Transforming Lending with Seamless Digital Workflows

The Blend team had a fantastic time at Future Branches Austin 2025, an event focused on how financial institutions are evolving their physical and digital channels to meet modern customer expectations. One of the most insightful sessions was “Seamless Lending Starts with Modern Digital Workflows,” featuring Jason Pugh, SVP of Mortgage Lending at California Credit Union, and Blend’s Product Marketing Lead, Sara Maaske.

Jason offered a powerful look into how California Credit Union (CCU) transformed its end-to-end lending process by partnering with Blend. The key takeaway? Technology is only as good as the processes it supports, and customer obsession must drive all digital transformation.

The friction problem: Documents, disconnections, and delays

The session kicked off by addressing the all-too-familiar “Friction Problem” in lending. Prior to Blend, the application process at CCU had a fragmented member experience and manual, paper-heavy processes. Jason illustrated the scope of the problem: a single loan could require a member to navigate through over 100 documents and multiple different document types. This friction is the “enemy” in a competitive market, often leading to abandoned applications. 

Data over documentation: The power of single sign-on (SSO)

A fundamental shift in CCU’s strategy, enabled by Blend, was moving from documentation to data. This is where Blend’s single sign-on (SSO) feature for assets proved to be a game-changer for speed and member satisfaction.

SSO allows a member to connect to their Primary Financial Institution (PFI) seamlessly to pull financial data in the background without requiring the applicant to manually upload asset statements. This enables the system to access high-quality asset data directly into the loan file.

• Member Adoption: Despite initial skepticism, Jason was surprised by the adoption rate: “I’m shocked at how many of our clients give us access to their assets, about 32%.”
• Operational Efficiency: The biggest win for efficiency comes later in the process. When documents expire, the processor no longer has to ask the borrower for an updated bank statement, a major pain point that causes frustration. Jason emphasized: “The cool thing about SSO is once we have those credentials, we can just hit refresh and get a new asset statement and move to close without going back to the borrower.”

Operational excellence drives growth

Jason stressed that technology is an accelerator, not a fixer, to operationalizing solutions. “Blend as a software will not fix bad processes or bad operations. What it’s done for us is helped turbocharge what I think to be very sound operations.”

His focus on operational excellence is tied directly to customer loyalty and growth. He shared a powerful perspective on how they view every transaction:

“We look at every mortgage transaction as a job interview, meaning the buyer’s agent and the seller’s agent we are interviewing for their business.”

If a loan doesn’t close smoothly, they won’t get repeat business or valuable referrals from realtors.

Tangible results: Faster closings and higher satisfaction

CCU’s commitment to modern workflows delivered clear, measurable results, focusing on member satisfaction, time to close, and application quality.

• Time to Close: Some loan officers confidently close in 15 days, something they couldn’t say years ago, and refinances saw a 9 day improvement. 
• Member Satisfaction: CCU tracks its Net Promoter Score (NPS) post-close and is currently running at about 94, with a goal to reach 95 next year.
• Growing Wallet Share: The positive mortgage experience is designed to “wow” members so much that they will bring in their direct deposit relationships and other business. As Jason put it, they are focused on “making sure that we can be a one-stop shop for all of their financial needs while we have their captive attention for 30 days as they’re closing their mortgage.”

The future state: Hybrid close

Looking ahead to 2026, CCU’s roadmap includes refining the document bundle and adopting hybrid close. This addresses the final piece of friction in the digital journey: the antiquated paper closing.

Jason shared a personal anecdote about a recent refinance, describing the shock of moving from a smooth digital process to sitting with a notary and signing a 100-page, paper-heavy document file.

“It seems kind of odd at the very end, we go from this digital experience to this antiquated paper experience. And so I just think it’s a better solution to have them if they’re already engaging with us digitally, why not just make the loan document signing that much more of a pleasant experience?”

Jason’s advice to peers

To financial institutions thinking about improving their customer experience, especially in lending, Jason offered one piece of crucial advice:

“The first thing I would say is if you still have paper in your processes, that’s step one that you have a problem.”

Blend provides a single platform delivering a unified omnichannel experience across products, making this digital transformation possible.

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