to-end mortgage platform built specifically for intermediaries

• Vida has signed a new partnership with Zoot, the global provider of advanced origination, data acquisition and decision management solutions for financial institutions

• The partnership – part of a £5 million investment in Vida’s technology strategy – will see Vida build a new end-to-end mortgage platform with intermediaries at its heart

Vida, the specialist mortgage lender, has today announced a new partnership with Zoot to develop a digitally focused mortgage journey built around intermediaries. Vida will work with Zoot to build a new end-to-end mortgage platform that brings together key parts of the mortgage journey. The partnership, which is a significant part of Vida’s £5 million investment in its technology strategy, is a further sign of the company’s plan to enhance its proposition for intermediaries and accelerate growth.

The new cloud-based platform will allow Vida to create an advanced ecosystem at both the front-end of the business and behind the scenes. Minimising the data input required by intermediaries by accessing open banking and other external data sources will be key to providing greater certainty and speed for advisers and their customers. Vida is also working with Zoot to create a seamless link for other aspects of the mortgage application process, such as conveyancing.

Vida will utilise Zoot’s flexible technology to create a proposition based around augmented underwriting. This means that Vida’s experienced underwriters will harness technology to reach better individual lending decisions on complex cases by efficiently analysing each application on its own merits.

Today’s announcement follows a number of steps that Vida has already made to enhance and improve its processes including new virtual telephony systems to enable Vida’s team to continue supporting intermediaries whilst working from home. A re-design of its website will go live in the next few weeks, focused on improving the intermediary experience.

Anth Mooney, CEO of Vida, commented:

“The COVID-19 crisis has had an unprecedented impact on the mortgage market; at Vida we have taken the opportunity to plan for the future and return to the market with a renewed ambition to change mortgages for good. Through this new partnership with Zoot, Vida is aiming to become a market leader in tech-enabled decisioning and origination so that we can raise the bar for our intermediary partners.

“This is a significant investment for us, and we’ll be working together with Zoot to develop new digitally-enhanced capabilities, built specifically for intermediaries and reflecting the vital role they play in our market.

“Our partnership with Zoot is another important step in our ambition to help the recovery of the mortgage market and support those intermediary partners who have worked so hard to weather the COVID-19 crisis. More customers than ever before will need specialist lenders to find solutions for their own unique circumstances. At Vida we are investing early in that changed landscape so that we can help our intermediary partners to provide that much needed help and advice.”

Adam Jackson, U.K. Managing Director of Zoot, said:

“Vida are an innovative and technology-led lender and we are proud to be helping them revolutionise their services. Mortgage lending is traditionally labour intensive. Zoot’s end-to-end mortgage platform with a truly digital customer journey will be a real game changer for Vida’s partners and their customers. The combination of Vida’s vision and Zoot’s technology will undoubtedly set a new standard within the UK mortgage industry.”

Vida – changing mortgages for good

Now, more than ever, today’s borrowers need a lender that can react and respond to the financial complexity that we all face.

Life is never a straight line. At Vida we know that for many ordinary people, life can get a little crazy and doesn’t always play out the way we’d planned. That is why we believe in second chances. Working exclusively with expert intermediary partners, we use behavioural data and cutting-edge technology to simplify complexity and give everyone the help they need to realise their home-owning ambitions.

Launched in 2016, we’ve learned a lot in four years about what matters to our intermediary partners and their customers. 10,000 mortgages lent and £2 billion securitised, giving us funding to continue lending, shows we understand our business.

But we want to do more. The events of 2020 have given us the opportunity to make a fresh start, invest in our people and technology and come back to the market with a better proposition that helps more people with a wider range of needs.

Vida’s vision is to be a safe home for all, by:

• helping every person, no matter their circumstances, own a safe place to live.

• understanding Generation Rent’s challenges and needs even better, so we can play our part in the UK’s economic recovery. Life doesn’t wait for a mortgage.

• where home ownership or even rental is not possible, helping the homeless by supporting appropriate charities.

We are committed to changing mortgages for good.

About Zoot

For over 29 years, Zoot has been a global provider of advanced origination, data acquisition, and decision management solutions. Its customer-centric tools and services enable Zoot’s clients to add value and differentiation, while providing nimble, scalable solutions to specific business objectives. A leader in the fintech industry, Zoot’s private cloud-based secure processing environment delivers millisecond real-time decisions accessing hundreds of cutting-edge data sources to help reduce risk and increase conversions. The company’s international client base includes banks and other major financial institutions, asset finance specialists, merchant acquirers, retail finance houses, and payment providers.

For further enquiries about Vida please contact

Nick Seymour

Rostrum

020 7440 8670

vida@rostrum.agency

For more information about Zoot, please visit

www.zootsolutions.eu

or email the Zoot team at:

sales@zootweb.eu