FICS Marks Milestone, Hosts 25th Annual Users’ Conference
- Long time employees and customers reflect on a quarter century of successful events -
DALLAS, April 20, 2011 – Financial Industry Computer Systems, Inc. (FICS), a provider of loan origination software, residential loan servicing software and commercial loan servicing software, recently hosted more than 200 clients (including 15 companies who have been customers for 20 or more years) for the company’s historic 25th Annual Users’ Conference.
Attendees participated in a program of activities, workshops, panel discussions, demonstrations and educational training sessions on residential mortgage loan origination and servicing, as well as commercial servicing technology. The conference also provided attendees the opportunity to guide future software developments.
“FICS not only shares information with us, but they actively listen to our suggestions for future developments,” said Karen Pribnow, executive vice president and director of Servicing for NorthMarq Capital. “FICS digs deep to come up with the best solution for all of its customers.”
Ray Rios, financial systems manager for Country Place Mortgage, added that as a new customer, the conference provided an open forum to learn from peers about best practices for dealing with industry issues.
“This is our first users’ conference, and the sessions for Mortgage Servicer were very informative regarding common issues and upcoming enhancements,” Rios said. “The opportunity to meet FICS staff and other users was very valuable, and we look forward to next year.”
Dawn Gibbs, FICS’ CEO and chairman of the board, announced the newest incarnation of its loan origination software, Loan Producer.
“The next version of Loan Producer, which is being rolled out this fall, is built on the .NET platform with rich, new features made available through Microsoft’s Windows Presentation Foundation,” Gibbs said in a speech during the conference. “The new platform will be built around shareable ‘services’ that can be used in both our desktop and online products as well as allow us to support a ‘thinner’ version of our software. A dynamic new visual design will add a familiarity seen in Microsoft Office 2010 applications and should noticeably improve the user experience.”
Loan Producer users were introduced to the latest version of Loan Producer when Susan Graham, FICS’ president and COO, demonstrated the system during conference sessions.
In addition to customers learning more about FICS’ systems, this year’s event also included presentations from industry experts. Tom Ward, national training manager for Freddie Mac, updated attendees of the conference’s origination track on required steps to prepare for next year’s Uniform Loan Delivery Dataset (ULDD) standards.
“One of the biggest challenges lenders may face is identifying all the internal staff who need to know the new or renamed data fields,” Ward explained. “Much of the data is already collected, but it may be collected using different terminology.”
Joanne Rafidi, servicing manager at Fannie Mae, walked servicing professionals through the various loan workout options Fannie Mae offers, with an emphasis on preferred order of programs and online resources for communicating with borrowers. Pat Kopins also spoke of their new business tool, Servicer Default Management Utility (SDMU).
Participants benefited from practical demonstrations on how they can better manage Freddie Mac’s ULDD and Fannie Mae’s new business tool system, SDMU. Each speaker brought exceptional advice on how to comply with disclosure regulations and build business rules within their systems.
Graham reflected on how lenders and servicers today still want the same things they did 25 years ago. “Our customers today expect and want the same thing our customers did in 1986: comprehensive lending software at an affordable price with outstanding service,” Graham said. “The large number of customers that have been with FICS for more than 20 years are a testament to our ability to meet those needs. FICS is proud and honored to have such loyal customers in the FICS family.”
FICS is already looking to next year’s event, which will be held April 11 through 13 in Dallas.
About FICS
Founded in 1983 and headquartered in Dallas, Texas, Financial Industry Computer Systems, Inc. (FICS), specializes in providing flexible, comprehensive residential and commercial technology solutions to the mortgage industry. FICS' systems are designed for Microsoft® Windows® with the most recent solutions using .NET framework that include a rich Windows® Presentation Foundation user interface and multi-tiered shareable services. The company also provides innovative document management and web-based capabilities into its full suite of products. Additional information about FICS is available via the company's website at www.FICS.com.
