The Intermediary – November 2025 - Flipbook - Page 20
Q&A
The Intermediary speaks with Stuart Cheetham,
CEO of MQube, about positioning the business at
the forefront of the tech revolution
As we look ahead to 2026, what do
How is MQube positioning
you see as the biggest shifts for the
itself at the forefront of that
mortgage market?
transformation?
The adoption of artificial intelligence (AI)-driven
technology will by far drive the biggest shift for
the mortgage industry in 2026. Lenders that do
not embrace technology in 2026 will fall behind,
losing their competitive edge, and those that do
will lead the next era of mortgage lending.
Banks, in particular, have had the same
legacy systems for too long. These have created
inefficiencies, errors and unnecessary delays with
the mortgage process.
In 2026, we will see more banks and non-bank
lenders embracing technologies, such as AIdriven mortgage origination systems and agentic
AI, as they seek to both create operational
efficiencies within their businesses that allow
them to scale up and increase volume, as well
as improve the overall broker and end customer
experience.
At MQube, we believe delivering a mortgage
offers or a decision within a day should be the
norm. Our Origo platform has proven to do just
this, delivering 97% of customers a mortgage
offer within 24 hours, a huge improvement on
the three week industry average – enabling
ever more lenders to generate fast offers and
decisions to customers is a the top of our wish
list for 2026.
MQube’s AI-driven business model is focused on
technologies that create operational efficiencies
for lenders to allow them to scale up and increase
volume as well as improve the custom and
broker experience. Its core technology offering
is focused on its mortgage origination platform,
Origo, which has been adopted by some of
the UK’s largest building societies, including
Nottingham Building Society.
The platform not only has the ability to assess
and automate data and documents in real time
– such as ID and bank statements – using big
data and large language models (LLMs), but it can
also mirror the work of a human underwriter by
suggesting rationales, in human-like language.
The platform is centred around speeding up
and streamlining the mortgage journey, reducing
workloads and giving all parties involved a
better experience.
Not only this, but MQube offers many other AI
driven mortgage technologies, including Criteria
Genius, its sophisticated AI chatbot, which
provides instant answers to broker questions
relating to a lenders policy.
A more recent development MQube is working
on is an architecture that will allow mortgage
lenders to trade their mortgage debt on-chain,
unlocking a new level of opportunity for lenders
in the UK.
We look forward to using our market-leading
expertise in AI to bring even more technological
advancements to this industry in 2026.
Are we at a tipping point for tech
adoption in mortgages, or is there
still resistance?
Yes and no. Yes, more and more lenders are
starting to embrace technology, but there is still
a long way to go. Banks have the data, the reach
and the brand awareness, but they just need the
right tools to unlock their potential.
This is where AI comes in. Banks lack the
technological expertise in house, and we will see
more banks look to fintechs to provide them with
the tools they need to drive change.
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The Intermediary | November 2025
Will broker firms need to evolve to
stay competitive?
Advancements in lenders’ technology will allow
brokers to will grow their businesses and improve
their customer service levels in 2026.
The growing presence of AI in this industry
is an opportunity, not a barrier, and we would
encourage brokers and lenders alike to embrace
