A Chat with Stuart Cheetham, CEO at FinTech Mortgage Lender: MPowered Mortgages

MPowered Mortgages is a tech-first mortgage lender with a mortgage origination platform that harnesses the power of smart technology and AI to make the mortgage process as quick, efficient and certain as possible for homebuyers. Since MPowered’s launch in 2019, we have received £18 million in investment from backers including Barclays, Citigroup’s SPRINT and M&G Investments, amongst others.

This has enabled us to grow our business rapidly – in 2022, we became the first fintech to successfully enter the prime residential mortgage market to compete directly on price with the ‘big six’, marking the first time in 20 years that the prime residential market has welcomed a major new entrant.
 
 

 

What makes MPowered Mortgages unique?

 
What makes MPowered Mortgages so unique is our best-in-class technology which is designed, and continues to evolve, with mortgage brokers in mind. We want to make the mortgage journey as quick and seamless as possible for those looking to buy or sell their home – and to do this, we need to make things as easy as possible for the broker managing this process. Using AI and data science, we assist brokers through the application process through real-time underwriting and other dynamic features. What’s more, being AI-led, our system is always developing, learning and, as a result, improving.

We also have a dedicated team of broker support staff, data scientists, inquisitive developers, designers and analysts who work with the technology to identify trends and user behaviour in order to eliminate unnecessary tasks, automate repetitive ones, and simplify those that are more complex. Ultimately, we want to provide brokers with the smoothest mortgage journey possible so that everyone involved in the homebuying process can benefit.

When it comes to lending, we are a relatively new, small player. This enables us to, where possible, react quickly and responsively to wider market activity. We are proud to be able to compete with established market players and to offer our customers a wide product range which continues to grow, and that we’re truly proud of.
 

 

How has MPowered Mortgages evolved over the last couple of years?

 
The last two years have been a whirlwind – we were founded in 2019 and have grown quickly, so it’s fair to say that we have evolved in pretty much every single way. Over the last year in particular, we have been very busy with the launch of a number of product lines, including launching into the prime residential mortgage market in March of this year.

We’ve also focused on the formation of a series of strategically important partnerships – over 7,400 brokers now have access to our range of products. And we’re continuing to invest in our people, doubling our headcount, as well as opening a new office in Leeds to support further tech innovation. It has been a busy period and happily, as we look forward, we do not see any signs of slowing down any time soon.
 

What can we hope to see from MPowered Mortgages in the future?

 
The pandemic marked a real turning point for the mortgage industry because it forced a traditionally in-person, paper-based sector to move online. Looking back just a few years, it is clear to see how far we have come. Moving forwards, at MPowered Mortgages, we will continue to develop our technology to ensure we are providing brokers with a digital platform that really makes a difference to how consumers experience the process of buying and re-mortgaging a home.

Our aim is to revolutionise the mortgage journey by reimagining it, using AI and the power of digital to continuously optimise this, to ultimately bringing our whole new customer-centric-approach to the world of mortgages to life.