Figure launches AI-powered customer service chatbot – National Mortgage News

Figure Technology Solutions is pushing to better its customer service through the roll out of an AI-powered chatbot that will support staff and partners originating HELOC loans, it announced Thursday.
The machine learning-powered bot will streamline the HELOC application and origination process by providing Figure’s staff with sample responses to commonly asked questions. In theory, this should shorten response times to customers, freeing the hands of staff “to focus on resolving more complex inquiries,” Figure said.
After-hours, the bot can guide users through initial inquiries. The around-the-clock support from the tool will improve the accessibility of Figure’s loan origination platform, the company claims.
Figure has been experimenting with the chatbot since February and during that time the company has been “able to absorb an increase in monthly chats by nearly 30%,” it said.
In the near future, the company is eyeing enhancements to its tool with a goal of it “offering better context saving, customer verification, and chat history carry-forward.”
“The mortgage lending space is still highly manual, and there remains a pressing need for automation within the industry,” said Ruben Padron, chief data officer at Figure Technology Solutions, in a written statement Thursday. “Through the development of highly efficient customer solutions like the AI chatbot, we believe Figure is positioning itself at the forefront of the tech revolution within the mortgage space.”
“By investing in our generative AI portfolio to bolster our proprietary tech-enabled platform, we are excited to continue to drive efficiency across the broader mortgage and lending ecosystem and maximize value for our customers and partners,” Padron’s statement in a press release said.
The new tool’s launch comes on the heels of other momentous developments for FTS, an umbrella company for Figure Lending LLC, including a call for lenders to use its DART system, a lien and eNote registry service, and the company’s impetus to go public.
In mid-March, Figure Technologies announced it would be spinning off Figure Lending under FTS, a precursor to taking its lending arm public.
A week later, the company submitted a “draft registration statement on Form S-1 with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, relating to the proposed initial public offering of its equity securities.” This form is required for registering companies that want to be listed on a national exchange.Companies tapped to take FTS public include Goldman Sachs Group Inc., JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Jefferies Financial Group Inc, a Bloomberg report pointed out. Valuation of the company will likely range between $2 billion to $3 billion.
Figure’s AI-driven chatbot product places them in the ranks with other lenders, such as Beeline and Rocket Mortgage, which are also experimenting with in-house AI technologies.
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The increasing frequency and severity of droughts was top of mind for panelists at AmeriCatalyst’s “Going to Extremes” conference Thursday.
In a Senate hearing, Director Sandra Thompson said a raise to the required income threshold provided to affordable housing was on the table, while housing regulators also faced questions related to property insurance hikes and title insurance waivers.
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