SouthTrust Automates Mortgage Operations

SouthTrust Mortgage is using the UniFi Pro Mortgage loan origination and processing system, from Fiserv Lending Solutions, to manage its multi-market, multi-state lending business and deliver advanced products and services to its customers.

SouthTrust Mortgage has integrated UniFi Pro Mortgage software into its lending operations to coordinate the activities of 52 markets throughout the nine states that make up its primary service area: Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia.

UniFi Pro consolidates data that previously had been generated through dozens of independent, MS-DOS-based systems. The lender now uses a single, centralized relational database in a Windows 2000 Terminal Server-based distributed computing environment.

"When we implemented a single database with UniFi Pro Mortgage, we took a technological leap to prepare ourselves for tomorrow, yet we are saving substantial time and money on system maintenance and equipment today," according to Bob Slaughter, vice president of IS for Birmingham, Ala.-based SouthTrust Mortgage, a subsidiary of $48.4 billion SouthTrust Bank.

SouthTrust Mortgage also has used UniFi Pro Mortgage to generate better-quality statistical data for management reporting. Noted Slaughter, "We depend on the data being right."

The lender is satisfied with UniFi Pro Mortgage's database and deployment options. But Slaughter says the software's solid architecture and robust functionality add the most value to the organization's day-to-day lending operations.

"We looked for stability, and for a mortgage focus, not vaporware," he said. "UniFi Pro Mortgage is a live, viable solution."

The product provides SouthTrust Mortgage with flexibility and control.

For example, its in-house technical staff uses PowerTools (the UniFi Pro custom development toolkit) to build new screens and add custom fields, giving the organization greater control over its lending data and processes.

SouthTrust Mortgage also uses UniFi Pro Mortgage's extensive interface capabilities to integrate with business applications.

These application integrations include general ledger systems and Fiserv MortgageServ loan servicing, as well as with third-party service providers for Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) analysis, automated underwriting, credit reports, secondary marketing, flood certification, mortgage forms and Interactive Computer Corporation (ICC).

Service, integrated technologies and qualified professionals play a major role in the success of SouthTrust. So have the speed, functionality and efficiency of UniFi Pro Mortgage, Slaughter said.

"UniFi PRO Mortgage will grow with us, and we are poised to react very quickly to changes in our business."

A regional mortgage banking firm, SouthTrust Mortgage is a subsidiary of SouthTrust Bank, which is a part of SouthTrust Corp.

As the primary provider of residential mortgage loan packages within the SouthTrust organization, SouthTrust Mortgage operates 52 retail market offices throughout the South and is ranked in the top 30 by National Mortgage News for retail production.