In the mortgage finance industry, you’d be hard pressed to guess the next big thing in lending.

And now you don’t have to.

In a conversation this morning with the CEO of Fannie Mae, Timothy Mayopoulos, said the government-sponsored enterprise remains committed to continuing to “encourage lenders to lend to the full scope” of credit-worthy borrowers.

Easier said then done, of course, but recent innovations at Fannie Mae are certainly a step in the right direction. 

The recent launches of initiatives such as the Day 1 Certainty program, the student loan venture with SoFi and progress with affordable lending under the HomeReady program underpin the aforementioned dedication to increase mortgage lending.

But it’s still not enough, “it takes time for these programs to ramp up,” he said.

In the meantime, Fannie Mae is working on what Mayopoulos calls the “next frontier” of mortgage lending. This follows today's announcement of four and a half years of profitable quarters from Fannie.

“Being able to find the tools that ensure regulatory compliance and prevent regulatory enforcement,” is the next technological step forward for mortgage lending, Mayopoulos said.