This year’s National Technology in Mortgage Banking Conference & Expo took place March 26-29 at the Hyatt Regency in Chicago. MBA reported this was the largest attendance for this show in at least five years, and our client LendingQB concurred, noting the event was attended by largest number of lenders they have seen in several years. There was a good deal of buzz around blockchain technology and tech showcases of the industry’s latest technology entrants, and the overall vibe of the show was a positive one.

Rodrigo Lopez, MBA Chairman, and Steve Case, Chairman and CEO of Revolutions LLC and AOL Co-Founder, kicked off the conference discussing Case’s book, The Third Wave: An Entrepreneur’s Vision of the Future. This discussion focused on the intersection of the digital and physical worlds and innovation. The session was followed by a Q&A.

JPMorgan Chase, Ellie Mae, USAA, and Quicken Loans were part of a panel discussion on their perspectives about fintech. Seth Wheeler, Managing Director at JPMorgan Chase, posed the question, “Do we build or do we partner?” which became a recurring theme at MBA Tech.

Tony Garritano from Progress in Lending held an Innovations Awards event at the London House which showcased seven companies in the mortgage industry that are leading the way in compliance, eClosings, appraisals and information management. Agency client QuestSoft was one of the winning companies for their work in preparing lenders for the 2018 HMDA changes.

Our client, Docutech, launched Solex, their eSign platform. mPower had a special session which featured Dr. Tracey Wilson, New York Times best-selling author. She discussed the future of leadership with findings from the book Women Lead: Career Perspectives from Workplace Leaders. The book found managers tend to rate women higher than male leaders in communications, collaboration and problem solving. Dr. Wilson interviewed 200 women leaders and surveyed more than 3,000 male and female managers from varied industries.

An interesting local angle discussed at MBA Tech was the growth of fintech in the city of Detroit and what it means for its citizens and the industry. Much of the conversation focused on the millennial knowledge base and how to leverage it to bring fresh ideas to the industry. As one might expect, lots of attention was given to innovative technology in mortgage -- especially around compliance and data management -- and how to effectively harness data to create a unique experience for borrowers.

Overall, the common themes were progress on digital mortgage; using APIs to build stronger integrations; lenders trying to figure out how to leverage blockchain; and the use of robots in mortgage and what that might mean for the industry.

To see what events are next in the queue for the mortgage industry, download our 2017 Trade Show Directory.