Openwork is to give its mortgage advisers access to Mortgage Brain’s research, affordability and lender-submission tools as part of a new technology arrangement with the financial planning platform Plannr.
The agreement will cover advisers at Openwork and 2plan. It brings together four Mortgage Brain products: Sourcing Brain, Criteria Brain, Affordability Brain and Submissions Brain. Openwork, which describes itself as one of the UK’s largest financial advice networks, said the aim is to provide a more joined-up process from initial mortgage research through to a lender decision.
The central feature of the arrangement is the movement of client information between Plannr and Mortgage Brain’s modules. Openwork says advisers should generally be able to enter information once or less, rather than repeatedly copying details between separate systems as a case progresses. The network has set a target of saving advisers 60 minutes on every client case.
That claimed time saving depends on how consistently the systems work together in practice. The announcement says the integration is intended to remove re-keying and reduce the need to switch between applications, but it does not provide independent evidence of the average time currently spent on a case or the result of a live trial. For consumers, the important issue is not simply speed: reducing duplicate handling may also limit opportunities for transcription errors, although the announcement makes no separate claim about error rates.
What advisers are being offered
Openwork advisers moving to the latest versions of the Mortgage Brain tools are due to receive faster searches, revised interfaces and broader digital links with lenders. The stated capabilities include access to decisions in principle from several major lenders and the ability to complete some full mortgage applications within the platform.
| Capability | Details in the announcement |
|---|---|
| Market coverage | More than 98% of the mortgage market |
| Product updates | Twice daily |
| Decisions in principle | Halifax, Nationwide, Santander, Coventry, Leeds Building Society, Accord and TSB |
| Full applications | Halifax and Nationwide |
| Re-submissions | Designed to avoid entering the same data again |
Mortgage Brain says its product information is updated twice a day and covers more than 98% of the market. Those are supplier claims rather than an independently audited measure supplied with the announcement, but they indicate the intended role of the software: to give advisers a broad and frequently refreshed view of available mortgage products before submitting a case to a lender.
Data flows become part of the advice process
Connecting research, affordability checks and submissions means that client information will move across more than one technology service. That can make the process less burdensome for advisers, but it also makes the quality of the integration and the controls around client data more consequential. The announcement focuses on efficiency and does not set out technical details about data retention, access permissions or how clients will be informed about the flow of their information.
Openwork’s stated preference is a “best-of-breed” technology suite rather than one single system handling every stage of mortgage advice. Its announcement also says Mortgage Brain will work with the network on further changes, including the use of artificial intelligence to improve the experience and results. No specific AI feature, deployment timetable or performance measure is given.
“We have set out to give our advisers the very best tech on the market, and we’re delighted that Mortgage Brain’s modules will be powering their mortgage research and submissions.”
The partnership therefore marks a practical shift towards a more integrated adviser workflow, rather than the launch of a new consumer-facing mortgage service. Its success will be judged by whether the promised reduction in repetitive work is delivered without weakening the accuracy, transparency or control of a process that handles sensitive financial information. For now, the announcement establishes the intended tools and benefits, while leaving the results of the rollout to be demonstrated by use.
