Why Building Societies Should Reclaim Control of Mortgage Customer Communications

For decades, Building Societies have outsourced the management (layouts, updating, and distribution) of their mortgage servicing communications to third-party print service providers (PSPs).  With communications locked inside print vendors’ proprietary composition tools, Building Societies have been forced to operate on their providers’ timelines and conform to rigid, print-centric production workflows. As a result, change cycles are slow and costly, making it difficult to adapt quickly to market demands and meet regulatory deadlines on time. To keep pace in today’s increasingly competitive mortgage market, Building Societies must take back control of their customer communications or risk being left behind.

Fortunately, modern communication management platforms offer a better way forward. Cloud-based solutions give business users at Building Societies—not IT teams or external vendors—end-to-end control over content creation, testing, and delivery across both print and digital channels, enabling teams to move faster and cut costs.

Four compelling reasons why Building Societies should bring control back in-house include:

1) Control over speed and timing of changes

Heavy reliance on third-party PSPs often means having to wait in a queue whenever updates to your customer communications are needed. Minimum turnaround times for simple content changes can span multiple weeks. More complex projects, such as creating a brand-new communication, can take over a month to complete. Not only do mortgage teams have to wait for stakeholder approval for in-house draft completions, but they must wait for the PSP to schedule, code, and test the draft, and then return a proof for final authorisation. If further revisions or adjustments are required, the timeline can extend further.

In contrast, managing communications internally using modern, cloud-based solutions empowers business teams to accelerate and control the entire communications lifecycle. These systems enable non-technical business users to create communications, manage content and rules, adjust layouts, generate proofs, and generate files that are immediately usable by digital systems and printing partners without writing any code. As a result, changes are implemented on the mortgage administration team’s timeline, not when service providers find availability in their schedules. Many global mortgage servicing teams have implemented these platforms, reducing change cycles from an average of 4–6 weeks to as little as one day.

2) An easier path to digital communications

Building Societies have every reason to go digital. Customer demand, the high cost of print and postage, and competition from digital-first challengers all create pressure to reduce reliance on printed communications.

Yet, many Building Societies struggle to effectively incorporate digital experiences into customer journeys due to the fragmentation of responsibilities and operational systems for the different channels. Some Societies have outsourced digital delivery to print providers, others rely on specialist digital agencies, while many still manage certain channels internally. Establishing new digital channels for most means duplicating content and efforts across multiple teams and platforms, creating isolated “channel silos.” Such fragmentation inevitably leads to inefficiencies, redundant work, and increases the risk of inconsistency across the customer experience.

The solution is to centralise control of communications into a single omnichannel hub that enables content to be shared and reused across multiple delivery channels, including print, email, Web, secure messaging, WhatsApp, or mobile apps. This approach not only drives efficiency in managing and creating communications but also significantly reduces the risk of errors and compliance violations.

The key distinction lies in choosing systems that support modular content architecture—storing regulatory disclosures, product information, and marketing messages as reusable components rather than locked within channel specific communication templates. Reusable content objects enable content to be centrally managed and edited, eliminating redundancy. Seamless delivery via print systems and modern digital channels is enabled through APIs, providing the flexibility that Building Societies need to keep pace with today’s constantly shifting digital landscape.

3) Improved vendor flexibility and disaster recovery

Building Societies that depend entirely on single providers for customer communications face potential service disruptions that introduce significant risk with potential impact on regulatory compliance and customer relationships. With time-sensitive customer communications, the ability to transfer to another PSP at a moment’s notice during emergency situations is critical.

When tied to one PSP’s software environment, composition systems, and production processes, disaster recovery handovers could face serious delays. Whilst outsourced print providers may maintain strategic partnerships and solid disaster procedures, the time required to transfer production between providers would likely cause significant delays in the flow of communications to customers.

Managing communications using cloud-based systems that generate print-ready files enables internal teams to pivot between print providers instantly for load balancing, faster turnarounds or cost reductions. During major disruptions, transferring between printers can be accomplished in a few clicks. Just as importantly, this flexibility gives Building Societies the freedom to easily onboard new providers, empowering them to shop around for vendors offering better capabilities, pricing, or service quality.

4) Reduced spend on printing and image costs

Every customer communication requires document image generation for archiving and digital presentation. PSPs typically charge small fees for each image created, which can add up quickly, particularly for Building Societies with hundreds of thousands of mortgages. By managing customer communications internally, Building Societies can produce their own images instead of paying third parties flat fees per image. Across multiple channels and numerous communications, considerable cost savings materialise over relatively short timeframes.

The time has come for a change

Building Societies that take control of their customer communications process and embrace modern technology will benefit from reduced costs, improved compliance capabilities, and enhanced customer experiences. Perhaps more importantly, they’ll establish the operational foundation necessary for digital innovation. The technology exists, the business case is clear, and the benefits are there for Building Societies ready to take the next step.

Originally published on BSA.org.uk