Financial services provider Figure Lending and asset management firm Apollo have completed a transaction involving the origination of digital mortgage loans and transfer of ownership via blockchain technology.
Figure has begun originating eNote mortgages that are on-boarded as unique digital assets on the Provenance blockchain while simultaneously auto-registering with Digital Asset Registration Technologies (DART), a combined lien and eNote registry system developed by Figure Technologies. DART is used to monitor blockchain-based asset transfers and offers a “more efficient” alternative to existing loan tracking systems and the settlement process for paper promissory notes.
“When Apollo and Figure formed a strategic partnership, we saw the potential to apply the Provenance blockchain – built specifically for the financial services industry – to processes across the investment lifecycle,” Apollo partner Robert Bittencourt said. “We are excited to have now completed our first use case with this mortgage transaction, executed in a way that we believe can dramatically improve efficiency in the mortgage and lending ecosystem.”
Apollo, through investment vehicles it manages, purchased these digital assets via an integrated blockchain-based marketplace that enables real-time, multi-party settlement that automatically reflects transfers of loan interests without additional registrations or need for intermediaries.
“With technology impacting all areas of our lives, it is time for participants across the mortgage ecosystem to experience an improved process that simply works better and costs less,” said Daniel Wallace, general manager at Figure Lending. “Blockchain can provide enhanced protections and transparency in the ownership process for consumers and real-time settlement for investors, replacing trust with truth to create a faster, more efficient process for everyone. This important development demonstrates just one way that blockchains will provide significant improvements that streamline the mortgage lending space.”
This transaction is one in a growing trend to integrate blockchain technology into the real estate and mortgage markets. Earlier this year, the first private sale of a home via NFT and blockchain technology was completed in Florida. Like many fintech companies entering the mortgage/lending space, Figure is hoping to remain on the cutting edge of these new digital technology which it sees as a way to modernize the industry and lower costs and increase efficiency for both lenders and borrowers.