“We decided going forward that we’re going to focus 100% on retail,” she said. “We look for like-minded companies that have the same culture, because culture and leadership are key. And I think you have to start building scale in this business.”
Scale is an important tool for maintaining investment in people and technology, Schmidt said, and the additional companies that Guild has brought aboard recently reflect its goals for culture and leadership and may have had issues of scale that were solved by joining Guild, she said.
When asked about the particulars of culture and how Guild aims to define that trait, Schmidt said that three values lead the charge: listening, collaboration and learning.
“For us, [potential acquisitions] have to be able to have a good understanding of their people and listen to what they have to say,” she said. “Everybody has a voice. Those are the kinds of leadership qualities that create that culture. Sometimes it’s not easy to identify that. We have to spend a lot of time doing a lot of discovery to identify that.”
When asked about recent acquisitions like Academy Mortgage and Cherry Creek Mortgage, Schmidt said that Guild had identified the kinds of values they want in their organization as well as the geographic advantage that would come from bringing them into the fold. There were also product advantages.
“Those two are more West Coast companies even though they had a national footprint, and so we’ve known them for years,” she said. “We had a good sense of their culture in advance. They both have great cultures and we were competing for the same people, so we knew the fit would be really good. So now, for all the western states, we pretty much have the market share that we wanted to get to.”
The Cherry Creek acquisition allowed Guild to expand and build out its reverse mortgage capabilities since the company served as a leading lender in the space for quite a while. With Academy, the homebuilder business was most attractive to Guild, Schmidt said.
Schmidt also talked about the need to invest in the company’s technology platform to better enable its people. Recruitment efforts are also following the company’s broad retail-focused strategy, and Schmidt asserted that any retail loan originator will want to “talk to Guild” if they want to advance in the retail origination space.
Schmidt also alluded to further development of its technology by leveraging artificial intelligence, and she shared that the company hired a specialist in its technology division to help grow the company’s efforts.
But to avoid moving too quickly and potentially running afoul of a developing and controversial technology, she said the company’s approach is to “start small and be careful.”
Industry veteran Rick Roque has resigned from his position as corporate vice president at retail mortgage lender CrossCountry Mortgage (CCM) to join multichannel player Sierra Pacific Mortgage as executive vice president of retail.
The transition was announced on Monday afternoon during a session at The Gathering, HousingWire’s real estate and mortgage conference held in Scottsdale, Arizona.
Roque, who co-founded M&A and retail mortgage banking firm Menlo Co. in 2009, joined CCM in December 2022 as corporate vice president of production strategy and strategic partnerships. He was tasked with adding “value to the consumer in the homeownership experience“ while increasing sales volumes and revenues, he said.
“CCM has created a top-performing sales culture that’s the envy of every mortgage company in the country. My interest is to be able to adopt that top-performing sales culture and to bring that over to Sierra Pacific,“ Roque said in an interview with HousingWire.
A spokesperson for CCM said the company had no comments.
Ohio-based CCM, which acquired Amcap Home Loans earlier this year, claims it originated $31.6 billion in loans in 2023.
Sierra Pacific, headquartered in California and led by Jim Coffrini, delivered a production volume of $2.5 billion last year, according to Inside Mortgage Finance (IMF) estimates. Its owned servicing portfolio stood at $15 billion at the end of 2023, per IMF.
Regarding its channels, Sierra Pacific has loans coming through its branches and its broker network, Roque said, but he will primarily focus on retail operations.
“Sierra believes the future of mortgage includes both wholesale and retail. It’s not about ’brokers are better’ or ’retail is better,’“ Roque added.
The company plans to grow via acquisitions of top-producing teams to establish a nationwide presence. These teams will have the opportunity to be an “anchor operation,“ Roque explained.
The lender is also seeking to acquire other companies, specifically targeting those that originate between $500 million and $2 billion a year, he said.
“Sierra is one of the most heavily capitalized companies in the country. It aims to aggressively grow retail, so a new heavyweight has entered the ring beyond the headlined mortgage companies,“ Roque said.
According to the Nationwide Multistate Licensing System (NMLS), Sierra had 145 active loan officers and 50 branches as of Monday.
In December, Sierra’s Chief Production Officer Jay Promisco, a HousingWire Vanguard, sat down with Clayton Collins to detail how he builds cohesive teams in intense environments.
