Preface
This document is intended to solidify a common vision among those who have been or will be involved in the projects and sub-projects that will evolve from this initiative.

Purpose
Deployment of major enhancements to Accredited's web-based retail and wholesale business channels will support the corporate mission by contributing to:

• Financial strength and efficiency of overall operations.
  Expanded capabilities (as outlined in this document) will increase operational efficiency and effectiveness, reduce costs, increase profitability, and provide opportunities for expanding into new markets, products and services.
  
  
• Empowerment and constructive accountability of each employee, individual success and overall excellence of the sales and marketing organization, and abilities of the loan sales/securitization organization.
  Automation, immediate access to accurate information, and the availability of powerful new tools and resources will foster improved communication and empower employees (as well as existing and new business partners) to work more efficiently and effectively.

  Further, sophisticated tracking capabilities will enable the company to more quickly and effectively 1) monitor both individual employee performance as well as overall operations, and pinpoint areas for improvement, 2) quantify the level of service provided to customers, 3) evaluate the effectiveness of marketing efforts, and 4) react and adjust to changes in the marketplace.

Together, these factors will help ensure that Accredited not only remains a highly competitive player in the sub-prime mortgage lending industry, but also becomes more attractive to potential customers, business partners and employees.

Goals
The main goal of this initiative is to develop and deploy three separate Empower-based Web sites that will provide functionality as outlined on page 3. The first two-a wholesale site catering to brokers and other business partners, and a retail site catering directly to consumers-will interact with the third-a corporate site catering to employees.

Wholesale
The wholesale site will cater to current and potential business partners, including brokers, appraisers, title companies and closing agents. Although general information will be available to the public, access to specific functions will be restricted, governed by pre-determined business rules. Restricted areas of the site will likely comprise a password-protected Extranet, ensuring control over access to sensitive information and resources.

Retail
The retail site will target consumers likely to benefit from a sub-prime mortgage, providing straightforward information and resources to help consumers make informed decisions and, to a certain degree, help themselves. Being clear about what we can and cannot do will avoid consumer frustration and increase lead quality.

Corporate
The goal of the corporate site is to provide employees access to functions that will enable them to manage customer relations and interface with data collected via the Web. However, it is this issue-developing and integrating "back end" functions-that is most in need of clarification. Several possibilities exist.

• For optimum efficiency, administrative functions would ideally be integrated directly into the Empower loan origination system interfaces. However, for the immediate future, this would not appear to be a feasible option.
• Assuming continuation of the current policy of limiting employee Internet access, functionality could be developed for access via a portion of the corporate Intranet. This scenario would provide local access (i.e., via the company network) to relevant employees.
• Continuing with this assumption, a more sophisticated alternative would involve full-scale integration into a more comprehensive Intranet site designed to increase overall employee productivity and effectiveness. Although not strictly necessary to accomplish the more immediate tasks at hand, consideration of the potential advantages of co-developing a more powerful Intranet may be in order. By providing immediate access to the most relevant, up-to-date, authoritative company and industry information and resources available, the site will improve communication among departments and empower all employees to be as productive as possible.
• Assuming that Internet access would, in fact, be made available on a more widespread basis, another alternative would be to provide administrative functions directly via the wholesale or retail Internet/Extranet sites. However, if a large-scale, Empower-based Intranet initiative is undertaken, this becomes a less attractive option, as co-location will likely sacrifice efficiency.

Current situation and priorities
As the current arrangement with Dorado has failed to meet expectations for the retail site, a new site will be created using resources and hosting services provided by Myers Internet Services. This "interim" site will be an improvement over the current site and should take no longer than one month to develop. Upon completion, the HomeFundsDirect.com domain name will be reassigned to the new site, which will remain in place until the Empower-based retail site is developed and deployed.

In the meantime, the current wholesale site will remain in place as attention is focused on developing the Empower-based wholesale presence, to be deployed no later than the end of September 2001. Upon deployment, focus will return to development of the Empower-based retail presence.

