Monmouthshire Building Society modernises mortgage journey with MQube
Monmouthshire Building Society today announces a new partnership with MQube, a mortgage technology provider.
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The Society will adopt MQube's AI-powered mortgage origination platform, 'Origo', as part of a strategic move to enhance service delivery, cut processing times, and support more borrowers with faster, simpler mortgages.
Using advanced artificial intelligence and real-time data analysis, 'Origo', instantly reviews a broad range of financial, credit, and property data. This allows Monmouthshire Building Society to process mortgage applications far more quickly than traditional methods, cutting decision times from days to minutes.
This move comes as Monmouthshire Building Society continues its transformation journey. The integration of Origo will help the mutual stay agile in an evolving mortgage landscape, delivering more consistent decisions and reducing the friction borrowers and intermediaries often face.
By asking only the questions that can't be answered through other data sources, Origo also minimises repetitive document requests and back-and-forth with underwriters, improving the experience for brokers and customers alike.
MQube's team is working closely with Monmouthshire Building Society to tailor the platform to its unique needs, ensuring seamless integration with its systems and processes.
The platform is already live in the UK with MPowered Mortgages who introduced the one day mortgage earlier this year.
Will Carroll, Chief Executive Officer at Monmouthshire Building Society, commented: 'At Monmouthshire Building Society, we're committed to using technology to deliver better outcomes for our members. Borrowers today expect not just great service but also speed and certainty and we're determined to deliver on all fronts. Our partnership with MQube gives us access to cutting-edge technology that will help us simplify the mortgage journey while reducing costs and risk. It's a key step in our ongoing journey to be a modern mutual that truly puts members first.'
Stuart Cheetham, Founder and CEO of MQube, added: 'We're thrilled to welcome Monmouthshire Building Society to the Origo platform. As more lenders embrace AI and automation, it's great to see a forward-thinking mutual leading the way. Origo is already powering faster mortgages at MPowered and we're excited to help Monmouthshire bring those same benefits to their customers and brokers. We look forward to supporting them on their journey and continuing to help reshape the mortgage industry for the better.'
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Genevieve King describes herself not as polyamorous – where a person has more than one committed romantic relationship, and is open about all those relationships with everyone involved – but as a 'relationship anarchist'. This extends beyond the romantic or sexual sphere, eschewing the traditional set-ups that many of today's societies adhere to: things like exclusive marriage to one person, parenting in a twosome, or confining financial responsibility to people within one legally recognised family unit. Many of us grow up with vaguely traditional ideas about finances. We might hope to work and be paid for it, meet a spouse who also works and is paid, and buy a home with our shared income. In long-term relationships between two people, such daydreams often crash headlong into the reality of trying to plan with another person who might not share the same traditions or assumptions about money. 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I'm financially stable with what I earn, which comes in the form of Patreon [a popular tool used to give money to content creators], and peer support calls,' which clients pay for, King says. 'It feels like my income is crowdsourced' 'I really enjoy that my income is dispersed over hundreds of people. So that way if one or two clients withdraw, it feels like my income is crowdsourced as well.' She doesn't have a pension, but mentions Germany's social safety nets as a potential fallback once she has citizenship. King doesn't think of her income – which would put her in a very comfortable earnings bracket as a single person – as hers alone. 'If my partner's partner is living on the poverty line, and I know my partner is paying for more things on their end, well then maybe I'll pay for more things on our end,' she says. 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We might pay for childcare, or rely on grandparents to help out, but don't often share the responsibility any wider, beyond the odd playdate. Earnings also tend to remain confined to families – relatives may help one another financially, but it's rare for friends to do so. In north London, however, AJ England – who also describes herself as a relationship anarchist – has found a way to bring three children up without adhering to any of those structures. It has involved three different co-parents with vastly different attitudes to their responsibilities, as well as those co-parents' families, other partners, and a lot of learning along the way. England became pregnant at 21, and her partner at the time had no involvement with the child. His family later stepped in to help, however, even paying for schooling at points. Now in her 50s, England has three children. While the eldest two are now financially independent, she co-parents her youngest son with his father, although they do not live together. England currently rents a flat in London, which she shares with her youngest son for a week of every fortnight, while he spends the other with his father. They both support their child in an amicable, informal arrangement. When it comes to making money, many of the non-monogamous relationships England has right now also have financial links. Two of her current partners – both men, whom she refers to as The Vikings – have recently been involved in England's work running wellness gatherings in her garden, building a sauna and other practical tasks. 'So there's been money crossing hands there,' she says. 'And I also know that if I ever needed anything financially, they'd have my back.' Meanwhile, she works with another of her partners, Ria, running a Queer sauna and sensual sauna events, and another partner, Mercury, styling interiors. 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'In a relationship, during the early days, [we think] 'I can't really ask that person what they earn' in case it comes across as mercenary,' she adds. While England is in a stable financial position now, it hasn't always been the case. England says that until around the time she had her third child, she 'didn't even look at the cost of a pint of milk. I wouldn't have had a clue.' She lived in and out of debt, often using credit cards to keep afloat, especially once she became a parent. England's income also took a hit recently when she was going through cancer treatment. She has 'been on the receiving end of friends' generosity, with them lending me money when I was going through cancer treatment,' she says. When she couldn't work because of her medical needs, she knew she could rely on her partners – who also all have other partners – to help her both practically and financially. Facing her potential death spurred her to take out life insurance, she says, and she also has savings in a stocks and shares ISA, as well as a self-invested personal pension (Sipp). She often travels to the small properties she owns, one in Europe and the other in Southeast Asia, and says she uses a credit card to pay for everything during the month, paying it off in full every time, to earn air miles. Now, she helps friends with any support she can offer, including her business expertise. 'My friends are my family, so it's easy for me to give my time and knowledge,' England says. 'It really does 'take a village'. Currently I'm supporting two dear friends to navigate the process of buying their first home as they are expecting their first child, helping them understand the terminology, the financial implications, then the DIY aspect. Also the emotional aspect of money and all that brings up.' She enjoys working with her partners, coming up with schemes and projects. Right now she is talking about buying a property with her partner Mercury, but as an investment rather than to live with him there, and is setting up a new venture with 'erotic friend and business partner' Aleksandra that aims to bring 'inner desires into the aesthetics of the bedroom,' inspired by the Netflix series How to Build a Sex Room. 'It feels good to support the people in my life who matter,' England says. 'The exchanges that happen may be practical, it may be emotional support, financial support, shared business ventures, shared time. But it's connection and care at the centre of it all.'