The Citizenry’s flagship store in New York City. [Photo: The Citizenry]
The Citizenry, a Dallas-based direct-to-consumer home decor brand that partners with artisans around the world, has been acquired by Havenly, a Denver-based interior design service and home furnishings company.
The acquisition will allow the socially motivated home decor company to continue to scale the availability of its sustainable artisanal furniture and goods, further multiplying its impact, Citizenry said. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
“We set out to prove retail can be a force for good. Not only does the Havenly team appreciate our values, they have fallen in love with our unique design aesthetic, product line, and most importantly, our commitment to fair trade,” Rachel Bentley, co-founder of The Citizenry, said in a statement. “They’re the right partner to lead our next chapter of growth. We worked with almost 3,000 artisans last year, and with this step—that just feels like the beginning.”
Havenly said it anticipates retaining much of The Citizenry team, including Bentley, who will serve as president of The Citizenry, and Co-Founder Carly Nance, who will transition to serve as an executive brand advisor.
The Citizenry co-founders Rachel Bentley (left) and Carly Nance [Photo: The Citizenry]
Focused on fair trade—and poised for growth
The Citizenry joins Havenly as part of its ongoing efforts to build a collection of home brands and technologies that appeal to the next generation of shoppers, the companies said.
The deal will allow Havenly to expand its fair-trade initiations with The Citizenry and across other areas of the business.
The Citizenry co-founder Rachel Bentley visits with an artisan in Morocco, from our 2016 profile of the company. [Photo: The Citizenry]
Since its founding in 2014, The Citizenry has expanded its offerings to cover the whole home, while supporting the work of thousands of artisans around the globe at pay rates that average twice the fair trade requirement.
From its beginnings, The Citizenry said it set out to build a design-forward company that celebrates the people behind its products and sets new standards in social responsibility for the industry. The Citizenry adopts a fair trade business model, and its following has grown the company into the largest U.S. home decor company to have 100% of its products sourced according to the rigorous standards set by the World Fair Trade Organization.
In 2021, The Citizen raised $20 million in Series B Funding from San Francisco-based NextWorld Evergreen, a growth equity firm with a focus on conscious consumer brands. And just last September, The Citizenry launched a new brand campaign, “Uncontained,” to highlight a deep lineup of new brands hitting shelves at nearly 100 Container Store locations nationwide.
Rolling out its collections across Havenly’s platforms
The Citizenry said that with the acquisition, it will roll out its iconic collections to audiences across the Havenly platforms, expand its retail footprint, and scale its global network of artisans and heritage manufacturers to new levels.
“We’ve always said that our business marries old-world values with new-world market strategies,” Carly Nance, co-founder of The Citizenry, said in a statement. “We’ve grown to where we are today by being customer-centric and digitally-driven. This partnership provides even more strategic firepower in those arenas. The Havenly team is passionate about the same things we are—building potent, meaningful brands designed to stand the test of time.”
Mercado storage baskets from The Citizenry. [Photo: The Citizenry]
Havenly’s third acquisition in 36 months
This is Havenly’s third acquisition in 36 months, with past acquisitions including Interior Define and The Inside. Havenly said the deal cements it as the largest digital-first, DTC platform in the home decor market with a strong strategy for sustainable growth.
“As a personal customer of The Citizenry, I’m thrilled to bring the brand into the Havenly family,” Lee Mayer, co-founder and CEO of Havenly, said in a statement. “Rachel and Carly’s unrivaled commitment to sustainability, social impact, and support of artisans combined with premium quality and exquisite design is truly something revolutionary in the space, and a big reason why The Citizenry has long been a favorite among our customers. We’re excited to build on the work they’ve done to promote more sustainable values and help usher in the next era of great home brands for the modern consumers.”
Organic Turkish cotton duvet from The Citizenry. [Photo: The Citizenry]
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Usually they race for the end zone, but Wednesday some of the Dallas Cowboys’ top players swung for the fences at the Reliant Home Run Derby in Frisco. And whether they got dingers or popups, it was all for a good cause. Find out which Cowboy won for the second straight year—as two all-new ‘Pokes players joined in the fun.
Although fourth quarter mortgage originations were flat year-over-year, nonbank lenders that could provide products through multiple means were able to grow their business during that tough period, a Morningstar DBRS recap found.
