Mortgages, Remortgages and Home Loans

ValuAmerica Introduces Web-Version of Its Vendor Management Software

ValuNet xsp delivers same functionality, efficiency as platform used by giant VMCs; 50-state bundled pricing calculator, electronic title options are among the features

PITTSBURGH, Feb. 28 /PRNewswire/ -- ValuAmerica, Pittsburgh, a leading developer of settlement services technology and a builder of large-scale vendor management captives (VMCs), has introduced a web-version of its award-winning ValuNet platform.
The new software -- known as ValuNet xsp -- enables lenders, title companies and other settlement services providers of all sizes to access technology and products previously available only to large vendor management captives. It gives them immediate access to thousands of embedded settlement services providers: appraisers, abstractors, title underwriters, credit, flood and tax services, etc. ValuNet xsp helps them reduce their costs of managing settlement services -- activities that account for as much as 40% of origination costs.

A key feature is a 50-state, zip-code-specific bundled pricing calculator that allows lenders to offer customized settlement service packages.

There is no cost to the client to use ValuNet xsp, and the installation can be completed, online or by phone, in less than one hour, the company said.

"Vendor management captives are the most efficient, strategic and profitable way to source settlement services, but until now they have been an option for only the largest lenders and title companies," said Thomas Murphy, Chief Operating Officer of ValuAmerica. "ValuNet xsp levels the playing field in terms of speed, ease of use, product and vendor choice and supply chain and cost control. It gives medium size and smaller lenders a powerful tool to order services, monitor vendor performance and quality, access and configure new products and packages. ValuNet xsp has the same functionality as the software used by most advanced VMCs, but without the cost or commitment."

K. Terrence Wakefield, President of The Wakefield Company, a leading consultant on mortgage economics and process architecture and efficiency, said: "Our client studies show that approximately 30% to 40% of the cost of originating a conventional mortgage can be tracked back to the tasks involved in ordering, tracking, evaluating and paying for settlement services. The mortgage industry, in general, has lagged behind other sectors in using automation to shorten their supply chains and gain greater control over their vendors and costs."

ValuNet xsp is an ASP version of the original ValuNet software that was developed by ValuAmerica and Deloitte Consulting to manage VMCs that ValuAmerica built for companies like Wachovia, Mellon Bank, SunTrust, HSBC and Option One Mortgage. Last year, more than five million transactions were completed using the ValuNet platform, and the company won the 2004 Mortgage Technology Magazine "Synergy" Award.

ValuNet xsp automates and controls the vendor management process. It speeds the delivery of key products, enabling prime, subprime and home equity lenders to make faster decisions. The software monitors vendor performance and assigns future work orders based on automated performance tracking. Using ValuNet xsp, a client can select any of the thousands of vendors that are currently in the ValuAmerica system, add its own vendors at any time or select a combination of both.

The easy-to-use, PC-based software reduces the need for staffing to oversee the vendor selection, ordering, payment and quality assurance processes. It also gives lenders access to new products, such as electronic title policies and customized bundled pricing, which can help them differentiate themselves and compete more effectively in their markets.

ValuNet xsp offers:

* Automated order collection and customer and vendor data;
* Automated vendor assignment, using ValuAmerica's vendor network, the
client's preferred vendors, or any combination. The system can select
vendors using a wide range of user-defined variables;
* Real-time vendor performance and scoring;
* Real-time reporting on status, pricing and performance;
* Applicant-specific, zip-code level bundled pricing in all 50 states.
Standard and transaction-specific packages are available;
* Electronic title policies: commitments in as fast as 1 day; conditions
cleared in another day and final policies delivered within 24 hours of
funding;
* Vendor auto pay and title underwriter remittance;
* Integration with client accounting systems.


Clients can order ValuNet xsp online (http://www.valuamerica.com/) or by calling 412.494.0400 X. 8106. In the client profile process, a lender sets the access, product selection, turntime standards, bundled pricing options and vendor preference and reporting standards.

Once a client is set up on ValuNet xsp, it can order products and receive reports online or by email, phone or fax.

About ValuAmerica

ValuAmerica is a national, high-tech provider of settlement services and leader in supply chain management. The company, founded by a management team that pioneered the concept of vendor management, operates three basic businesses: the delivery of settlement services; building RESPA-compliant VMCs; and licensing its ValuNet technology. The ValuNet xsp platform is the most efficient way for lenders, VMCs and title companies to order and deliver settlement services. A neutral platform, ValuNet xsp gives users access to thousands of vendors nationwide. Mortgage Technology Magazine recently selected the ValuNet platform as the recipient of its 2004 Mortgage Technology "Synergy" Award.

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