Out of the Box  n n n n n n n n n n n
A MindBox Newsletter Issue 13 — June, 2007
Letter from the President

 To say that this has really been an interesting year thus far is no doubt an understatement.  In the midst of challenging market conditions, we continue to improve and enhance our product offerings, with new versions of the MindBox Power Portal™, the Power Editor™, ARTOptimize™, and our underpinning technology platform ARTEnterprise™.  We have added new features to our customizable Power Portal web site technology, allowing lending institutions to quickly launch private branded, comprehensive web sites for automating the underwriting and approval of mortgage loan applications.  Our award-winning Power Editor, a tremendous tool to manage and maintain the ARTOptimize system, is continually being improved with the direct feedback of our users, making it more powerful and user friendly with each enhancement.  We have also continued to fine tune and enhance our flagship ARTOptimize system with additional capabilities called for by the lending community.  Our underlying ARTEnterprise platform, the workhorse our our product offerings providing the power, scalability, flexibility and reliability of our ARTOptimize engine, is continually honed to ensure its peak performance.

Although the market conditions have been challenging thus far this year, we have continued to add a number of new customers to our impressive client list.  Thanks to many of you who have agreed to provide references.  It is your trust and loyalty that has made our success possible.  We take this responsibility very seriously.  Thank you for allowing us to help you change the face of the mortgage lending industry.

I hope you find this edition of "Out of the Box" informative.  If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me.  We are committed to your success.  Feel free to call or write any time (rich.barfus@mindbox.com)!

Thank you for your continued support.
Rich Barfus, CEO and President


Technology Update with Brian Sauk

We have had some significant product rollouts recently, and others planned for release in the next few months:

  • In March, ARTEnterprise 10.1.2 was released, including:  improvements for XML input files and parsing; additional functionality for memory usage reporting; and a new "keep alive" plug-in that periodically sends a query from the decision engine to a database.
  • In April, we released MindBox Power Portal™ (MPP) version 2.2.6, which includes:  a compact loan application; data encryption for SQLServer 2005; post locking features; enhanced look and feel; lock confirmation and registration letters; improved LOS integration.
  • In June, we released Power Editor™ (PE) version 5.3, which includes:  effective dates for category and entity relationships; audit reporting enhancements; configurable password policies; enhanced roles and privileges; further rule optimization; and enhanced context search tools.  These and other improvements were incorporated based on customer feedback.
  • Also in June, ARTOptimize updates were released that included:  expanded DTI adjustment support with multiple price points, constraints and preferences with DTI adjustments, and other DTI special case extensions; ability to store pricing adjustments in a database; simplified interface for defining pricing calculations; and enhancements to speed and performance - faster worst-case pricing rules, bounds propogation for faster and more accurate module performance, automatic simplification of pricing relationships, caching improvements, and other speed improvements.


MindBox in the News

MindBox®istered; MindBox® made the following announcements during the first half of the year:

  • Navy Federal Credit Union— With over 2.8 million members, Navy Federal is recognized as one of the largest credit unions in the nation.  Headquartered in Vienna, VA, Navy FCU deployed the MindBox ARTOptimize solution to provide key best-fit deal structuring capability for not only their loan officers, but also their online membership.  A member can now access their website to determine what the best loan product at the best price might be to meet their individual needs and motivations.  Due to the nature of their membership, which is located worldwide, these online capabilities significantly enhance their ability to meet the ongoing needs of their membership.
  • UBS — UBS, with its North American headquarters located in New York City, NY, is a leading global wealth manager, a top tier investment banking and securities firm, and one of the largest global asset managers in the world.  UBS initially engaged MindBox to provide it with unique underwriting capabiilities, and has recently broadened its use of ARTOptimize for its Personal Mortgage Bankers in their Wealth Management organization.  These retail bankers now have MindBox best fit, product and pricing selection, and automated underwriting capabilities at their fingertips to assist in selling mortgages to their existing UBS clients.
  • First Franklin — Located in San Jose, CA, First Franklin has been a mortgage industry innovator since its inception, providing mortgage alternatives for borrowers in between traditional sub-prime and Alt-A credit tiers.  After struggling for years with a competitive solution, First Franklin rolled out their Alt-A product line on the MindBox ARTOptimize system in June, marking a major milestone in the evolution of their company.
  • Sierra Pacific Mortgage — Sierra Pacific is a retail, wholesale, and correspondent lender headquartered in Folsom, CA.  MindBox was selected to replace their existing automated underwriting system (AUS).  Their new solution, a completed AUS for all non-conforming products, was put into production late last year.  The MindBox decision engine includes a complete credit underwrite and approval with conditions.
  • Paul Financial — Paul Financial, a San Rafael, CA-based mortgage lender, selected MindBox's Power Portal, Power Editor and ARTOptimize technology to turbo-charge their Net Oxygen loan origination system.  In May Paul rolled out "Beacon," their new wholesale portal, into production.  Their correspondent portal is expected to be in production by the end of June.
  • AmNet/Wachovia — AmNet/Wachovia, located in San Diego, CA, is continuing its pilot of their MindBox ARTOptimize-based Vertice Broker Portal, which underwrites their non-conforming products.  The Vertice wholesale lending platform will provide AUS recommendations to their brokers with MindBox complementing their DU capabilities.  Due to the success of the MindBox application, the second phase of their implementation (Pricing) is underway.

MindBox continues to be regarded in the press as one of the leading technology solution providers for the mortgage industry.  Keep watching for key articles about us!


What's Ahead

Our next edition of the newsletter will be sent out in December, 2007.  If you know of others who would like to receive the newsletter, please have them email Mark Ellis at mark.ellis@mindbox.com to be added to the distribution list.

Here is a sneak peak of what's to come in the next edition:

  • MindBox Product Update
  • MindBox in the News
  • Partnerships and Customer Update

If you have any questions or comments, please e-mail them to Mark Ellis at mark.ellis@mindbox.com.