“In addition to affordability challenges, seasonality and competition also impacted volumes and pricing,” the report from Shaima Ahmadi, assistant vice president, North American financial institution ratings, said. “However, on an individual company basis, those with omnichannel organization models continued to grow originations in [the fourth quarter] as they were able to capture a higher share of the market versus those with less diverse channels and refi heavy models.”
The top mortgage lenders benefited by undertaking business restructuring and making strategic shifts in order to capture more purchase business, Ahmadi said.
A shift underway that might not be going well is taking place at Finance of America, which had been at one point a multi-channel forward lender. After several previous strategy shifts, the company elected to focus on reverse mortgages. As part of that strategy, it bought American Advisors Group, which helped to drive FOA to a 40% market share in that segment.
“Despite market share gains, when excluding forward organizations in 4Q22, FOA’s reverse mortgage origination volume was down a significant 56% YoY in 4Q23,” Ahmadi pointed out.
“Meanwhile, Rithm Capital Corp. has made a number of acquisitions of mortgage servicing and alternative asset management businesses over recent years as part of the company’s strategic shift to become a real estate asset manager. Companies also continue to diversify their basket of mortgage loan offerings with added complementary services.”
The Mortgage Bankers Association’s fourth quarter industry profitability survey found that independent mortgage bankers and bank mortgage subsidiaries, both public and privately held, lost an average of $2,109 on every loan produced.
Furthermore, servicing was a net financial loss for the group of $24 per loan, while operating income for this function, which excludes amortization, gains/loss in the valuation of servicing rights net of hedging gains/losses, and gains/losses on bulk sales, was $108 per loan.
Mortgage servicing rights proved to be a double-edge sword in the fourth quarter. Companies reported fair-value losses on their MSR portfolios — a requirement of mark-to-market accounting that is tied to potential prepayments — but servicing fee income was up.
The publicly traded nonbank lenders tracked in the Morningstar DBRS report had a 6% increase year-over-year in their portfolios. But that ranged from a 14% gain at Mr. Cooper, which was active in the bulk purchase market, to declines of 5% at Rocket and 4% at United Wholesale Mortgage; UWM has been a strategic seller of servicing rights as part of its risk management strategy, executives noted on its fourth quarter earnings call.
FOA actually had a larger percentage increase at 38%, but that was primarily reverse servicing picked up in the AAG deal, and among the nine companies listed, it has by far the smallest portfolio.
Even though its portfolio is now smaller, Rocket bought MSRs originated with high rates for the potential refinancing opportunity.
“Given where mortgage rates currently are, borrowers have little incentive to refinance,” Ahmadi said. “However, some companies indicated that they expect a meaningful rebound in refinance activity when rates fall below 6%.” While the MBA thinks rates will sink under that mark, Fannie Mae’s latest forecast calls for them to just get to that level by the end of next year.
For the group losses narrowed as improved gain on sales margins were partially offset by lower origination volume.
Gross gain on sales margins, inclusive of fee income, net secondary marketing income and warehouse spread, was 334 basis points in the fourth quarter, up from 329 basis points three months prior, the MBA survey reported.
“We would expect margins to remain under pressure in 1Q given the negative impact seasonality typically has on both 4Q and 1Q,” Bose George, an analyst with Keefe, Bruyette & Woods said in an April 1 note on the survey. “Industry profitability is likely to be flat to down in 1Q as volumes should once again be low due to the seasonality associated with the quarter and the elevated average mortgage rate.”
Several public companies also reported major one-off expenses, including Pennymac Financial Services, which recorded $158.4 million in expenses from an arbitration ruling in favor of Black Knight (now part of Intercontinental Exchange) over mortgage servicing technology including allegations of breach of contract and misappropriation of trade secrets.
Meanwhile, Mr. Cooper’s November 2023 cybersecurity incident hit its results to the tune of $27 million.
Ahmadi also noted that the nonbanks had higher leverage ratios year-over-year for the fourth quarter, as debt levels increased slightly but was primarily caused by financial losses eroding company equity.
“During [the fourth quarter], nonbank mortgage companies were active in the high yield market, raising unsecured funding, which was partially used to pay down upcoming maturities in 2025, which we view positively for their credit profiles,” Ahmadi said. “Indeed, unsecured debt issuances increase nonbank mortgage companies’ financial flexibility by decreasing balance sheet encumbrance.”
