When Rick Bechtel joined TD Bank in October 2017, the bank’s residential lending business was the 88th largest provider of mortgage loans in the country.

Within two years, Bechtel was able to help raise TD through the ranks to where it now sits – No. 49 by size. In getting there, TD was ranked No. 1 for growth among the top 50 mortgage originators in the U.S. for the first half of 2019.

To drive this growth, Bechtel focused on technology investments, community lending and product development. He directed a complete restructuring of TD’s technology stack. This included investing in Encompass by Ellie Mae, giving TD’s entire team total visibility throughout the home loan experience, in addition to integrating the Optimal Blue pricing engine. This allowed TD to provide tailored loan recommendations for each individual customer. In spring 2019, his team stood up a self-service digital mortgage application on TDBank.com through Roostify which allows customers to submit applications online, whenever, wherever, from any device, for the first time.

Bechtel also identified TD’s opportunity to sharpen the bank’s focus on lending to low-to moderate-income customers and delivering on the company’s Community Reinvestment Act goals. He scouted and hired Michael Innis-Thompson to jumpstart TD’s community lending program.

Additionally, Bechtel expanded the bank’s product set by introducing a medical professional mortgage product catered to alleviating the specific homeownership challenges faced by physicians and dentists early in their careers. This program enabled many debt-burdened medical practitioners to secure a home loan.

What has been your secret to success?

“My strategy remains centered on building trust with customers by humanizing the mortgage process. I continually reinforce to my team that homebuyers need personalized, expert guidance, and to support this, I ensure the bank delivers world class training for TD’s mortgage officers.”