Digital solutions provider e4 Strategic has officially launched VERSA, a new digital workflow management platform designed to transform the way UK mortgage lenders and conveyancers interact during the post-offer stage of property transactions.
Developed over four years in the UK, with input from leading mortgage lenders and conveyancing professionals, VERSA aims to address one of the most entrenched inefficiencies in the homebuying and remortgage journey – the disjointed and paper-heavy processes that persist from offer to completion.
Drawing on over two decades of experience delivering similar platforms for South Africa’s largest mortgage lenders and conveyancing firms, e4 has engineered VERSA to connect key parties in real time, creating a fully digital workflow that replaces outdated methods of communication such as email and fax.
With a focus on intelligent automation, real-time updates, and system integration, the platform delivers a more efficient and transparent experience for lenders, conveyancers, and ultimately the end consumer.
CLEAN-SLATE SOLUTION
While much of the UK mortgage industry has invested in streamlining the front end of the journey – from application through to offer – the post-offer stage has seen little innovation, despite being a well-documented bottleneck.
VERSA steps into this gap by offering a clean-slate solution that enables milestone-driven workflows, case tracking, digital document management with e-signatures, and the ability to handle panel management and digital case progression from a single, centralised system.
For lenders, VERSA promises reduced transaction times, significant cost savings, and better panel oversight.
FASTER RESPONSE TIMES
Conveyancers benefit from improved communication with lenders, faster response times to queries, and automated workflows that cut down on administrative delays. Consumers, meanwhile, gain greater transparency and clarity, with real-time updates throughout what is typically one of the most stressful stages of the buying or remortgaging process.
Simon Slater (main picture), Chief Executive of e4 Strategic, says the aim was to address the parts of the property transaction journey that had been left behind in the rush to digitise the front end.
He says: “For years, the industry has been talking about end-to-end digitisation of the mortgage process – and whilst great strides have been made up to the offer stage, the experience from offer through to completion is still far too slow, too manual, and too opaque. That’s what we at e4 set out to address.
“Many lenders still rely on emails, faxes and outdated systems to communicate with conveyancers, with queries and updates being processed manually and tracked across disconnected systems.
EMPOWERING CONVEYANCERS
“With VERSA, we’re empowering lenders and conveyancers by providing a digital platform to make their working lives easier; we are giving them the tools they need to improve transaction times, reduce their overheads and mitigate risk, as well as deliver a far better experience to their clients and customers.
“It’s all about empowering users, joining the dots and bringing proper workflows and visibility into a part of the process that’s been left behind with the advancements in technology.”
“A platform that will address the genuine needs of the profession, clients and customers.”
And he adds: “What truly sets VERSA apart from other property technology is how innovative it is. VERSA has been built with the aim of reimagining how lenders and conveyancers can collaborate in a modern, digital way.
“VERSA is not tweaking with what’s already there. Instead it takes a clean-slate approach with expert input from leading mortgage lenders, conveyancers and a range of technology partners, to deliver a platform that will address the genuine needs of the profession, clients and customers.”
