Mortgage Software Solutions Blog

Today’s employees work remotely using tablets and smartphones.

Thanks to modern device technology and an increasingly dynamic workforce, the trend of working from outside the traditional office is “the new normal”.

Though mortgage industry folks would like to hop on the bandwagon, they are slowed down by safety concerns. Financial services handle a larger volume of non-public information (NPI) and personally identifiable information (PII) for their clients, making them a top target for cyber attack.

Given the highly sensitive nature of financial data, is it possible for the mortgage industry take part in the remote work revolution?

Benefits of Remote Work

Instead of asking if the mortgage industry can take part, perhaps it’s wise to ask if the mortgage industry can afford to ignore remote work possibilities. In 2018, we are living with the reality of hyper-mobility. The office is no longer just a building. Anywhere can be a workspace thanks to the ubiquity of co-working spaces, mobile technology, and the prevalence of public Wi-Fi.

Beyond employee morale, the capabilities of a remote workforce affect the bottom line. Studies show that remote workers are more dedicated and more productive than employees in fixed workplaces. They regularly put in more hours tonget the job done rather than clocking out at 5pm. With the promise of increased productivity, remote work must be incorporated in order for mortgage institutions to stay at the forefront of the business world.

Security Concerns

The main obstacle is security. As financial institution data breaches make international news, people assume that remote security is undeveloped. In finance circles, the assumption is that office-based workers are accessing data with higher protection than those outside the office.

The truth is that federal regulators have responded to the well-publicized data breaches with a crackdown regarding financial services. The US, UK, and EU have all instituted new regulations that keep cyber security tight and that require quick responses to attempted hacks.

With a little prodding from the government, IT departments in the finance world have silently been pushing to reach the highest levels of security possible, which benefited remote work capabilities in the process.

Breaking Out of the Office

Gartner research predicts that over next 2 years, public cloud infrastructure as a service (IaaS) workloads will suffer 60%+ fewer security incidents than those in traditional data centers. With the correct security measures in place, there is no reason that a remote worker’s access is more susceptible to cyber attack than an office-based worker. Simply put, concerns about the security of remote access are no longer valid.  Modern security measures provide a productive, safe, and compliant access point for your entire mortgage business, including remote workers. Mortgage institutions no longer need to fear cloud-based platforms and technology tools that facilitate remote staff, even those who access work portals using public Wi-Fi connections.

To ensure secure access and avoid endangering client data, mortgage institutions merely need to select platforms and technology tools that have sufficient cyber security. Features such as automatically encrypted emails, measures that block accidental disclosure of NPI, and access portals for clients to submit sensitive documentation are a must. Resource-sharing apps and hardware should be covered and security procedures should make mention of coverage for users’ own devices.

Technology Tools

The best technology solutions come from developers that work closely with the mortgage industry and are familiar with the standard practices of financial institutions. Access Business Technology (ABT) is one such company out of California. Focused on tech development for a wide array of uses in the finance world, this company developed the Mortgage Work Space (MWS) RemoteApp to create a work environment that empowers mortgage companies to take advantage of the productivity increase of remote workers.

The ABT-developed app brings the functionality of the on-premise Microsoft RemoteApp program and backs it by another ABT solution equipped with mortgage integration. From there, the app hosts non-persistent Terminal Server sessions in the cloud, shares sessions with users, and provides secure, remote access to applications from different user devices. Users can install Remote Desktop clients on their PC, Mac, tablet, or phone and then access applications as if they were running locally.  

As security technology beefs up to match the demands of remote workers, financial industries are finally able to join the ranks of mobilized workers. With security concerns out of the way and mortgage-specific technology tools, the industry can finally take advantage of the increased productivity that other industries have been enjoying with success.

To increase productivity and give employees the ability to securely work from anywhere, check out the RemoteApp and other mortgage solutions from ABT.

Image: Unsplash