JD Power's Bruce Gehrke says the app gap creates a bit of a headwind for independent mortgage banks
Whenever rates fall far enough to bring refinancing back, the experience the homeowner had with their servicer could determine whether that company earns the recapture.
Requests for assistance that used to flood into call centers are increasingly moving to websites and mobile apps.
The user experience on these digital platforms varies considerably, and the JD Power 2026 U.S. Mortgage Servicer Digital Experience Study found traditional banks scoring higher than mortgage-focused companies.
Bruce Gehrke (pictured top), senior director of wealth and lending intelligence at JD Power, said the study now separates banks from independent mortgage banks (IMBs), but the gap between the two is still wide.
"That comparison is important, and it does create a bit of a headwind for the IMBs because of that," Gehrke told Mortgage Professional America. "And their challenge to build trust in a broader relationship is there. Single product providers that they are, it is there, and this is just another area where it does raise up a little bit."
The recapture question
Servicing rights set up recapture, and the question is whether a weaker app costs independent mortgage banks those borrowers if rates fall.
"At some level it is, yes," Gehrke said. "You're not going to get to that point, no matter how much you put into it. So there's kind of a break-even point there because of usability. Mortgage servicing experience is relatively low-touch for most people, unless an issue comes up maybe once a year when your escrow account is analyzed and rebalanced. There's opportunity there. But it's not like a banking or a checking account where people are checking account balances or making transfers."
Gehrke said the gap shows up most in app design and performance, where banks have spent more. Bank apps average 736 against 680 for non-bank servicers, a 56-point gap, while websites average 740 against 704.
"Many IMB servicers were kind of late to this party," he said. "They were reluctant to put a lot of investment into a mobile app that folks aren't going to use all that often, may not download. That thinking has changed recently, over the last year or so, and we're seeing more mobile app development."
United Wholesale Mortgage (UWM) is not ranked because its servicing portfolio is not yet big enough to produce enough survey responses, Gehrke said.
The company is working with Bilt on a program for its servicing customers, which is another way the lender can earn customer loyalty for its servicing customers.
"These programs have shown some ability really to build loyalty, as they're meant to, but also to help drive greater levels of trust," Gehrke said. "So there's opportunities out there. It just kind of highlights where the challenge really is."
Banks and Rocket lead
The study is based on 6,722 evaluations from mortgage customers who visited their servicer's website or mobile app in the past nine months, and it was fielded in June and July 2026. It scores servicers on design, system performance, information, and tools and capabilities.
JD Power says bank servicer customers are more likely to have other accounts or products with their servicer (74% vs. 22%) and to say they know its website or app well (60% vs. 40%). Satisfaction among bank servicer customers is higher than among non-bank customers, even among those who know the website or app equally well.
"Bank customers are accustomed to using those apps," Gehrke said. "You've got online banking websites, mobile apps for online banking. Folks are using them, sometimes on a daily basis. They have a lot of familiarity with them. They know their way around. And there's been a lot of money invested in them."
The study asks customers to complete specific tasks, such as setting up autopay or working through escrow, and rate the experience, which Gehrke compared to mystery shopping. JD Power runs the same methodology across roughly eight or nine studies, which lets it benchmark servicers against brands outside mortgage.
"Most people, the average homeowner, does not have a servicing relationship with multiple mortgage companies. It's one at a time," Gehrke said. "They can't really compare Rocket to Guild. What they can compare Rocket to is Bank of America or Chase if they have accounts over there, and maybe State Farm on the insurance side, even things like Apple or Amazon."
Rocket Mortgage led non-bank servicers on both measures, scoring 719 for its app and 739 for its website against segment averages of 680 and 704. Only Rocket and Lakeview scored above the average on both.
"They've always focused digitally, and in some cases I think they've earned a sort of digital-forward perception amongst customers," Gehrke said. "They've put money into it, and I think we're seeing the results of that."
Rocket's strategy is to keep customers from home search through servicing, a model that resembles how banks keep customers across products. Gehrke said it is too early to say how much of its score reflects that approach.
"It'll be interesting to see how the Rocket ecosystem plays out," he said. "A lot of what Redfin does is online, originates online. You get somebody working with you online, they tend to stay online. We see this in the origination side as well. There's still a desire to have people involved in the home buying process. But once we get to servicing, we're locking that down."
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