2003 Annual Report: Raising the Bar in Product Innovation (Page 2 of 4)

For customers with qualified credit histories and existing relationships with the bank, we found ways to eliminate fully 80% of the paperwork traditionally associated with mortgage applications, while remaining within acceptable risk parameters. More than half of our mortgage customers in 2003 used the new, faster process.

Having cut paperwork, we improved customer access to our mortgage products and reduced waiting time with an innovative use of Web-enabled technology that we call LoanSolutions®. The LoanSolutions platform allows Bank of America associates in our banking centers to provide a mortgage loan decision to their customers on the spot, within minutes, eliminating the time, uncertainty and cost of obtaining approval from a central office. This means customers apply for mortgages in the same place they are accustomed to doing the rest of their banking, they get the type of mortgage that best suits their particular needs and circumstances, and they obtain an answer right away. In fact, nearly 60% of our customers who applied for mortgage financing through LoanSolutions in 2003 received on-the-spot approval.