Both Rocket and Pennymac Mortgage Trust were able to reduce their leverage ratios. But FOA’s debt-to-equity ratio increased to 97.8x compared with 49.7x one year prior, while Ocwen’s was at 27.2x, versus 22.9x over the same period.
U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) has sent a letter to the U.S. Department of Justice‘s Antitrust Division, urging an investigation of Fair Isaac Corp. (FICO), the company that retains the rights to the mortgage market’s adopted methodology to measure consumer credit risk.
The letter, dated March 12 and addressed to assistant attorney general Jonathan Kanter, states that FICO “appears to be using its monopolistic power over the credit scoring market to increase costs for mortgage lenders – an increase that will be passed on to consumers.” Hawley demanded that the DOJ “investigate the company for these anticompetitive practices.”
Representatives at the DOJ did not reply to requests for comment.
Julie May, vice president and general manager of B2B Scores at FICO, said that in the mortgage space, the company charges “$3.50 per FICO score, and that constitutes less than two-tenths of 1% of the average closing costs of $6,000 per mortgage and is 15% or less of the average cost of a $70 tri-merge credit report.”
“If you end up pulling three scores in a tri-merge report, it’s $10.50. That is our price,” May said in an interview with HousingWire. “We do not set the price to the end customer that uses the FICO score; we actually license our models.”
Hawley’s move follows a December report showing that FICO would start charging one price to all mortgage lenders that access credit reports, regardless of their sales volumes. This was a departure from the tier-based structure implemented the prior year. FICO also began collecting the same per-score price for soft and hard pulls.
“For 2024, FICO is once again increasing the price to access its scores, including both ‘hard’ and ‘soft’ pulls. It did the same thing last year, bumping prices as much as 400%,” Hawley said. “In total, FICO’s actions over the last two years have increased the cost of its credit scores by 500%. During the same period, FICO’s stock price has more than doubled.”
Hawley said that credit report “cost increases will be borne by homebuyers who are already facing the worst housing market in the country’s history.”
“FICO’s price increases will lead to either higher upfront costs or higher interest rates for borrowers, especially lower-income borrowers who may take longer to purchase a home,” he said. “This is, in short, a company abusing its market power to pad its bottom line and make life worse for Americans.”
In response, May explained that the FICO score was first available in the market in 1989. After two years, it started being used by the three major credit reporting agencies — Experian, Equifax and TransUnion. In 2012, the parties started to renegotiate their license agreement since FICO royalties had been flat for three decades.
The royalties increased to $0.50 to 0.60 per FICO score in 2018. A tier-based structure of $0.60 to $2.75 per score was implemented in 2022. After complaints from mortgage lenders, FICO returned to a fixed royalty of $3.50 per FICO score in 2023.
May added that different players use credit scores multiple times when originating a mortgage, but the royalty is charged only once. In addition, May said that approximately 99% of FICO scores accessed across the consumer credit industry are used for purposes other than mortgage originations.
Changes in credit report costs may result in lawsuits against the company. Attorneys at Bronstein, Gewirtz & Grossman LLC, a firm that represents investors in securities fraud class actions and shareholder derivative suits, announced Thursday that they are investigating potential claims against FICO since its stock price fell by 6.23% to $82.77 per share after Hawley’s letter was made public.
Hawley said in the letter that FICO is a “for-profit company operated under a sweetheart deal from the federal government” as its credit scores are required by entities such as the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) and the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs (VA). It results in FICO having a 90% market share in the business-to-business credit scoring market, he said.
Another federal entity currently requiring the Classic FICO score, the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), said in February that the transition to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac acquisitions of single-family mortgages based on the alternative FICO 10T and VantageScore 4.0 credit models — replacing the model that has been in place for a decade — is expected to occur in the fourth quarter of 2025.
The government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs) will also transition from a tri-merge system to a bi-merge system at that time. The GSEs aim to accelerate the publication of VantageScore 4.0 historical data, starting in Q3 2024 rather than Q1 2025. But they are still working alongside the FHFA to achieve conditions for acquiring and publishing FICO 10T model data.
Although changes to credit requirements are on the way, May said that FICO competes “vigorously in all markets,” and its FICO 10T product has already covered more than $100 billion in mortgage originations in the nonconforming market.
