Finance News

PLANO, Texas, Oct. 13, 2026 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) — Optimal Blue today released its September 2026 Market Advantage mortgage data report, which found non-qualified mortgage (non-QM) lending continued to expand even as rising rates weighed on broader mortgage activity. Total rate-lock volume declined 2% month over month (MoM), 21% over the past three months and 26% year over year (YoY). Non-QM lock volume bucked the broader decline, rising 8% MoM as non-QM loans accounted for 12% of September production.

CHICAGO, Ill., Oct. 12, 2026 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) — Friday Harbor, an AI pre-underwriting platform that helps loan officers assemble complete and compliant loan files in real time, today announced Safe Harbor QC, a new pre-closing quality control solution that combines a comprehensive loan review with a warranty backed by a global insurer rated A+ (Superior) by AM Best with the agency’s highest financial size category (XV).

PLANO, Texas, Oct. 12, 2026 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) — Optimal Blue today announced it has acquired Usherpa, a marketing automation and borrower relationship engagement platform purpose-built for mortgage professionals. The acquisition expands Optimal Blue’s ability to help lenders win more business by bringing borrower engagement capabilities closer to the product, pricing and eligibility solutions that over 200,000 originators use to identify and convert loan opportunities.

PLANO, Texas, Oct. 12, 2026 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) — Optimal Blue today announced that its direct lock functionality now integrates with Fannie Mae’s Pricing & Execution – Whole Loan® (PE – Whole Loan) platform. The integration allows lenders using Optimal Blue’s product, pricing and eligibility (PPE) engine to execute best efforts locks with Fannie Mae through real-time, system-to-system connectivity without leaving Optimal Blue.

BUFFALO, N.Y., Oct. 12, 2026 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) — LenderLogix and Jerry today announced an integration that helps mortgage borrowers proactively secure homeowners insurance once they’ve submitted their mortgage application. Within LenderLogix’s LiteSpeed point-of-sale platform, borrowers can seamlessly shop for homeowners insurance directly from their borrower dashboard.

AUSTIN, Texas, Oct. 12, 2026 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) — FirstClose™, a leading fintech provider of data and workflow solutions for home equity and mortgage lenders nationwide, today announced a strategic alliance with Cotality™, a leading global property information, analytics and data-enabled solutions provider that supports 80% of real estate transactions in North America.

TORRANCE, Calif., Oct. 8, 2026 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) — DocMagic® announced today that Chief Operating Officer Lori Johnson has been named one of Mortgage Banker’s 2026 Powerful Women of Mortgage Banking. The award recognizes women in mortgage banking who stand out as leaders by driving innovation, adapting to change and making a positive impact on their organizations, colleagues and the industry.

AUSTIN, Texas, Oct. 7, 2026 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) — FirstClose™, a leading fintech provider of data and workflow solutions for home equity and mortgage lenders nationwide, today released the results of an independent study by MarketWise Advisors, LLC, examining the value of improvements in operational readiness and execution for home equity lenders. Participating lenders reported an average financial and operational impact of $753.04 per loan, a 7.99x return, across the core and extended capabilities MarketWise modeled.

ATLANTA, Ga., Oct. 7, 2026 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) — Down Payment Resource (DPR), the housing industry’s leading affordability intelligence platform, today announced three additions to its team: Melissa Roy as a partner solutions engineer, April Espinosa as a down payment assistance programs specialist and Jeff Smith as a housing finance agency (HFA) relationship manager.

DES MOINES, Iowa, Oct. 7, 2026 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) — New analysis from iEmergent, a forecasting and advisory services firm for the financial services, mortgage and real estate industries, finds that mortgage access gaps for low-income households are substantially wider than neighborhood-level data suggests. The analysis draws on the last five years of Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) data.

HAMMONTON, N.J., Oct. 7, 2026 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) — Service First Information Solutions LLC (Service 1st), a leading provider of credit reporting and verification solutions for the mortgage and other industries, is celebrating 100 years in business. Over the past century, Service 1st has expanded well beyond its roots in mortgage credit reporting.

DENVER, Colo., Oct. 7, 2026 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) — ACES Quality Management® (ACES), the leading provider of enterprise quality management and control software for the financial services industry, announced today that it has been named one of the AI Pioneer Award winners by PROGRESS in Lending. Honorees include 14 financial technology companies whose AI work spans the loan lifecycle from origination through servicing.

BUFFALO, N.Y., Oct. 6, 2026 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) — LenderLogix, a provider of mortgage point-of-sale and automation software, today announced that FocusOne, a Credit Union Service Organization (CUSO), has implemented its LiteSpeed point-of-sale platform as part of its continued investment in technology designed to help credit union partners deliver a modern, streamlined mortgage experience to their members.

NEW YORK, N.Y., Oct. 6, 2026 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) — June Point Lending Inc. (June Point Lending), a tech-forward wholesale non-QM lender, announced today it is offering debt service coverage ratio (DSCR) loans in California, its 19th state for DSCR lending and one of the country’s largest broker markets. California brokers gain access to June Point Lending’s proprietary technology infrastructure.

