First Hawaiian Bank believes it has raised the bar when it comes to mortgage origination data on its digital platform.
FHB is launching its new “Quick Quote” mortgage portal on its website June 21, allowing customers to quickly input information on a prospective purchase to generate a closing cost calculation within a moment for a new or refinanced 30- or 15-year loan.
That’s to go with the most current interest rates and monthly payment estimations, which are available now on most Hawaii banks’ websites.
Tony Au, FHB executive vice president and residential real estate division manager, has 31 years of diverse lending and banking experience, and worked his way up from a loan officer — traditionally, the person who would relay such figures to a prospective borrower. He sees the portal service, in combination with person-to-person help, as a necessary adaptation to evolving customer expectations, and the new normal going forward.
“We looked at how our customers’ preferences are changing,” Au said. “Most banks only provide general information, and not down to the customer’s specific needs when refinancing or purchasing a home.
“When they come to FHB Online and they click on the mortgage option or buying a home, they’ll go right to this portal and be able to see all the information right at their fingertips.”
Home buying is a highly competitive process in Hawaii, and has only intensified during the coronavirus pandemic.
Pacific Business News reported in its Residential Real Estate Roundtable in April that the Islands have seen record prices during the last year-plus; there were record median prices for single-family homes on Oahu in February, March and May at nearly $1 million.
“We know customers are going to research a lot of information [online] before they even make a call to a realtor or loan officer, so we want to give them the information they’re looking for,” Au said. “They can use the shopping tool, they can obtain rates, estimate closing costs on multiple scenarios. … You might be looking at looking at something at $500,000, $550,000, maybe even $600,000. Having the ability to punch that information in right then and there, and see what your closing costs and rate of payments are going to be, we think is just huge and is going to be great for the customer.”
The portal can be accessed on desktop or mobile web browsers, although not, it should be noted, on FHB’s overhauled mobile app that it launched in April.
