The reverse mortgage industry faced an interesting challenge during the COVID-19 pandemic. The business moved from in-person meetings with clients and potential reverse mortgage borrowers to online meeting solutions. In addition, signings and closings were no longer done in person. Chris Clow, in a
Reverse Mortgage Daily op-ed, explains why the reverse mortgage business needs to further embrace technology.
Clow believes that industries like reverse mortgages are often slow to adapt to new technologies and when the COVID-19 pandemic goes away, it will still be necessary to embrace technology. Originally, seniors, a vulnerable demographic. were protected from having to utilize technology out of the fear that they may fall for predatory lenders and scammers. Measures were put into place to shield them from being taken advantage of.
"The issue that gets presented, though, is that as later generations begin to age up into the senior demographic, the understanding–and indeed, the incorporation–of technology into their lives will only become more pronounced. By 2043, when the oldest millennials will first qualify for reverse mortgages, it’s likely that they will both insist and demand that processes related to the transaction that they seek will be further automated, or at the very least be accomplished from their phones or tablets," wrote Clow. "This unique moment in history only emphasizes that businesses at-large–and the reverse mortgage industry, specifically–should be making greater strides to accomplish more in the technological arena. There has certainly been progress, but there’s a long way to go."