BOULDER, Colo., Oct. 6, 2026 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) — Floify, the mortgage industry’s leading point-of-sale (POS) solution, has selected Bryan Traeger as its new general manager. Traeger will lead Floify’s next phase of growth with a focus on expanding the company’s use of AI and push the boundaries of the borrower and lender experience. Traeger officially assumes the GM role on October 12 and will be at MBA Annual in Chicago, October 12-14, booth 600.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla., Oct., 5, 2026 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) — Dark Matter Technologies (Dark Matter), an innovative leader in home lending technology, today announced an integration with Mezzo, creator of the mortgage industry’s first one-to-many operating architecture for third-party services. Available through Dark Matter’s Exchange℠ Partner Marketplace, the integration gives lenders using the Empower® Loan Origination Solution a single gateway and workflow across multiple verification providers.

RALEIGH, N.C., Sept. 30, 2026 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) — Capital Automotive Group today announced the acquisition of six Larry Cloninger dealerships and an independent collision center in North and South Carolina, marking a significant expansion for the family-owned automotive group and, more importantly, the continuation of a legacy built on relationships, community, and more than four decades of friendship between the Cloninger and Michael families.

BRENTWOOD, Tenn., Sept. 29, 2026 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) — Franklin Madison today announced the availability of Guaranteed Issue Life Insurance (GI Life), a new approach to life insurance that removes traditional barriers to coverage through guaranteed acceptance, simplified enrollment, and no waiting periods. The insurance addresses a well-documented gap.

BOULDER, Colo., Sept. 29, 2026 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) — Floify, the mortgage industry’s leading point-of-sale (POS) solution, today announced that Technology Credit Union (Tech CU) has chosen Floify to modernize its first mortgage and home equity lending experience. Founded in 1960, the Bay Area credit union recognized the need for a more streamlined mortgage process to meet members’ expectations.

BOGOTA, COLOMBIA, Sept. 28, 2026 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) — EDEAL, an emerging financial services company serving individuals and small businesses in Latin America, today announced significant growth in its lending operations in Colombia, alongside a new strategic relationship with Sardona Capital S.A., a securities firm regulated and supervised by the Superintendence of the Securities Market of the Republic of Panama.

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va., Sept. 24, 2026 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) — Atlantic Bay Mortgage Group LLC (Atlantic Bay) joined nearly 1,800 volunteers at Norfolk Scope Arena on September 18 for Roc Solid Foundation’s inaugural Ready Bag Rally. In less than two hours, volunteers packed 16,000 Ready Bags to support families navigating a childhood cancer diagnosis. The rally was Roc Solid’s first Ready Bag packing event of this scale.

ATLANTA, Ga., Sept. 23, 2026 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) — Strategic Benefits Advisors, Inc. (SBA) has been recognized by the Atlanta Business Chronicle as one of Atlanta’s largest employee benefits and compensation companies of 2026. This is the eighth consecutive year SBA has made the Chronicle’s annual list highlighting benefits consultants and brokers. Even as the number of benefits consultants and brokers in Atlanta fell 17% in 2026, according to the Chronicle, SBA held its position.

SEATTLE, Wash., Sept. 23, 2026 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) — Friday Harbor, an AI pre-underwriting platform that helps loan officers assemble complete and compliant loan files in real time, today announced expanded support for investor loans, including debt service coverage ratio (DSCR) loans. The new capability builds on Friday Harbor’s recently launched non-qualified mortgage support.

DENVER, Colo., Sept. 21, 2026 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) — ACES Quality Management®, the leading provider of enterprise quality management and control software for the financial services industry, announced today the launch of ACES Population Testing™, which evaluates a financial institution’s loan origination pipelines and servicing portfolios against its defined policies and identifies the records that warrant a reviewer’s attention.

AUSTIN, Texas, Sept. 17, 2026 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) — FirstClose™, a leading fintech provider of data and workflow solutions for home equity and mortgage lenders nationwide, announced today the launch of Lender Portal, a new workspace that lets loan officers manage borrower leads in one place, from initial contact through submission.

GARDEN GROVE, Calif., Sept. 17, 2026 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) — Informative Research (IR), a leading technology provider of data-driven credit and verification solutions for the lending industry, today announced that Tim Cox has rejoined the IR leadership team as executive vice president of business process automation. In this role, Tim will apply his industry expertise to support the company and help its clients work more efficiently and intelligently.

DES MOINES, Iowa, Sept. 16, 2026 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) — iEmergent, a forecasting and advisory services firm for the financial services, mortgage and real estate industries, today released a new analysis validating its 2025 forecasts against actual Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) data. The analysis, which uses final 2025 HMDA data released by the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council on June 23, 2026, spans every geographic level from national down to individual census tracts.

NEW YORK CITY, N.Y., Sept. 16, 2026 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) — Argyle, the leading consumer-permissioned verification platform, today announced the launch of a new solution that enables wholesale mortgage lenders to extend income, employment, and asset verification across their broker networks with a broker-branded borrower experience. The solution is available through Argyle’s Verification API as well as through Encompass® TPO Connect from ICE Mortgage Technology®.

