The HousingWire Awards Spotlight series highlights individuals who have been recognized with Editors’ Choice Awards. Candidates HousingWire’s Tech Trendsetters Award is open now through Friday, September 23, 2022. Click here Nominate someone you know – it could be you!
As technological innovation continues to transform the housing ecosystem, one area that has seen a surge in technology transformation is servicing. Application programming interfaces and other technological improvements are helping to improve efficiency in the service life cycle, eliminating manual processes and increasing data quality and integration points.
“We need to focus on making digital a reality by creating self-service portals 24/7,” said Cecilia Raine, vice president of Single Family. Freddie Mac. “If possible, service, communication and problem solving should be on demand.”
Rayne was selected as a 2021 Tech Trendsetter, an award that recognizes the most innovative technology leaders serving the housing economy. Raine was instrumental in creating Reimagine Services, Freddie Mac’s largest and most successful initiative and one of the largest investments in the service in 10 years.
HousingWire caught up with Rayne to learn more about how Freddie Mac is working to find technological solutions to industry challenges and how Rayne stays up-to-date on the latest technological innovations.
HousingWire: They are known for driving change through technological innovation in services. What is the latest problem you and your team are trying to solve?
Cecilia Raine: Freddie Mac is looking at our service technology roadmap for the next 2-3 years to ensure we align with our partners. Innovation, change and integration require resources, process change and culture transfer, so we want our partners to have a finger on the pulse of what we’re facing so we can meet those challenges together. A major focus at Freddie Mac continues to bring API technology to use robust data to update the service space for the entire service provider ecosystem, including homeowners.
HousingWire: As we move into 2022, where do you recommend clients and colleagues focus their technology resources?
Cecilia Raine: During the pandemic, we’ve seen online services step up to help struggling borrowers. We need to focus on making digital a reality by creating self-service portals that are 24/7 and not based on traditional business hours. If possible, service, communication and problem solving should be on demand.
HousingWire: As an executive, how do you stay on top of your learning curve and prepare for an increasingly digital future?
Cecilia Raine: It is very important to listen and truly hear what the needs of all parties are. It is very important to stay on top of the tools and technologies available today to provide the best solutions. Staying current is a real challenge, but if you keep your ear to the ground and have strong technology partners, you won’t miss a beat. Finally, at Freddie Mac we talk about efficiency in the delivery of equipment, but we as people must also be flexible and efficient and understand that change is constant. Once we know it’s true, change isn’t that hard.
