HFS Horizons: The Best Service Providers for Mortgage Reinvention, 2025

The HFS Horizons: The Best Service Providers for Mortgage Reinvention, 2025 report is for mortgage lenders, service providers, and ecosystem partners evaluating which providers best drive innovation and value across the mortgage value chain.

Overview

The HFS Horizons: The Best Service Providers for Mortgage Reinvention, 2025 report evaluates how well 15 service providers help mortgage lenders embrace innovation and realize value across three distinct Horizons. It assesses providers on their value proposition, execution and innovation capabilities, go-to-market strategy, and market impact, spanning residential and commercial origination, securitization, and servicing globally.

Key findings

1. The five Horizon 3 market leaders, in alphabetical order, are Accenture, Cognizant, Firstsource, Infosys, and TCS, each proven across functional digital transformation, enterprise modernization, and ecosystem-led value creation.
2. Cognizant cut average handling time by 24% at Cotality, formerly CoreLogic, using its Neuro platform, and added 6,000 lending specialists through its acquisition of CoreLogic’s India-based BPO arm.
3. Cost takeout led providers’ top mortgage offerings at 100% of respondents, followed by long loan origination timelines at 93% and cloud and core modernization at 86%.
4. Among 457 US mortgage lenders and ecosystem partners, 39% named platform modernization a top-three investment, while 36% cited legacy technology and tech debt as their biggest barrier to value.
5. Mortgage clients rated their service providers 8.8 out of 10 on innovation and execution and 8.5 out of 10 on outcomes delivered, with lower marks for IP development and R&D.

HFS finds that the old playbook of flexing operations through headcount is dead, with growth, cost, and profitability now hinging on technology and innovation-led operations. HFS assesses that Horizon 3 leaders differentiate through deep mortgage domain expertise, a full-service approach across consulting, IT, and operations, and co-innovation with clients and partners.

The Bottom Line:

Absent in source. The report contains no sentence labeled “The Bottom Line.”

Research methodology

Primary research drawing on briefings with 15 service providers, reference checks with 18 active clients and 22 active partners, and HFS Pulse data featuring 305 service provider ratings, plus a demand-side survey of 457 US mortgage lenders and ecosystem partners, HFS Research, 2025.

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