Functional and content requirements (preliminary)

Wholesale
General
Functional

• Secure transactions.
• "Membership" registration.
• Data merge capability for relevant forms.

Content

• Help documents.
• Copyright notice.
• Privacy statement.
• Membership rules.
• Equal Housing Lender disclaimer.
• Licensing information.

For Brokers
Functional

• Online forms available in printable and interactive formats:
  • Mortgage Originator Application
  • Mortgage Originator Agreement
  • W-9 Form
  • Loan pre-qualification
• User registration
• Interactive tools (e.g., calculators, credit grading, scenario-based program selection) that give results based on Axiom products and business rules.
• Feedback capabilities:
  • Links for providing comments or suggestions about what Accredited can do to improve service, programs, business practices, web site, etc.
  • Hotline to report problems with specific loans.
  • Online survey(s).
• Customized portal pages for approved brokers providing:
  • Personalization.
  • Contingency branching of application forms for streamlined online data entry.
  • Electronic submission of loan pre-qualification (mini 1003) and full application directly into Empower.
  • Application export from major broker origination software programs.
  • Real-time product and pricing information.
  • Real-time, automated decisioning.
  • Real-time loan status information/pipeline review.
  • Loan document download/printing capability.
  • Status updates for broker incentive programs.
  • Messaging capability and contact information for assigned employees (e.g., Account Executive, SLS, RM, etc.)
  • Offer for free template-based web page development.

Content

• Detailed information (merged with appropriate contact information) available in printable and interactive formats:
  • Program criteria.
  • Rate sheets.
  • Reference guide.
• Directories:
  • Key personnel contact information.
  • Approved appraisers.
  • Approved closing/title agents.
• Broker-relevant company and industry news.
• Articles/tips.
• Presentation of referral program for sending customers to retail direct.

For Other Business Partners
To be determined.

Interim Retail
Functional

• Contingency branching of application forms for streamlined online data entry.
• Electronic submission of loan pre-qualification and full application directly into LoanTrac.
• Submissions generate appropriate auto-response.
• Feedback capabilities:
  • Links for providing comments or suggestions about what Axiom can do to improve service, programs, business practices, web site, etc.
  • Hotline to report problems with specific loans.
• 24/7 uptime.
• Secure transactions where appropriate.
• Admin function to make content changes.
• Regular, detailed statistical reporting of traffic volume and patterns.

Content

• Basic information about Axiom, products offered and the mortgage process.
• Learning center, offering FAQ, mortgage glossary and calculators.
• Contact information
• Copyright notice.
• Privacy statement.
• Equal Housing Lender disclaimer.
• Licensing information.

Required business decisions

• Protocol for handling leads, applications, questions, feedback, etc.

Empower-based Retail
Functional

• Customized pages for individual consumers providing:
  • Personalization.
  • Contingency branching of application forms for streamlined online data entry.
  • Electronic submission of loan pre-qualification (mini 1003) and full application directly into Empower.
  • Data entered into pre-qualification application populates full application.
  • Real-time product and pricing information.
  • Printable summary of submitted information.
  • Real-time, automated decisioning.
  • Real-time loan status information/pipeline review.
  • Messaging capability and contact information for assigned Loan Officer.
• Submissions generate appropriate auto-response.
• Fax on demand [?]
• "Printer-friendly" links to appropriate pages
• Mouse-over definitions for "obscure" mortgage terms throughout site (or links to glossary).
• Feedback capabilities:
  • Links to report problems, submit testimonials, or provide comments or suggestions about what Axiom can do to improve service, programs, business practices, web site, etc.
  • Hotline to report problems with specific loans.
  • Automated follow-up surveys.
• Referral capabilities:
  • Links to send page to a friend or tell about this site.
  • Referral program (a.k.a. the "virtual mortgage store"), to be further specified.
• 24/7 uptime.
• Secure transactions where appropriate.
• Live chat with loan officer/customer service capability.
• Call on demand.
• Keyword site search function.
• Digital signature capabilities.