In a blog post on March 15, FICO CEO Will Lansing added: “Even within the mortgage market, lenders originate nearly 30% of all mortgages outside the Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac programs but still choose to use FICO Scores for those mortgages.”
The home décor furnishing industry is anticipated to grow due to the growing influence of social media and the increase in the penetration of the e-commerce sector. North American regional market share is attributed to highly developed and varied design styles and offerings of home decoration products.
Newark, Jan. 01, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — As per the report published by The Brainy Insights, the global home decor furnishing market is expected to grow from USD 630.03 Billion in 2022 to USD 923.67 Billion by 2032, at a CAGR of 3.90% during the forecast period 2023-2032.
The Home Decor Furnishing market is growing as the demand for the product is growing, and consumers are looking for luxurious products to decorate their homes, especially with furniture, hardwood flooring, and wooden floors. Also, there is a huge opportunity for sustainable, economical, and environmentally friendly products.
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Competitive Strategy
To enhance their market position in the global Home Decor Furnishing market, the key players are now focusing on adopting the strategies such as product innovations, mergers & acquisitions, recent developments, joint ventures, collaborations, and partnerships.
• In January 2023: Mannington Mills, Inc. launched its new dwelling collections, including broadloom carpets that provide comfort to all living areas. This launching of collections expands the organisation’s market share in the flooring segment, which eventually expands its market share in the Home Decor Furnishing market.
Market Growth & Trends
Expensive and premium items provide spiritual and aesthetic satisfaction and also add value and decoration to the home and the people who are living in. Home décor product sales have increased, and consumers have gradually started preferring online channels for buying products, especially after the pandemic. It has opened the window for the small home décor furnishing brands. The market is becoming more in demand due to rapid industrialization and urbanization. The home’s decoration easily shows the buyer’s lifestyle preference, and these people thus want to buy good aesthetic products. These home decor products can be used for several purposes, such as enhancing the aesthetic appeal of a home, decorating the apartment, and furnishing. Due to globalization, the consumer can easily access a large array of products used in home decor. One of the factors which are expanding the market is the growing disposable income of the people due to the urbanization process, which also increased the number of households. There is also the demand for personalized and unique home interiors with changes in consumer lifestyles and preferences. The millennial and Gen-Z populations are tech-savvy, and most use social media. Recent trends suggest that social media culture will continue to be crucial in shaping home décor product trends. Social media has given platforms to interior designers to showcase their work all across the world. Leading social media platforms such as Pinterest, Instagram, and Houzz have led these designers to share their designs globally and inspire people to design their living spaces and homes.
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Key Findings
• In 2022, furniture segment dominated the market with the largest market share of 45.55% and market revenue of USD 286.98 Billion.
The product segment is divided into furniture, textile, flooring and others. In 2022, furniture segment dominated the market with the largest market share of 45.55% and market revenue of USD 286.98 Billion. This market share is high because there is a high preference for wooden furniture with aesthetic looks and premium quality.
• In 2022, the indoor segment dominated the market with the largest market share of 86.42% and market revenue of USD 544.47 Billion.
The application segment is divided into indoor and outdoor. In 2022, the indoor segment dominated the market with the largest market share of 86.42% and market revenue of USD 544.47 Billion. Furniture that can be folded and of multiple uses is broadly preferred in the home’s indoor space.
• In 2022, the offline segment dominated the market with the largest market share of 70.56% and market revenue of USD 444.55 Billion.
The distribution channel segment is divided into offline and online. In 2022, the offline segment dominated the market with the largest market share of 70.56% and market revenue of USD 444.55 Billion. Customers are found to prefer shopping offline for furniture and home décor items.
Regional Segment Analysis of the Home Decor Furnishing Market:
• North America (U.S., Canada, Mexico) • Europe (Germany, France, U.K., Italy, Spain, Rest of Europe) • Asia-Pacific (China, Japan, India, Rest of APAC) • South America (Brazil and the Rest of South America) • The Middle East and Africa (UAE, South Africa, Rest of MEA)
The North America region occurred as the largest market for the global Home Decor Furnishing industry, with a market share of 33.21% and a market value of around USD 209.23 Billion in 2022. This market share is attributed to highly developed and varied design styles and offerings of home decoration products in the region. Most of the consumers in this region prefer functional and beautiful design elements for their décor items, and there is a growing demand for green and sustainable design. Asia Pacific region has shown the fastest growth for the Home Decor Furnishing market as there is rapid urbanization happening in emerging economies like India and China.
