RICHMOND, Va., June 6, 2005 /PRNewswire-FirstCall via COMTEX/ -- Genworth Financial, Inc.
(NYSE: GNW) today announced SecureFirst, a new service that automatically
checks mortgage loan applications for potential fraud and alerts lenders to
the need for possible action.
Genworth Financial is the first mortgage insurance provider to offer fraud
protection screening for its customers.
SecureFirst electronically analyzes loans submitted through Genworth's AU
Central(R) automated underwriting platform to determine if the loan needs
further review. Reports are custom tailored to individual parameters set by
participating lenders and investors, and are based on a comprehensive analysis
of the three common elements that expose a lender to fraud: collateral,
borrower, and origination agent.
"The FBI recently reported a dramatic jump in the number of 'Suspicious
Activity Reports' filed in 2004 involving mortgage fraud, with related dollar
losses totaling more than $400 million," said Kevin Schneider, president of
Genworth Financial's U.S. mortgage insurance business. "SecureFirst will
protect our lender customers by alerting them to a potential problem when the
loan is locked for underwriting. Early preventative action can save them
time, money and future headaches so they can concentrate on driving loan
production."
To create this new technology-based offering, Genworth packaged AU
Central(R) and Doc Central, its electronic imaging system, with three fraud
and risk detection components from C&S Marketing, the leading provider of
collateral risk assessment and fraud prevention solutions to the mortgage
lending industry. Using them, SecureFirst examines a loan's potential fraud
risk by analyzing property and relationship details between borrowers,
brokers, appraisers, specific market regions, and other known interactions
that are effective in detecting and preventing fraud and misrepresentation.
Results, available in less than a minute, are delivered electronically through
AU Central(R).
Lenders can elect to have all submitted loans screened by SecureFirst or
screen them on an individual basis. A summary page providing a snapshot of
each loan is followed by full analysis details. SecureFirst-screened loans
for Doc Central customers automatically go into their Doc Central folder
containing related loan documents.
Electronic imaging and sharing of loan files eliminate double data entry
when using SecureFirst. The system can easily be added to AU Central(R) or
Doc Central packages, and lenders receive a single bill through AU Central(R).
SecureFirst is a helpful tool which should be utilized as part of a
comprehensive program to prevent fraud, although it cannot detect all
instances of fraud or misrepresentation.
About Genworth Financial
Genworth (NYSE: GNW) is a leading insurance holding company, serving the
lifestyle protection, retirement income, investment and mortgage insurance
needs of more than 15 million customers, and has operations in 22 countries,
including the U.S., Canada, Australia, the U.K. and more than a dozen other
European countries. For more information, visit http://www.genworth.com.
SOURCE Genworth Financial, Inc.
Terry Souers, Vice President, Public Relations, Mortgage Insurance of Genworth
Financial, Inc., +1-919-846-4459, or terry.souers@genworth.com
