Press releases
Legal & General Mortgage Club launches its first ever API integration with Kensington Mortgages
Legal & General Mortgage Club has today announced the completion of an API led integration with Kensington Mortgages, allowing advisers using its SmartrFit tool to access criteria and lending options from the lender through open banking technology.
27 May 2021
The news comes as SmartrFit also adds Ipswich Building Society and Metro Bank to its panel. The recent additions mean SmartrFit now provides over 92% market access for residential searches to its users.
The API integration with Kensington Mortgages uses open banking technology to provide an even faster and more secure connection between the two parties. This will bring direct benefits to advisers by ensuring that the information contained in SmartrFit is correctly updated in real-time to avoid potential outages when the lender makes changes to its criteria.
SmartrFit users also benefit from the tool’s intuitive criteria checks and built-in affordability calculator which significantly improve the accuracy of the results advisers see by eliminating lenders that would not consider an applicant based on their criteria.
Legal & General’s SmartrFit tool is free-to-use and can be accessed whether an adviser is a member of the Mortgage Club or not, although users will need an agency number to login. This reflects Legal & General’s commitment to developing technology that makes it easier for advisers to conduct business.
Clare Beardmore, Head of Mortgage Transformation and Operations, Legal & General Mortgage Club: "The importance of having access to a diverse range of lenders has been brought into sharp focus over the past year as advisers process a greater number of complex cases in the wake of the pandemic. Our latest editions will not only broaden the range of options for users of SmartrFit, but by also using the latest open banking technology we’re creating an enhanced service which will further improve the accuracy of the results advisers see."
Craig McKinlay, New Business Director, Kensington Mortgages: "Legal & General Mortgage Club is one of the UKs largest and we’re pleased to be partnering in a way that uses cutting-edge technology to ensure a quality service for advisers. The pandemic has made it clear to us all that digital solutions are essential to innovation in the mortgage market and we hope that by integrating with the Club via an API, we will ensure advisers are confident about our criteria when packaging cases."
Further information
Max Chason
Rostrum
T: 0755 715 6891
Notes to editors
Established in 1836, Legal & General is one of the UK's leading financial services groups and a major global investor, with £1.2 trillion in total assets under management1 of which 40% is international. We have a unique and highly synergistic business model, which continues to drive strong returns. Legal & General provides powerful asset origination and management capabilities directly to clients, which also underpin our leading retirement and protection solutions. We are a leading international player in Pension Risk Transfer, in UK and US life insurance, and in UK workplace pensions and retirement income. Our purpose is to improve the lives of our customers and create value for our shareholders. Through inclusive capitalism, we are investing in long-term assets, such as real estate and infrastructure, that can help build a better society for the future.
1Data as at 31 December 2023.
Legal & General Retirement Institutional (LGRI) works with trustees and sponsoring companies of defined benefit (DB) pension schemes of all sizes to settle their pension obligations and secure scheme members’ benefits, through a full range of buy-ins, buyouts and other de-risking solutions. Our Client Services’ 12-month rolling Net Promoter Score (NPS) is above +70, which is widely regarded as being at a “world class” level. Legal & General is the UK’s longest-standing active bulk annuity provider.
Our UK Retirement annuity book stands at an estimated £86.1 billion at 31 December 2023. Across the group over £30 billion is invested in direct investments that deliver positive social and environmental impacts, such as clean energy and affordable housing. Legal & General provides income and pension security to more than a million retirement customers around the world.