Top 13 Proven Benefits of HMDA Software for Fair Lending Compliance [Part 2]

Welcome to part two of the top 13 benefits of using a HMDA analysis software to improve your Fair Lending compliance!  You already know why data analysis is important. Now learn six more ways that HMDA software can help.

Last week, you learned the first 7 benefits of HMDA software for your Fair Lending compliance. They were:

1. Save time.
2. Decrease operating costs.
3. Identify risk exposure.
4. Increase sales.
5. Respond quickly to regulators' questions.
6. Improve profitability.
7. Enhance business strategy.

In this post, you'll learn six more experience-tested benefits of leveraging a HMDA software for your HMDA data analysis. As we anticipate the release of 2016's public HMDA data, now is the best time to make sure you've got the best solution in place for your institution.

Why? Because when the public HMDA LAR is released, you need to be prepared to include it into your analysis by incorporating it into peer and benchmarking data. You'll want to hit the ground running with HMDA and Fair Lending compliance, analyzing your performance as soon as possible after it is released. The regulators will also be using this data to prioritize institutions for future Fair Lending exams. You need to know what your numbers say, and how you compare to peers, to know if you're at risk.

Without further ado, here are the final six benefits of HMDA software for your institution:

Benefit 8: Build a Culture of Compliance

A strong culture of compliance is absolutely essential for success. In fact, 69% of compliance professionals expect more compliance involvement in implementing compliance culture and tone from the top.

With an emphasis on compliance, the compliance efforts and insights gained can inform the perspective of everyone in the institution. Data analysis can provide clarity into risk exposure, and allow colleagues to understand the real impact of policies, practices, and procedures on disparities and risk exposure.

In particular, HMDA software can provide insights about the results of changes to the Fair Lending compliance management program. These numbers will make the importance of compliance more tangible, and improve a culture of compliance.

Regardless of its size or business model, “a financial institution with a poor culture of compliance is likely to have shortcomings” in its compliance program, according to FinCEN.

70 percent of compliance professionals worldwide expect the regulatory focus on managing risk to increase next year, and 20 percent of those expect a significant increase. In this environment, a culture of compliance can help your institution respond to thoses changes with ease and support from colleagues.

[Free Resource: Compliance Culture Assessment]

Benefit 9: Reduce Compliance Burden

Using compliance analysis software can help reduce the regulatory compliance burden by allowing you to spend less time on analysis, review, and reporting, freeing you up to spend more time working on being proactive and preparing for future changes. In short, it can help you get ahead of the ball.

In Fair Lending and HMDA compliance, data analysis is a key requirement, and one of the top areas of regulatory scrutiny. As we've mentioned earlier, outsourcing this analysis can help you reduce the time commitment and stress associated with it.In just 3 hours per quarter with our service, you'll get the insight you need to succeed.

In addition, you can gain valuable efficiencies by combining your Fair Lending, HMDA, CRA and Redlining analysis. These regulations and requirements are distinct, but related. Simplify your life by leaning on a partner that can help with all of your consumer compliance-related priorities.

Benefit 10: Gain a Competitive Advantage

Only 31% of compliance professionals in the US and Canada outsource any or all of their compliance functionality. Using a company like TRUPOINT, or a software like TRUPOINT Analytics, can help put you ahead of the curve.

Today's digital economy is sometimes described as "winner-takes-all" - this is even true in banking. If you're ahead of the curve, and beginning to use data analysis for your HMDA compliance, strategy, and planning, you have the potential to reap huge rewards in the future.

"Speed is as important as completeness in realizing value from risk analytics. A winner-takes-all dynamic is emerging in the race to better serve customers. Banks, fintechs, and platform companies are getting better at locking in customers quickly with highly personalized and desirable offerings."

Benefit 11: Simplify Board and Management Reporting

If you’re working in compliance, your list of responsibilities is probably growing daily. As regulations get stricter and as compliance departments grow, it becomes necessary for compliance professionals to effectively manage their time, spending more time getting answers than building reports.

Compliance analysts spend an estimated 56 hours on board reporting every year. That’s seven entire business days! Not surprisingly, use of effective compliance software can greatly reduce this burden. A survey of TRUPOINT’s clients showed that businesses were able to get board-ready reports and expert guidance in only 1 hour of review.

While not all softwares were created equal, some type of analysis software is necessary for an efficient compliance department.

Benefit 12: Make Data-Driven Decisions

Much of the American economy is moving towards data-driven decision-making, led perhaps by the growth experienced by those in Silicon Valley who experienced such rapid growth with this approach. Your financial institution can and should consider implementing more data-driven decision-making in the future in order to get predictable and increase efficiency. 

Fair Lending and HMDA analysis is a great place to start, since you're already using that data to achieve compliance goals. If using data to develop your strategic plans is relatively new for your institution, you can begin with compliance. If it's a well-established practice, take it to the next level by using your compliance insights to drive growth! 

Benefit 13: Maximize Expert Insights

The best compliance partner, and analysis software, can provide you access to a team of experts that will help you navigate challenges more easily and stay abreast of regulatory changes. Remember that most Fair Lending software providers see many reports per year - hundreds, if not thousands - and so they know what to look for, and what really stands out.

At TRUPOINT, we help our customers face approximately 50 compliance exams per year, so we also are closely connected to the regulators' perspectives. Oftentimes, we are involved in calls with the regulators to help answer questions and learn from their experiences, too. We're then able to leverage those insights to improve our software, educate our customers, and in general, get better at staying compliant. 

With a strong compliance partner, you can grow together and even get better at your job!

As a compliance professional, you may feel like you understand these benefits, but the rest of your team and leadership does not. You're not alone - that's a common challenge for financial institutions. Hopefully, by sharing some of these institution-wide benefits, you'll be able to more successfully advocate for a compliance software solution. 

Ncontracts Viewpoint: As you know by now, we offer Fair Lending analysis software for HMDAand non-HMDA data analysis. This HMDA compliance software allows our customers to experience all 13 of these benefits - and more. In addition to improving your business, you get access to a dedicated customer success team, compliance analysts, support, and so much more. We're priced to fit any budget because we use an asset-based pricing system. Any institution can afford access to TRUPOINT Analytics for their Fair Lending, HMDA, CRA, and Redlining analysis.

Learn more with a free demo today!