Reverse mortgage technology platform ReverseVision today announced that it has restructured its technology service plans and pricing matrix in an effort to streamline the entry of lenders into the reverse mortgage business space, while further aligning its offerings with a broader mission of allowing more adequate service to senior customers who use FHA lending programs.

The new plans and pricing model is divided into four classes: entry; retail; premium; and enterprise. Each category is scalable to the needs of an organization, the company says. Every tier includes access to qualify borrowers with ReverseVision’s Sales Accelerator modeling tool, as well as to originate loans within ReverseVision Exchange (RVX) and to measure customer satisfaction with STRATMOR MortgageSAT, a borrower feedback program that giving lenders with data and peer-to-peer performance benchmarking.

The new pricing model and service tier implementation comes as business appears to be picking up in the opening weeks of 2021, according to ReverseVision’s VP of Sales and Marketing Wendy Peel in an interview with RMD.

The timing for these changes

These changes have been in the works for ReverseVision’s product suite since last year, but the timing certainly seems to align well with the levels of business that the company is seeing in the opening weeks of 2021, Peel says.

“During these first two weeks of January, we have been busier with new lenders than we’ve been in a long time, ready to come into the system,” Peel says. “Our current customer base has already been exposed to this pricing model, and it makes complete sense to them. Some of them even are actually saving money on this pricing model, especially for those that use us end-to-end. The investors that leverage RV with their proprietary LOS systems, now have the ability to use what they need and give our shared customers a better experience.”

Additional significance for the company comes from looking at its historical pricing structure, which was modeled on the forward mortgage industry’s loan origination systems (LOS).

“Starting in 2020, our messaging around reverse platform as a service is more along the lines of software as a service,” she says. “So, whereas some companies might want to use our loan origination system end-to-end, other companies want to just access our APIs, especially our modeling API. So it gives that kind of flexibility, and it’s along the lines of the strategy we’ve been talking about as ‘platform as a service.’”

How current customers will be impacted

Customers who are currently engaged with ReverseVision will be given information about new product capabilities that the company can make available to them under the new structure, Peel says, beyond current customers having already been exposed to the new model.

“Our customer base, for example, are able to have the Sales Accelerator, which used to be an add-on product,” Peel says. “Now, that’s standard. […] So value-wise, it’s fantastic from the use of our system. The other big thing that we’re doing is we’re really looking at this as a way to onboard our customers again.”

By “onboarding,” Peel is referring to those customers who may have become accustomed to doing things a certain way, or making certain software or processes fold into daily work based on an individual’s own preferences. Moving to the new structure can bring additional training at no cost to learn about new features of the system, since the LOS in particular has changed in the last few years.

“By getting on this newer agreement, we’re offering at no additional fee the ability to ‘re-onboard’ and think about your lending experience in a different way,” she says. “I’m excited about what we’re bringing to the table. I think it’s going to make our current customer base see ReverseVision in a new light, and that we really are moving forward to ensure technology is really driving the point home.”

Lowering barriers to entry for industry newcomers, veterans

There are approximately just over 7,000 brokers doing business with the ReverseVision platform, a large percentage of which are active in the forward space. The company hopes that this new structure will create an incentive to become active in the reverse market, Peel says.

“A big reason that they’re not lending in the reverse market, is system setup, compliance and technology fees surrounding the lending program. The old pricing model had a $20,000 lump sum LOS license fee, that makes higher-ups and the IT get involved at a different level, which is good,” Peel says. “However, in order to scale appropriately, this barrier to entry made it challenging. A lender who may only originate two loans per month felt these larger fees inhibit ability to scale and this pricing model is much more conducive to effective scaling within the lending ecosystem.”

It also helps companies who are investing in the platform by giving more exposure to additional lenders, and helps maintain ReverseVision’s free broker model, she says.

Additionally, while forward mortgage refinances are persisting based on the low rate environment observed in 2020, that isn’t likely to persist forever. A senior adding a reverse mortgage into consideration  as a potentially better fit for where they are in life may be more likely once the forward refi boom dissipates, Peel says.

“There will be a time where that refi boom goes away. And more importantly, there are many borrowers in their 60s that, honestly, [should ask whether or not] being in a 30-year fixed refi is good, taking all their equity out,” she says. “Or, is it better for them to fully understand and appreciate what a HECM is, and how it can actually help them retire?”

Structure details

Key to the offerings of ReverseVision is its use of application programming interfaces, or APIs. These tools are useful for people in the reverse mortgage space by streamlining certain integrations, according to an interview with ReverseVision Chief Technology Officer Joe Magner.

“APIs are generally what you would deliver to tech partners and to the more sophisticated customers that would be trying to integrate your system into a forward lending system so they can refine their operations,” Magner explained to RMD in a recent “Voices” feature.

The “entry” tier is described as “ideal for lenders who may just be getting their toes wet with reverse mortgage clients and are looking to try out new technologies to broaden their profile,” according to the company.

The “retail” tier is for lenders seeking to scale their reverse mortgage operations with access to ReverseVision’s full product suite, as well as its APIs. Next is the “premium” tier, for those lenders who are seeking to add a wholesale channel to their existing reverse mortgage operations through the use of the RV Exchange software suite, with a price of $9,995 a month.

Finally, the “enterprise” tier allows unlimited ReverseVision platform access, designed for lenders who are looking to incorporate reverse mortgage operations into their existing forward mortgage business, according to ReverseVision, with access to multiple APIs.

ReverseVision recently announced that Joe Langner, first hired as the company’s new president in 2020, has been promoted to an expanded role of president and chief executive officer (CEO). Shortly after announcing the promotion, Langner told RMD that ReverseVision will aim to build out its partnerships with third party software companies to leverage those APIs to streamline loan processes, while an expansion of existing offerings is a priority in 2021.

“I think after that, you’re going to see the expansion of our front-end tool,” he told RMD earlier this month. “APIs are a way of moving data and images between systems, but they’re not the software that the end-user looks at. It’s not that front end. So in addition to the APIs, we’re also building out a point of sale product to support private loan and HECM loan products, and to be able to be a front-end to that API.”