Dark Matter® could be the industry’s most mature new company. When we relaunched with a mission to revolutionize mortgage origination in 2023, we already had decades of market leadership under our belt and an experienced top-to-bottom team.
As a new but very seasoned company, we leapt forward with a renewed focus on product innovation and long-term customer relationships, and made ourselves the industry leader in loan efficiency with loan origination system (LOS) and AI-based automation solutions that streamline processes, scale effectively and reduce overhead.
Offering our client configurable, exception-based workflows and dynamic task structure has made Dark Matter the essential partner for lenders seeking both operational excellence and a strategic edge in an evolving market.
Staying Out Front
But there’s more to do. As we enter 2025, we wanted to share some of our top product advances (so far) and how they will affect your success in 2025.
1. A pre-configured task flow for retail
Dark Matter has a long history of task-based workflow innovation and using automation for true exception-based processing. New in 2025, we’ve introduced a completely preconfigured end-to-end task flow for the retail channel for new implementations, just like what we have now for home equity and correspondent. This will transform how retail channel teams work and the efficiency of their operations by automating significant portions of the process and tapping the right person at the right time for the human touch so important in maintaining great borrower relationships.
2. New rule set to boost efficiency
We have deep roots in the mortgage industry and have worked with AI and machine learning for more than a decade with the goal of reshaping the mortgage industry landscape with seamless, efficient and automated experiences. New for 2025, our Aiva® Rules team has developed a new ruleset to help drive efficiency by identifying opportunities to fast track loans to underwriting, or even issue an automated pre-approval. This is a great addition to a self-serve borrower strategy.
3. Borrower self-serve pricing
Speaking of borrower self-service, we now have the ability for lenders to allow borrowers to see current pricing and fees, select from an array of eligible products and apply for their loan all on their own, directly from our borrower portal. This adds transparency, particularly when configured to occur before account creation, and drives a self-serve pre-qualification and preapproval processes, which are not possible without a priced product. This optional tool can streamline lender operations while empowering their borrowers.
4. More skills for Aiva Assist
We’ve talked a lot about how Aiva helps loan originators, processors, and underwriters prepare loan files for review by automating tasks like income calculations and bank statement reviews. In 2025, we will continue to extend that capability, using data from documents and a unique user experience to help the post-closer as well. We’ve given Aiva Assist new skills for loan quality review to allow a lender to see discrepancies that exist in the document package, such as where documents are missing and where signatures are missing, and where data from documents is not consistent with the loan file to help accelerate post close activities.
5. Enhancing NOVA LOS
The NOVA LOS, added to our product lineup in 2024, provides a feature-rich alternative for lenders with limited resources for LOS administration. NOVA LOS is easy for lenders to configure without adding dedicated technology experts, so it’s faster to implement and can be maintained by the business. It is fully functional for all channels and helps us extend the range of lenders we can serve beyond what we already support with our efficiency powerhouse, the Empower® LOS. We see a very bright future for the NOVA LOS as our development teams continue to work together to provide more value in an affordable package.
As always, we welcome your input
Of course, there’s a lot more going on behind the scenes at Dark Matter for 2025, but I don’t want to be the spoiler here. Dark Matter clients and partners can attend our second annual Horizon user conference at the Omni Resort on Florida’s beautiful Amelia Island in April to learn more — speak with your account manager for registration details. For those who can’t attend, we’ll be sharing post-event highlights. I’ve also recorded some thoughts on these product advances and more you can listen to below.