How Canopy Connect is Making Waves in the Mortgage Industry
I recently sat down with Diego Sanchez from HousingWire at the MBA Annual convention to chat about how we're revolutionizing the insurance verification process in the mortgage industry. As someone who's passionate about leveraging technology to solve real-world problems, I'm excited to share with you the story behind Canopy Connect and how we're making waves in the mortgage and insurance sectors.
Canopy Connect: Founding Story
My journey to founding Canopy Connect is rooted in a desire to create positive change through technology. Before Canopy, I was an early engineer at Dropbox and later at Nova Credit, where I worked on helping newcomers get fair access to credit using their foreign credit data. This experience opened my eyes to the power of consumer-permissioned data and how it could be used to benefit both businesses and individuals.
The idea for Canopy Connect struck me during a chance conversation with an insurance agent who drove to a client's home to help them download their dec page so she could verify and quote them. In an age where we can link bank accounts to apps with ease, it seemed absurd there wasn't a similar solution for insurance information. That's when I knew we had to build a platform that would make exchanging verified insurance information as simple as a few clicks.
Reimagining the Insurance Verification Process
Let's face it—the traditional way of verifying insurance for mortgage processes is a pain. It's all about scavenger hunts for documents, endless phone calls, and frustrating wait times. At Canopy Connect, we're changing that narrative.
We've created a seamless, 20-second process where consumers can share their insurance information directly from the source, the insurance carrier, eliminating the need for manual document gathering and review.
Our platform isn't just about speed; it's about trust and accuracy. By connecting directly to insurance carriers, we provide lenders and servicers with verified data they can rely on. No more worrying about falsified documents or outdated information. It's a win-win: consumers have control over their data, and businesses get the accurate information they need to make decisions quickly.
Integrating with Mortgage LOS Systems
One of the most exciting developments for us has been joining the ICE Mortgage Technology® Partner Network. Our integration with Encompass™ allows lenders to order insurance verifications directly from their LOS, streamlining the process even further. The borrower receives an email, clicks through to select their insurance provider, and boom – the flood and homeowners insurance details are automatically populated in Encompass. No data entry, no document review, just pure efficiency.
But we're not stopping at origination. We're also revolutionizing the servicing process. Our platform allows servicers to monitor insurance profiles continuously, receive notifications about policy changes or cancellations, and even update lienholders with just a couple of clicks. It's about creating a holistic relationship with customers and opening up new opportunities for cross-selling and upselling insurance products.
Compliance and Security: Our Top Priorities
In the heavily regulated mortgage industry, compliance and security are non-negotiable. That's why we've made it a cornerstone of our platform. We've become experts in the requirements set by Fannie Mae and other investors, allowing our customers to perform automated checks and ensure compliance without manual review.
As for data security, it's in our DNA. We were the first vendor in our category to achieve SOC 2 Type II compliance, and we maintain rigorous security practices, including regular testing and encryption of all data at rest and in transit. One of our core values is to be worthy of trust, and we prove it every day through our actions.
Building a Holistic Intake Experience for 2025
As we look ahead to 2025, I’m excited to share the vision we have for our platform. Recently, we’ve expanded our capabilities to create a more holistic intake experience that truly meets borrowers on their terms. This means not just accommodating their preferences, but also streamlining the entire process. A key part of this is enhancing carrier connectivity, which allows consumers to authenticate and easily share their insurance profiles. We’ve also made significant strides in document processing—moving away from traditional Optical Character Recognition (OCR) methods. Instead, we’re able to extract structured content directly from documents. This innovation reduces errors, ensuring that we capture accurate data without the common pitfalls of OCR, such as confusing zeros with O's.
Moreover, our development of custom forms provides lenders, servicers, and mortgage businesses with the flexibility to present a tailored experience to borrowers. If someone has their policy document handy, they can upload it directly, or they can opt for filling out a form—whatever works best for them. We’re also focused on enriching data from third-party sources to minimize unnecessary questions. Currently, we cover over 91% of the homeowner's insurance market, but reaching 100% is a top priority. For those in the insurance space, we’re building policy servicing capabilities to enhance retention and account management for existing customers.
A Future of Seamless Transactions
Our vision extends beyond just improving the intake process; we aim to revolutionize the entire lifecycle of insurance transactions. Traditionally, this has involved tedious manual tasks, countless phone calls, and even the dreaded fax machine. We’re transitioning this model to one-click transactions by connecting directly to data sources through APIs. This means no more document reviews or data entry for our customers. For consumers, it eliminates the headache of tracking down important documents, making the experience seamless and efficient.
Looking ten years into the future, I envision a landscape where businesses no longer rely on document reviews. With the rise of generative AI, the potential for synthetic document fraud is a real concern. In fact, 95% of fake documents are currently being accepted in the lending space. Our approach to combat this is simple: connect directly to the source of truth via APIs, minimizing reliance on documents that can easily be falsified. By leveraging technology to ensure authenticity, we can create a more secure and trustworthy environment for all stakeholders involved. This is the future we’re building towards, and I’m thrilled to be part of it.
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