Knowledge Bank and Iress to offer fully integrated search system

Knowledge Bank and Iress have joined forces to provide the UK’s first fully integrated product and criteria sourcing system for brokers.

Through a single search, brokers will be able to find the exact lender to suit their clients’ needs from both a product and criteria perspective, saving time and effort.

Having teamed up with Iress in April 2020, Knowledge Bank was able to provide a level of integration, but the collaboration has since been bumped up a level, bringing together the ‘best of breed’ with regards to product and criteria.

Brokers using Iress’ Xplan software will be able to input their clients’ requirements only once, via a single login. The system will then display results detailing the lenders who will accept the client based on both the products available and the criteria circumstances.

This differs from other systems where brokers still need either separate logins, or to conduct searches on two separate parts of the system.

The products available are only a part of the information a broker requires when looking for the best outcome to suit client needs. The integration will incorporate the lenders’ criteria stance into the product sourcing results, immediately shortlisting a more accurate selection of lenders.

This complements Iress’ ‘Lender Connect’ proposition which enables brokers to then apply from Xplan Mortgage directly to the lender, with all of the data pre-populated.

Nicola Firth, chief executive officer of Knowledge Bank, comments: “The result of this collaboration is a system that will revolutionise the market. It creates the ultimate sourcing tool for brokers to get the best possible outcomes for their clients.”

“It is no longer a viable option to search only for mortgage products and not criteria, not with over 52,000 criteria changes in 2020 alone – that’s 1,000 changes to criteria every single week. So, by teaming up with Iress we have ensured that brokers can get both the most accurate and up-to-date product and criteria information all in one place.”

She adds: “Never again will it be necessary for brokers to log into multiple different systems, spending hours cross-referencing and rekeying client data, to find which lender will provide a mortgage for their client. This can now be done in moments, pulling all of the information into one place and providing robust evidence of research for compliance purposes satisfying the FCA’s requirements.”