BATON ROUGE, La. and VIRGINIA BEACH, Va., Sept. 15, 2026 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) — Atlantic Bay Mortgage Group LLC (Atlantic Bay) today announced the opening of its first Louisiana branch in Baton Rouge, extending its’ presence across the South and giving Louisiana homebuyers access to a wide range of mortgage options, local expertise, and the technology and resources of an established lender.

ORLANDO, Fla., Sept. 15, 2026 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) — EnergyCAP®, the leading utility and energy management platform for public and private sector organizations, announced Insights, a new capability to their energy and utility management platform, that brings reporting, alerting and prioritization together so energy teams can focus on what’s most important. The announcement came at Catalyst Converge, the company’s 20th annual conference where energy, facilities, finance and sustainability teams are gathered for three days of learning, collaboration, and product innovation.

RANCHO SANTA MARGARITA, Calif., Sept. 14, 2026 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) — Mezzo, creator of the mortgage industry’s first one-to-many operating architecture for third-party services, today announced an integration with Vesta, the AI-native loan origination system (LOS) and agent platform built to automate and accelerate mortgage operations. Mezzo launches with a single gateway across verification providers.

NOVI, Mich., Sept. 10, 2026 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) — Vice Capital Markets, a leading mortgage hedge advisory firm for independent lenders, banks and credit unions, today announced that its capital markets platform now supports the inclusion of VantageScore™ credit scores on mortgage bid tapes, providing lenders and investors with greater visibility into loan-level credit characteristics during the secondary market execution process.

SEATTLE, Wash., Sept. 10, 2026 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) — Friday Harbor, an AI pre-underwriting platform that helps loan officers assemble complete and compliant loan files in real time, today announced its integration to the Freddie Mac Income Calculator API. Lenders can now determine calculated monthly income for wage earners, including borrowers with variable income, in minutes while helping preserve eligibility for certain representation and warranty (R&W) relief tied to the income calculation.

PLANO, Texas, Sept. 9, 2026 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) — Optimal Blue today announced its initial speaker lineup for its 2027 Optimal Blue Summit, including Analyst, ESPN Monday Night Football, 3-Time Super Bowl-Winning Quarterback, Pro Football Hall of Famer Troy Aikman. The third annual event shaping what’s next in mortgage will take place February 1-3, 2027 at the JW Marriott Phoenix Desert Ridge Resort and Spa in Scottsdale, Ariz.

DENVER, Colo., Sept. 9, 2026 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) — ACES Quality Management®, the leading provider of enterprise quality management and control software for the financial services industry, announced today that three senior professionals will speak at two fall industry conferences including MBA’s Compliance and Risk Management Conference, Sept. 27-29 at the Grand Hyatt Washington in Washington, D.C., and the America’s Credit Unions Lending Council Conference, Nov. 3-6 at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas.

PHOENIX, Ariz., Sept. 9, 2026 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) — Fairway Home Mortgage and the Kanyur Reverse Team are proud to announce the opening of a new branch location in Phoenix, Arizona. The new office, located at 11811 N. Tatum Blvd., Suite 1002, Phoenix, AZ 85028, represents an exciting milestone in the team’s continued commitment to serving homeowners throughout Arizona with specialized retirement lending solutions.

NEW YORK CITY, N.Y., Sept. 9, 2026 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) — Argyle, the leading consumer-permissioned verification platform, today announced an expanded integration with Tidalwave, an agentic AI platform that automates the full U.S. mortgage lifecycle from application through closing. Argyle and Tidalwave partnered in 2025 to embed Argyle’s verification of income and employment (VOIE) solution into Tidalwave’s borrower workflow through payroll connectivity.

ADDISON, Texas, Sept. 8, 2026 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) — Click n’ Close, a multi-state mortgage lender, today announced that mortgage industry veteran Blake Priest has joined the company as director of whole loan trading. In this role, Priest will lead the company’s scratch and dent purchasing, giving correspondent partners another outlet for loans that fall outside traditional investor guidelines.

PLANO, Texas, Sept. 8, 2026 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) — Optimal Blue today released its August 2026 Market Advantage mortgage data report, which found that mortgage activity continued to soften in August even as rates leveled off. Total rate-lock volume declined 9% month over month (MoM) and slipped 3% below August 2025 levels. Purchase lock volume fell 10% from July but remained 6% higher year over year (YoY), with purchase loans accounting for nearly 81% of total lock volume.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla., Sept. 3, 2026 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) — Dark Matter Technologies (Dark Matter), an innovative leader in mortgage technology, today announced it has expanded its leadership team with two experienced executives: Salvatore Piccola as senior vice president of product strategy and Gil Valera as vice president of professional services. The additions strengthen two areas central to Dark Matter’s growth strategy: innovation focused on using AI to improve customer experience, help lenders realize efficiencies, and drive seamless implementation and adoption of its product capabilities.