In a move to create more transparency, ad platforms like NerdWallet and Bankrate are pushing existing and new mortgage lending ad partners to have a variety of live rate displays on their own websites. This gives your potential customer a consistent experience across both the rate table platform rates and the mortgage lenders actual website rates.
Here are a few Q&A's on how you can stay ahead of any changes.
Q: What types of rate products do you need to display?
A: Conventional 30 year fixed is just the starting point. We are hearing a variety of government rates such as FHA and VA are starting to become a requirement. The more variety of price and product options the better.
Q: How do I start to display rates on my website?
A: Pricing engines like Optimal Blue have APIs available that allow you to build out custom rate displays on your website which can take time and money. Although it can be a technical challenge to build out an API integration it is available to all Optimal Blue pricing engine users. BankingBridge is an integration partner of Optimal Blue and provides a variety of pre-built rate display website tools to get you to market cheaper and faster. If you have limited developer resources we are a great option.
Q: What if I currently do not have a pricing engine? How do I display rates?
A: Manually adding rate display to your website is an option but you have to maintain those rates on a daily basis for accuracy. This can become a headache to maintain. If you do not like this option look into pricing engine options. We recommend Optimal Blue as they have an API that makes rate display much faster and cheaper.
Q: What else is changing to qualify as a new mortgage lender looking to participate on rate table sites?
A: Sites like Bankrate are requiring new mortgage ad partners to hit a minimum monthly spend of $25,000 and have a lending footprint of at least 10 states. We are also hearing that advertising on off hours such as nights and weekends will be required. As these ad platforms become more of an important roll in lead generation for mortgage lenders, the ad platforms in return are looking for more long term partners that can grow revenue.
The BankingBridge mission is to help small to mid-sized mortgage lenders level the playing fields against the industry giants. We work with top mortgage lenders who advertise on Bankrate, LendingTree, and NerdWallet to deliver a modern website experience, lower cost per lead, and improve ROI.
Learn how Optimal Blue users are converting more leads with BankingBridge.