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Key players operating in the global Home Decor Furnishing market are:
• Ashley Furniture Industries, LLC. • Inter IKEA Holding B.V. • Forbo Management SA • Armstrong World Industries, Inc • Mannington Mills, Inc. • Kimball International Inc. • Duresta Upholstery Ltd. • Mohawk Industries, Inc. • MillerKnoll, Inc. • Shaw Industries Group, Inc.
This study forecasts revenue at global, regional, and country levels from 2019 to 2032. The Brainy Insights has segmented the global Home Decor Furnishing market based on below mentioned segments:
Global Home Decor Furnishing Market by Product:
• Furniture • Textile • Flooring • Others
Global Home Decor Furnishing Market by Application:
• Indoor • Outdoor
Global Home Decor Furnishing Market by Distribution Channel:
• Offline • Online
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About the report:
The global Home Decor Furnishing market is analysed based on value (USD Billion). All the segments have been analysed on global, regional and country basis. The study includes the analysis of more than 30 countries for each segment. The report offers in-depth analysis of driving factors, opportunities, restraints, and challenges for gaining the key insight of the market. The study includes porter’s five forces model, attractiveness analysis, raw material analysis, supply, demand analysis, competitor position grid analysis, distribution and marketing channels analysis.
About The Brainy Insights:
The Brainy Insights is a market research company that provides actionable insights through data analytics to companies to improve their business acumen. They have a robust forecasting and estimation model to meet the client’s objectives of high-quality output within a short period. They provide both customized (client-specific) and syndicate reports. Their repository of syndicate reports is diverse across all the categories and sub-categories across domains. Their customized solutions meet the client’s requirements whether they are looking to expand or planning to launch a new product in the global market.
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Avinash D Head of Business Development Phone: +1-315-215-1633 Email: [email protected] Web: http://www.thebrainyinsights.com
Connecticut-headquartered mortgage servicer and lender Planet Home Lendinghas hired Doug Long as senior vice president and divisional sales manager.
Long, who brings more than 20 years of experience in the mortgage industry, will be responsible for building Planet’s retail networks and will also have a focus on product development, the company said.
“Planet is pioneering the future of mortgage lending with novel products like Cash 4 Homes, 1st Year Flex, Purchase EDGE, one-time close construction loans, and bridge, renovation and manufactured home loans,” Long said.
“What sets us apart is not just these products, but how we come together, across different channels, to continuously innovate and refine them. This synergy allows Planet to offer unparalleled operational support to its sales professionals, along with no hidden overlays and some of the industry’s best turn times.”
Long was most recently the executive regional manager for Union Home Mortgage before joining Planet.
His previous positions include southeast divisional president at AmeriFirst Home Mortgage, which was acquired by Union Home Mortgage in December 2022; and president of national lending at Prospect Mortgage.
As the 12th-largest mortgage lender, Planet Home Lending posted an origination volume of $25 billion in 2023, a 5.3% decline from 2022, according to Inside Mortgage Finance. America’s top 50 lenders saw an average origination volume decline of about 41% in 2023. Its strategy has focused on acquisitions in both correspondent and retail channels.
The company’s acquisition of Homepoint‘s delegated correspondent business in 2022 boosted its correspondent market share, with about 70% of its origination coming from the correspondent channel.
In June 2023, Planet Home Lending acquired Platinum Home Mortgage Corporation, bringing over 20 branches.
Planet Home Lending has 175 sponsored mortgage loan originators in 35 active branches across the country, according to the Nationwide Multistate Licensing System.
Capital One’s $35.3 billion all-stock deal to purchase Discover could make it the largest credit card issuer in the country, in addition to expanding both its digital banking presence and Discover’s global payment network.
The deal arrives as consumers are struggling to keep up with inflated prices — and they’re carrying more credit card debt than before the pandemic. A report by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, released on Feb. 6, found that Americans held a collective $1.129 trillion in credit card debt at the end of 2023. By comparison, by the end of 2019, Americans held $930 billion in credit card debt.
The report also showed that borrowers are having trouble repaying their debt. Serious delinquencies among credit card borrowers rose 6.36% in the fourth quarter of 2023 compared with a 4.01% increase at the same time in 2022. Both Capital One and Discover show an increase in delinquency rates, but Discover’s fourth-quarter results reported a larger spike in consumer card delinquencies than Capital One’s.
