Bridging the LOS-Servicing Gap: First Citizens Bank’s Empower ↔ Phoenix Integration Boosts Efficiency

The Challenge: Manual Re-Entry and Post-Closing Inefficiencies

In the mortgage department at First Citizens Bank, closing a loan used to trigger a labor-intensive scramble. After every closing, staff had to manually re-enter countless data fields from the Empower® loan origination system (LOS) into the Finastra Fusion Phoenix core banking platform. This duplicate data entry was slow and tedious, introducing delays before new mortgages could be boarded for servicing. Worse, each keystroke carried risk – a typo in a borrower’s name or a mis-keyed loan amount could slip through, potentially causing downstream errors and compliance headaches. For a bank built on accuracy and trust, these inefficiencies and risks were an unsustainable burden. The team knew there had to be a better way to achieve a seamless mortgage servicing integration between their LOS and servicing systems — one that would eliminate manual work and errors while speeding up post-closing.

Context: A Tech-Savvy Community Bank with Big Ambitions

First Citizens Bank is a family-owned community bank headquartered in Mason City, Iowa, with eight locations serving communities across North Iowa and Minnesota. With over $1.8 billion in assets and more than 200 employees, First Citizens has the scale to invest in modern technology while maintaining the personal service of a locally owned institution. The bank is known for a legacy of trust and innovation, leveraging technology to stay ahead. In fact, First Citizens has partnered with Finastra for nearly 30 years to power its core operations. It uses Finastra’s Fusion Phoenix as its core banking and servicing platform, and in 2023 migrated Phoenix to the cloud to boost agility, efficiency, and customer experience. On the lending side, First Citizens relies on the Empower LOS (from Dark Matter Technologies) to originate mortgages. However, despite these advanced systems, they historically lacked a native connection between Empower and Phoenix – meaning critical loan data did not automatically flow from the LOS to the servicing core. This gap set the stage for the challenges the bank faced in its post-closing workflow.

The Challenge: Manual Re-Entry and Compliance Risks

The core issue was a data silo: Empower and Phoenix were disconnected, and every new loan had to be manually keyed from one system into the other. This manual re-entry process drained staff time and introduced operational risk. Each keystroke carried the possibility of error — a mistyped interest rate, term, or customer detail could cause discrepancies requiring time-consuming corrections. The average error rate for manual data entry ranges from 1–5%, whereas automation reduces it to ~0.1%. Such inconsistencies also carried compliance risk in the highly regulated mortgage arena. Data mismatches between origination and servicing could complicate audits or regulatory reporting, and the manual process delayed when loans became fully active in the servicing platform — potentially impacting the borrower’s first payment experience. In short, without LOS-to-servicing automation, First Citizens Bank faced a costly, error-prone post-closing cycle that conflicted with its commitment to efficiency and trust.

The Solution with MortgageExchange®

First Citizens Bank turned to Access Business Technologies for a solution. The answer was MortgageExchange® — a cloud-managed, rules-based integration platform designed to connect disparate mortgage systems. By deploying MortgageExchange, the bank established a direct, automated data pipeline between Empower and Fusion Phoenix, eliminating duplicate data entry. This LOS-to-servicing automation ensured that once a loan closed in Empower, all relevant loan data flowed seamlessly into Phoenix — from borrower information to escrow details — with no manual intervention.

The integration was configured with business rules to match First Citizens’ workflows. MortgageExchange’s flexible rules engine ensured data was mapped correctly, validated for accuracy, and synchronized at the right trigger points. Exceptions, such as a mismatch or missing field, were flagged proactively. As a cloud-managed service, MortgageExchange encrypts data in transit and at rest, meeting bank-grade security standards. ABT manages the connection end-to-end, ensuring updates from Empower or Phoenix never disrupt operations. The result was a secure, always-on integration that let First Citizens focus on lending and servicing rather than middleware.

Outcomes: Efficiency, Accuracy, and Better Service

• 100% Elimination of Manual Re-Entry: Mortgage data now flows automatically from Empower to Phoenix, ending duplicate typing and reducing errors.
• Faster Loan Boarding: Loans are onboarded into Phoenix almost instantly after closing, cutting hours or days off the cycle.
• Significant Staff Time Savings: Hundreds of hours annually are reclaimed, letting staff focus on quality control, exception handling, and customer service.
• Improved Data Accuracy & Compliance: Automation virtually eliminated discrepancies, dropping error rates to near zero and ensuring audit-ready records.
• Enhanced Customer Experience: Borrowers see their accounts set up faster, with welcome letters and online access delivered on time.
• Secure, Scalable Integration: Cloud-managed architecture encrypts sensitive data and scales seamlessly as the bank grows.

Conclusion: Integrating for Innovation and Trust

By connecting Empower and Phoenix through MortgageExchange, First Citizens Bank transformed its mortgage operations. The integration eliminated manual re-entry, reduced compliance risk, and accelerated loan servicing. Staff gained time to focus on higher-value work, and borrowers benefited from faster, smoother onboarding. More than a technical connector, MortgageExchange has become a strategic enabler — ensuring accuracy, compliance, and scalability for future growth. In the competitive world of mortgage lending, this agility and precision set First Citizens apart.

Further Reading

Explore more MortgageExchange case studies to see how financial institutions nationwide are streamlining post-closing and eliminating manual re-entry.