The long-standing challenges of loan boarding need to be solved. Automation is the answer.

The loan boarding process has long been a complex and time-consuming task for both lenders and servicers. Mapping loan data, packaging the documents, setting up the transfer, storing files, and comparing the accuracy of the boarded materials against the original data and documentation are all herculean efforts.

Even with modern technology, the process is filled with friction. In fact, loan boarding is often one of the most labor-intensive and error-prone steps in the mortgage lifecycle, with mistakes and inconsistencies leading to costly delays and rework at risk of regulatory penalties. In a manual boarding operation, teams on both the originations and servicing side struggle to efficiently handle these main challenges.

Inconsistent or missing data and documents

As it stands today, boarding a new loan involves the originations team packaging and uploading loan files into a boarding tool for the servicing team to validate. It’s simple enough on paper, but those teams often work on two separate systems and follow separate processes to handle massive volumes of data and documents.

In a 2025 independent study published by MarketWise, missing or incorrect data and documentation impacts approximately 15% of newly originated loans being boarded into servicing. These tend to be minor issues, but they slow down the processing cycle. More significant errors requiring research and remediation to avoid buybacks impact approximately 2.77% of loans. On average, correcting these errors can add an additional day to the cycle time, resulting in ~1bps/day to hedge those loans.

The MarketWise study also found that before information can begin to migrate to the servicing side, the sending team sets aside an average of 40 minutes per loan for rigorous quality review. This can involve multiple people creating the new loan file, reviewing the data and auditing the loan to support consistency between documents and data.

What’s more, ask any originations team and they’ll tell you that file modification doesn’t stop after they hit “send.” Even though they may have crossed all the T’s and dotted all the I’s on their end, they could still need to adjust data and documentation to conform with the servicing system of record so loans can be properly received and moved into the servicing life cycle.

This work then continues during intake on the servicing side as the receiving team begins mapping documents and renaming files for consistency in their system. On average, receiving teams spend more than 70 minutes* per loan setting up the new loan in the servicing system, validating the load balance (i.e., teams making sure they received as many loans as they expected), checking for illogical conditions and more.

Time spent on auditing post-boarding for missing documents

Once the loan is moved into the servicing system, the work is far from done. The receiving team cannot blindly trust that the data and documents match what came from the originations team. After all, each file has been moved by dozens of people, and teams must now conduct a post-boarding audit to verify the quality of the loan data and documents.

On average, missing data and documents impact 3.5% of loans that have boarded on the servicing system, according to MarketWise’s report. Validating these files either involves paying a third-party service provider or tasking internal teams with a manual “stare and compare” review—literally pulling up the data on one screen, pulling up the documents on the other, and going line-by-line to make sure they match. Some servicers will do full checks of all data and documents, where others will audit only the most critical documents because of headcount limitations.

No matter which route they choose, internal or external, servicers who manually audit a loan for quality must answer the difficult question of whether it’s better to spend money or time on this cumbersome process.

Ushering in a new era of efficiencies in the boarding process

These roadblocks have long challenged lenders and servicers—and their bottom lines. ICE is tackling these hurdles head-on with a revolutionary new integration between the Encompass® LOS and the MSP® loan servicing system. Thanks to ICE’s ongoing investments in its digital mortgage technology ecosystem, lenders and servicers can now use advanced automation to help them board loans quicker at lower cost.

Imagine. No more intensive batch compiling with dozens of touchpoints. No more repetitive stare-and-compare quality checks before, during and after boarding. And no more working with one piece of technology for originating a loan and another piece for servicing. Just one trusted provider with the digital capabilities to balance both sides of the equation, helping lenders and servicers address regulatory changes without devoting extensive resources to software maintenance and development.

ICE’s new integration between Encompass and MSP means teams are presented only with the exceptions that need their attention, allowing servicers and lenders to focus on resolving urgent issues instead of reviewing the smallest details of every loan. By automating 95% to 100% of the loans boarded and post-boarding audit reviews, lenders could see significant operational efficiencies—resulting in an estimated cost reduction of approximately $57 to $60 per loan*.

Tapping into this end-to-end integration between Encompass and MSP can help organizations lower costs and reduce risk while improving loan data quality and introducing efficiencies that don’t exist anywhere else in the mortgage industry today.

*Source: Loan Boarding ROI study conducted by Marketwise Advisors, LLC 2025

The results represent the average reported financial and operational impact reported by ICE Mortgage Technology clients in 2025 that completed an ROI survey administered by MarketWise Advisors LLC. This information is provided for informational purposes only. Both ICE Mortgage Technology, Inc. and MarketWise Advisors, LLC. provide no warranty or representation as to performance results or accuracy. Actual results may materially vary.