The Intermediary –- June 2026 - Flipbook - Page 62
Q&A
Keychain
The Intermediary speaks with Jack Rogers, co-founder
of Keychain, about using AI where it adds genuine value
What is Keychain, and how did it
What led to Keychain’s expansion
come about?
into bridging and commercial?
Keychain is a client platform for mortgage,
protection and specialist finance advisers, focused
on making onboarding smoother. It gives firms
their own branded platform where clients can
upload documents, complete fact-finds and
medical questionnaires, and e-sign paperwork
securely, while AI and automation help chase
missing information, check documents and
rename files automatically.
Before Keychain, I was an economist at the Bank
of England. The idea came after buying my first flat
and seeing how poor the homebuying process felt
from the customer’s perspective.
When we launched in 2022, Keychain was
originally a marketplace where customers
could hire and onboard with mortgage advisers,
solicitors and surveyors. The marketplace model
worked better on paper than in practice, but
mortgage advisers really liked the onboarding part.
A few asked whether they could use the platform
wn clients,
in their own branding to onboard their own
as the turning
outside of the marketplace. That was
ent all in on client
point, and in early 2023 we went
onboarding for advisers.
What are the key
y milestones so far?
Early on, we worked closely with a small number of
firms to understand the detail of client onboarding
as crucial
and the real pain points. That period was
for us.
ed. In 2023,
External validation has also mattered.
egistry’s
we were accepted onto HM Land Registry’s
accelerator programme, and earlier this year
eature on
partnered with L&G Mortgage Club to feature
its panel of technology providers.
Today, we have more than 150 firms as clients,
with more than 600 adviserss and admin staff using
the platform every day.. Last month, more than
chain across
4,000 cases were onboarded via Keychain
mortgage, protection and specialist finance.
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The Intermediary | June 2026
A lot of our customers advise across multiple
product lines, including bridging and commercial,
and we were also seeing inbound demand from
specialist finance firms. Those cases often require
more information and documentation upfront,
and the information can be more complex or less
standardised than a typical residential mortgage.
Speed is also essential in that market, so delays at
the onboarding stage can have a bigger impact on
the overall case.
It was a natural area to move into, because the
same onboarding challenges exist, but they are
often amplified. We now work with a number of
firms that specialise in bridging and commercial
finance.
There is a lot of noise around AI.
Where does it genuinely add value?
AI is most useful today in repetitive administrative
tasks, especially document
processing. Checking
documents, renaming
files, identifying
missing
information and
organising case
files are all good
examples. It can
also help flag
inconsistencies
between documents
and form data
earlier in the process.
But it is important
not to overuse AI,
particularly in customer
communication. Clients
often want and expect
a personal
JACK
ROGERS
