PEXA, which claims to be the UK’s only FCA-regulated digital property completion infrastructure, has announced the completion of the first NatWest remortgage transaction on the platform, achieved within two working days of the mortgage offer.
The typical UK remortgage timeline is four to six weeks.
The company says it was able to speed up the process through the automated workflows and real-time settlement capability within PEXA’s purpose-built digital infrastructure.
A chance to enhance mortgage lending processes
It says the two-day transaction further highlights the benefits of digitisation and automation in the remortgage process in the UK and the opportunity to enhance processes across conveyancing and mortgage lending.
The milestone represents an important step in NatWest’s implementation of PEXA, following the lender going live with fee-assisted remortgages last month, with sale and purchase transactions to follow as the rollout continues.
Barry Connolly, managing director for home buying and ownership at NatWest, said: “Our focus is on making the home ownership journey faster and simpler for our customers. This is an important milestone in our partnership with PEXA and a strong demonstration of how digital infrastructure can accelerate the remortgage process.”
He said that the customer was also pleased with the process, giving the highest possible satisfaction scores for the transaction.
‘A significant moment’
Joe Pepper, UK chief executive of PEXA, said it was a “significant moment” for both PEXA and NatWest. “Completing a remortgage in just two working days from offer to completion shows what can be achieved when manual steps are removed and processes are better connected. This was possible because the PEXA platform enables lodgement, settlement and data synchronisation activities to be orchestrated in parallel within a single, integrated environment. This reduces reliance on manual intervention and allows transactions to complete with far greater speed, certainty and control once ready to proceed.”
“This is an early example, but it points to the opportunity for the UK to move from a system where transactions take weeks to complete, to one where they can be completed in days with far greater certainty, transparency and security.”
