The Mortgage Insider - Home Financing with Contemporary Mortgage

The following is an excerpt from an article posted on March 21, 2022, by the Fannie Mae Enterprise Innovation Team. CLICK HERE to view the complete article from FannieMae.com.

"Increasingly, the business world is considering adopting blockchain and many of its underlying, novel technologies. Some market observers touted it as a "Great Disruptor"1 – akin to the emergence of the internet – but that's been said about a number of emerging technologies before, including blockchain in 2017. What, if anything, has changed about this particular technology, and what makes today's blockchain discussion different, particularly among stakeholders in the housing finance industry?

To help answer these questions, it's worth looking more closely at blockchain's current usage in the financial services space and its perception among housing industry stakeholders. To better understand the latter, Fannie Mae's Economic and Strategic Research Group asked senior mortgage executives for their opinions on blockchain technology, including whether they plan to adopt it and its potential impact on the housing industry.

How is blockchain being used today?

Led by consumers' use of cryptocurrencies, blockchain has become fairly mainstream. Networks like Visa and Mastercard have introduced crypto-related capabilities to their product offerings. And consumer-facing brands like Starbucks, Best Buy, GolfNow, and Choice Hotels have entered partnerships to provide consumers with the ability to pay with cryptocurrency."

What are mortgage lenders saying?

"Using our Mortgage Lender Sentiment Survey® (MLSS), we surveyed mortgage lenders on a variety of topics related to blockchain, including its adoption, application, and potential future usage. These are some of the highlights of the report:

• Even with all the recent headlines about blockchain, only 25% of lenders said they were familiar with the technology and its possible applications in the mortgage business.
  • A majority of lenders (68%) said they have not yet looked into the technology.
  • Of the 20% of lenders that have looked into blockchain, 41% said they plan to adopt it within four years.

• Lenders cited blockchain's potential use for borrower and collateral data as having more applicability than its use as a potential financial instrument.
  • Respondents were most intrigued by the idea of a digital wallet containing borrower information enabling "direct-to-source" validation, followed by a title registry for search and validation to complete title/property transfers.

• Although familiarity with blockchain is low, approximately 40% of lenders believe decentralized finance (DeFi) has high to very high potential to disrupt incumbent financial institutions.

• While cryptocurrencies often garner the majority of blockchain headlines, only 31% of lenders believe that mortgage companies are likely to accept cryptocurrency from consumers as mortgage payments over the next three years."

*Finish reading the complete article from FannieMae.com, HERE.*