Digital tools are gaining ground, but upstream friction and disjointed processes are still dragging mortgage cases down
Jake Atkinson didn’t follow the usual path into the mortgage market. “My background is in engineering and data science,” he said. “I joined MQube as a data scientist and spent two years building out our CRM and working on document pipelines.”
He quickly discovered that for all the talk of automation, mortgage underwriting remains bogged down in paperwork. “The document process is still so document heavy, even today. Open banking has had some successes, just not in the mortgage space, so lenders still need systems that can handle PDFs and statements.”
For brokers, much of the friction shows up during packaging, and reworking cases later. One recurring issue, Atkinson noted, is how a simple item like a large transaction on a bank statement can trigger days of delay. “Someone in an office sees it and flags it. Then the question comes back to the broker, and that can easily take days to resolve.”
More responsive systems, he explained, can surface these questions earlier. “If there’s a big spend, the platform can just ask upfront, ‘What’s this?’ and the client provides context before submitting. It’s not a decision-making issue - it’s about cutting the unnecessary delays.”
More documents doesn’t mean better packaging
Despite years of digitisation, brokers still often default to over-collecting documents. Atkinson sees this as a systemic issue: unclear criteria from lenders leads brokers to submit more than required - just in case.
“It’s common to be asked for three or six months of bank statements. Brokers will take as much as they can from their clients and hand it over,” he said. But once submitted, even unrequested files may have to be reviewed due to regulatory pressure. “That’s time nobody gets back.”
Packaging efficiency, in his view, depends on specificity. “If someone’s PAYE, and you only need one month’s statement, the system should be able to say so - clearly and upfront.”
Too many tools, not enough confidence
While new platforms continue to enter the market, Atkinson believes a different problem is holding brokers back: overload.
“There’s way too many options,” he said. “You look at what’s out there and just think, I’ll stick with what I know.” Even basic functionality, like CRM integration and email automation, is inconsistent across systems.
For brokers already stretched thin, that lack of consistency breeds distrust. If tools don’t talk to each other or simplify everyday work, many see little reason to change. “What you expect from a CRM, even from the early 2000s, still isn’t there in some cases,” he said.
Brokers can adapt, but the process needs to as well
While some in the industry claim the mortgage journey can’t be automated, Atkinson disagrees.
“There’s this idea that edge cases can’t be solved - properties above shops, for example,” he said. “But we’ve already seen cases like that automated. The barrier isn’t the tech. It’s the speed at which larger institutions can adapt.”
That lag, he argues, is a structural issue. “The incumbents often have the talent. But they don’t have the teams or the resourcing. Fintechs are smaller and more agile, they can move faster.”
He also pushes back on the notion that brokers are resistant to change. “They’ve definitely been underestimated. A lot of the inefficiency isn’t theirs, it’s baked into the process.”
The mortgage isn’t the only part that needs fixing
Even as mortgage decisions get faster, the rest of the homebuying experience hasn’t kept pace.
“There’s no point having your mortgage accepted in two hours if your searches take six weeks,” Atkinson said. That mismatch, he argued, is part of why anxiety remains high and why many clients seek broker help even when they could apply directly.
Some of the delays are structural. Others are policy. “The government needs to step in on certain things, like searches, but engaging with departments has often proved difficult.”
For brokers, the challenge isn’t just efficiency. It’s managing expectations across a process that remains fragmented, uneven, and often out of their control.