Content

• Basic information about Axiom.
• Learning center, offering FAQ, mortgage glossary and calculators, plus more in-depth information about products offered and the mortgage process, along with articles and interactive tools (e.g., calculators, worksheets, tutorials, credit grading, scenario-based program selection) that give results based on Axiom products and business rules.
• Context-sensitive help available throughout site.
• Printable versions of forms.
• Contact information
• Copyright notice.
• Privacy statement.
• Equal Housing Lender disclaimer.
• Licensing information.
• Sitemap.
• Resources for "brokers" taking part in the referral program (to be determined).
  

Corporate (interface only)
Functional

• Administration tools for Customer Relationship Management (CRM) initiatives.
• CRM database with automated data input from submissions.
• Administration of manual override for automated decisioning turndowns.
• Administration of multi-tiered, rules-based assignment and permission features.
  • Password/username management.
• Tracking capabilities/data administration:
  • Regular, detailed statistical reporting of traffic volume and patterns.
  • Determine effectiveness of referring sources (e.g., search engine keywords).
  • For payment to business partners referring consumers to retail.
• Import capability for lender network applications and third party leads.
• Administration of incoming loan submissions, inquiries and feedback:
  • Automatic, rules-based escalation and alert features.
  • Distribution to appropriate parties via multi-tiered, rules-based distribution process.
  • Submission notification at each tier.
  • Automate distribution of follow-up surveys.
• Required LO action triggers notification.
• Immediate management notification of business rules-defined "trouble" cases.
• Aggregate reporting of response times, time to fund, etc.
• Search function (search by any field).
• LO/AE communication tools (e.g., e-mail templates or interface to populate customer's online status with drop-down menu selection, etc.):
  • Contact management system with follow-up scheduling with notification features.
  • Auto-compiled history incorporating time/date of notes and events.
  • Pre-qual/application interface allowing LO or admin person to enter information on customer or broker's behalf in real time.

Comprehensive Corporate
Above plus:

Functional

• Template-based content update interface (allows individual departments to make consistent content updates).
  • Restricted access/rules-based access permissions.
  • Hierarchical approval process before posting.
  • Automated notification of updates.
• Interactive scheduling capabilities.
  • Project management resources.
  • Important dates.
• Electronic loan submission capability for field employees.
• Pipeline review capability for field employees.
• Document export/printing capability.
• Interface for building template-based AE homepages.
• Means to provide feedback or report problems:
  • Links for providing comments or suggestions about what we can do to improve our service, programs, business practices, web site, etc.
  • "Hotline" to report problems.

Content

• Detailed program information in printable and interactive formats:
  • Latest program criteria with recent changes highlighted.
  • Rate sheets.
  • Reference guide.
• Directories:
  • Employees.
    • By name.
    • By function.
  • Approved appraisers. (Link where appropriate.)
    • By name.
    • By region.
  • Approved closing agents. (Link where appropriate.)
    • By name.
    • By region.
  • Additional approved vendors. (Link where appropriate.)
    • By name.
    • By function.
• Department-specific documentation:
  • For department-only use (e.g., departmental procedures, policies, best practices, etc.).
  • For company use (e.g., FAQs, sales and marketing resources and information, training materials, company policies and procedures, employment opportunities, benefits information, etc.).
• Company and industry news.

Next Steps
Information architecture

• Complete analyses of top five competitors.
• Clarify and drill down target markets and user goals.
• Develop scenarios to clarify expected user experience.
• Finalize functional requirements.
• List, prioritize, structure and gather content.
• Chart desired site structure/hierarchy and navigation.
• Specify governing themes/metaphors/styles and create layout grids, design sketches, mock-ups to clarify visual design expectations.

Formal project planning and management

• Determine final timeline, required resources and budget.
• Document and distribute final project plan.
• Create and distribute work breakdown schedule.

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