FNF Family of Companies Senior Vice President, National Agency Division Chuck Cain and Mortgage Connect Executive Vice President and Chief Information Officer Gabe Minton were featured in October Research, LLC’s “RESPA: Ensuring Fintech Partner Compliance” webinar, moderated by RESPA News. The two field experts highlighted what you should consider when entering into and maintaining financial technology (fintech) partnerships.

Minton kicked off the discussion by defining fintech. There are four general “pillars” that make up the field: artificial intelligence (AI), blockchain, cloud computer, and big data.

“The synthesis of these four pillars is, in my opinion, creating an environment not seen since the advent of the internet itself,” Minton said. “That’s how prolific it is. In talking to Chuck and a lot of my other colleagues, we all feel the same way, in that the world is busting wide open with new solutions, new opportunities, but also new dangers in using those new solutions. You have to be careful, and focus.”

After outlining the limitation of generative AI models in the mortgage industry and the improvements of optical character recognition and automated document recognition, Minton turned it over to Cain to address the necessary legal considerations when a title company or mortgage lender is partnering with fintech solution providers.

Cain noted how fintech is not really a new concept – society has been using credit cards and payment systems for decades. But the level of technological advances makes it feel like “a brave new world.”

“It’s not only administering a technical system operating in your company; it’s like managing another employee,” Cain said. “Because you have to keep an eye on it. You have to manage them. AI systems can evolve. Now, we’re not talking about how the computer taking over the spaceship like in ‘2001[: A Space Odyssey].’ But they can change and evolve and do things that you may not want them to do.”

Over the hour, Cain and Minton also discuss:

• Using fintech for RESPA compliance.
• How AI can assist in preventing RESPA violations.
• The importance of due diligence when evaluating fintech providers.
• Red flags/green flags in contract language contemplating fintech partnerships.
• What to do when an issue occurs.

The webinar is available now for download.