After a Capital One call for investors on Tuesday morning, the markets responded: Discover’s stock rose while Capital One shares dipped slightly.
In the call, Capital One indicated it expects the deal to be complete by the end of 2024 or early 2025 — that is, if federal regulators allow it. The acquisition is expected to face close scrutiny in the coming year.
Here’s what you need to know about Capital One’s Discover acquisition.
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1. Capital One would be a formidable credit cards competitor
The deal opens the door for Capital One to become the nation’s largest credit card issuer by outstanding debt, outpacing JPMorgan Chase and Citigroup, according to the payment industry trade journal the Nilson Report. The company will remain based in McLean, Virginia, while maintaining a significant presence in Chicago, where Discover is based.
In the call with investors on Tuesday, Richard Fairbank, CEO and chairman of Capital One, touted the benefits of acquiring Discover’s global payment network, which will allow Capital One to more directly deal with merchants as opposed to a network intermediary. The more merchants Capital One can reach, the more money it stands to make over time.
While Capital One still holds contracts with Visa and Mastercard for many of its credit products, it will move at least some of its cards onto the Discover network over time, thus keeping a larger slice of the lucrative merchant fees its customers generate.
By owning a payment network, Capital One is poised to compete with its most direct competitor, American Express, and reduce its dependency on the two biggest players in global payments: Visa and Mastercard.
Fairbank says the company is also hoping to expand Discover’s network deeper into the global market.
2. Capital One hopes to expand its digital banking reach
Capital One is the ninth-largest bank in the U.S. with both physical branches and an online presence. Meanwhile, Discover’s banking presence is overwhelmingly online. But both are credit card-first, banking-second companies. The acquisition won’t change that, but it will enable Capital One to expand further into banking.
The deal would accelerate Capital One’s banking business by allowing the company to tap in to Discover’s network for banks. In the call with investors, Fairbank said Capital One plans to move its debit card business over to the Discover Signature debit network to help Discover compete with the other three networks.
Fairbank said that branding for Discover’s banking network would remain Discover. “Capital One as the network might not be as ideal a thing for other banks to choose as the Discover brand,” he said.
3. Discover would remain its own brand
Discover will remain its own brand in the combined company. In the investor call, Fairbank said Capital One will keep Discover’s branding and continue to market it. “Over time, customers would understand this is part of Capital One,” he said.
Fairbank indicated that it was unrealistic to convert the Discover brand into Capital One. “Think about all those stickers that are out there at every point of sale and all the real estate that’s now on every online checkout page and so on,” he said. “It would be a really big lift to convert that to the Capital One brand.”
Fairbank noted that while Discover is accepted nearly universally in the U.S., it has an image problem that Capital One hopes to change. He said, “Our research confirms that customers are very satisfied with acceptance, but the perception of acceptance among noncustomers lags the reality.”
Fairbank says Capital One plans to move some of its credit card volume to Discover’s network in order “to enhance its scale.” He also said the company “will lean hard into further building the brand and the perceived acceptance of the credit card network here in the United States.”
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4. The deal faces regulatory hurdles
Consumers won’t see any changes from the acquisition anytime soon. That’s because the deal won’t be complete until shareholders and regulators approve it.
The Justice Department, banking regulators and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. are likely to scrutinize the proposed deal. The Biden Administration has toughened its approach to mergers and acquisitions, including those still underway like the Kroger and Albertsons grocery chain merger and Alaska Airlines’ takeover of Hawaiian Airlines. And last month, a federal judge blocked JetBlue’s buyout of Spirit Airlines under antitrust laws.
The U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency has also said it plans to institute a more complex, and ultimately slower, process for bank acquisitions. Capital One’s Discover proposal faces standard regulatory procedures, so it’s unclear whether these stricter requirements would apply to this acquisition.
Fairbank noted in the call with investors that both Capital One and Discover will be filing approval applications with the federal government in the next few months and said “we believe that we are well-positioned for approval.”
5. The bigger the company, the higher the interest rates
Credit card interest rates are now much higher than in recent years, mirroring the broader rate environment. The average APR among credit cards that incurred interest was 22.75% in the fourth quarter of 2023, according to data from the Federal Reserve.
