Shawbrook becomes the first bank to complete a remortgage using PEXA’s fully digital payment system

PEXA, the fintech behind the world’s first digital property exchange process, has today confirmed that Shawbrook has become the first bank in the UK to begin transacting remortgage cases on PEXA’s new digital exchange and payment system, with the conveyancing undertaken by Pure Law.

The specialist lender completed its first transaction this week, with the support of Pure Law, a law firm specialising in property and mortgages. Shawbrook’s successful onboarding follows that of Hinckley & Rugby Building Society in September.

Using the new technology, Shawbrook and Pure Law were able to orchestrate financial completion directly from the lender’s account, and could seamlessly collaborate to lodge the application for registration with HM Land Registry, streamlining a process that typically takes days into minutes.

An important milestone in the digitisation of the remortgage process, the partnership with Shawbrook is PEXA’s first collaboration with a bank, and will enable an improved experience and faster completion times for its customers in specialist mortgage markets, including professional buy-to-let.

The successful addition of Shawbrook coincides with enhancements to PEXA’s platform, including the delivery of a standardised mortgage deed. With transaction volumes expected to continue to grow into the new year, speed, simplicity and certainty are critical elements of PEXA’s platform, and these enhancements will continue to pave the way for a frictionless remortgage experience.

Designed to reduce the time, risk and costs in the remortgage process, PEXA’s exchange platform is supported by PEXA Pay – only the seventh active net settlement payment system in the UK, with the Bank of England acting as the settlement service provider. PEXA has also recently announced its partnership with ClearBank to allow for the final disbursement of funds to transaction accounts held with lenders not already integrated with PEXA’s own platform. Following significant interest from the mortgage and conveyancing market, further lenders and conveyancers are due to be announced throughout 2023.

Following the successful launch of PEXA UK’s digital remortgage platform in September, the company also plans to expand its offering to transform the sale and purchase process from 2024, delivering much needed certainty and transparency to the process for home buyers and sellers.

James Bawa, PEXA UK Chief Executive Officer, comments: “Today marks another important milestone in the digitisation of the remortgage market, and the broader adoption of the PEXA platform for the benefit of UK citizens. In what is a true tripartite relationship, we’re incredibly pleased to partner with Shawbrook Bank and Pure Law.

“Shawbrook shares our determination to leverage data and technology to deliver speed and simplicity for borrowers – and crucially – to improve tangible outcomes. Working with Shawbrook means our transformative approach will quickly benefit those borrowers in the specialist lending space.

“Pure Law brings a much needed innovative and streamlined approach to conveyancing in the mortgage industry. This is all the more vital amidst the current uncertain and rapidly changing market conditions consumers are faced with. The faster and more streamlined the process is, the greater certainty and confidence offered to borrowers.

“There’s certainly more to come, as we are working closely with the lending and conveyancing community, and we look forward to announcing new lenders coming onto the platform in due course.”

Emma Cox; Managing Director Real Estate, Shawbrook, comments: “Completing our first transaction using PEXA, working alongside Pure Law, is another notable example of Shawbrook’s commitment to collaborating with best-in-class partners and using data and technology to deliver a seamless service to our specialist property finance customers.”

John Symns, Chief Executive Officer, Pure Law comments: “We are excited to be working with our longstanding client Shawbrook Bank, and PEXA to bring their digital remortgage platform to the UK. The speed and efficiency of the financial settlements, and the automatic lodgement of applications for registration at the Land Registry will streamline the process and lead to further standardisation across lender requirements and processes. We are proud to be part of this journey with PEXA, which is paving a new way of working for conveyancers and lenders in the UK for the better.”