When it comes to interest rate offers, bigger companies aren’t always better, at least not for consumers. An analysis of 2023 credit card interest rate data by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, released on Feb. 16, found that the largest credit card issuers offer high interest rates — a maximum APR over 30% among nearly half of those issuers.
The report found a broad disparity between the median APRs on credit cards offered by large and small financial institutions based on credit scores. The biggest difference is among customers with good credit scores (620 to 719 in this report): Large card issuers offer a median APR of 28.2% — a difference of 10.02 percentage points compared with the median APR offered by smaller card issuers.
Big companies are also more likely to include an annual fee, and those fees are 70% higher than at small banks and credit unions, according to the CFPB report.
Still, big companies do tend to offer more generous rewards and discounts, like cash back and travel points, with their credit cards compared with small institutions. But the best perks are offered to the wealthiest customers, who make the most money through frequent and larger spending at merchants.
Who doesn’t want to be rewarded?
Create a NerdWallet account for personalized recommendations, and find the card that rewards you the most for your spending.
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Banks increasing their acquisitions According to a Bloomberg report, the resurgence in acquisitions comes amid a rise in deposits, prompting banks to seek avenues to deploy this influx of capital. With traditional lending options constrained due to subdued loan demand and increased defaults resulting from two years of interest rate hikes, banks are turning to … [Read more…]
Today’s mortgage rates are quite a bit higher than the rates that hovered near 3% in late 2020 and early 2021. But they’re also quite a bit lower than the 8% (or higher) interest rates from October 2023. So, depending on when you purchased your home, you may be wondering if now is a good time to refinance.
After all, if you purchased your home when mortgage rates were at their peak last year, refinancing now could lead to meaningful savings. On the other hand, there are costs involved with a mortgage refinance related to the appraisal, application, loan origination and more. Considering these costs, how much do mortgage rates need to drop to make refinancing worth it?
Compare your mortgage refinancing options now.
How much does mortgage interest need to drop to make refinancing worth it?
“This is the million dollar question, and it’s not the same for everyone,” says Earl Dell, SVP of national retail sales and acquisitions at Mutual of Omaha Mortgage. “A lot of this goes into what your current mortgage balance is at this time, and how long you plan to stay in your home.”
For example, let’s say you owe $250,000 on your home with a 30-year mortgage at 8.35%. You could refinance your home with a new 30-year mortgage with a lower interest rate of 7.25%, but doing so comes with fees that range, on average, from 3% to 5%. If we’re assuming 3%, that would equal about $7,500 in fees.
At the current rate of 8.35%, you would pay $433,433 in interest in total over the life of your mortgage loan. However, if you refinance your home with a 30-year loan at a 7.25% interest, you would pay a total of $364,365 in interest over the life of the loan. And, after accounting for the $7,500 in fees, refinancing would result in a total savings of $61,568 in interest over the life of your mortgage.
If you have a mortgage with a higher balance and rate, a drop of 0.5% interest could be worth refinancing, according to Dell. “For a lower balance, rate and term refinance, it may be at least 1% or more to be worth your time and money,” Dell says.
It’s also important to consider how long you plan on living in the home, according to Dell.
“If you plan on moving in the next two years, I would hold off from refinancing,” he says.
Find out how much you could save by refinancing your mortgage today.
Is refinancing worth it at a higher interest rate?
If your current mortgage rate is lower than today’s rates, there may be no long-term interest savings when you refinance. However, mortgage refinancing may still be worth considering in certain cases. For example, you could refinance from a 30-year loan term to a 15-year loan term at a slightly higher rate to pay off your mortgage loan quickly. Or, you could use cash-out refinance at a slightly higher rate to pay off high-interest debt if a home equity loan isn’t an option.
Tap into your home equity with a cash-out refinance now.
The bottom line
There are numerous factors to consider before refinancing your loan — but your new mortgage rate plays a large part in whether or not it makes sense to do so. And, while a 1% drop in mortgage rates nearly always makes sense to consider, in certain cases, even a slight drop in mortgage rates could make refinancing worth it — especially if you plan to stay in your home for the long term. Before you make any decisions, though, just make sure to understand the short- and long-term implications of refinancing your mortgage loan to ensure that it’s the right move for you.
Joshua Rodriguez
Joshua Rodriguez is a personal finance and investing writer with a passion for his craft. When he’s not working, he enjoys time with his wife, two kids, three dogs and 10 ducks.