First National Bank of Fort Smith Partners with Blend to Streamline their Mortgage Lending and HELOC Businesses

SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- FNB Mortgage, the mortgage division of The First National Bank of Fort Smith , as well as its other bank divisions First National Bank of NWA, National Bank of Sallisaw, and Central National Bank of Poteau, today announced a partnership with Blend , a leading platform for digital banking solutions, to further streamline their mortgage and HELOC application experiences.

"Our partnership with Blend furthers our efforts to make the home buying process as easy and efficient as possible for our members," said Ross Mallioux, Director of Mortgage Lending for FNB. "And in today's competitive market, the ability to control the cost of originating a loan by automating core parts of the application process is critical. Blend's technology, particularly their instant verifications across assets, income, and employment is critical in making home buying smoother, faster, and less costly so we can provide our customer the best possible pricing."

Blend's platform allows FNB Mortgage's customers to easily upload documents online, review and sign their disclosures electronically, and receive automatic reminders for any missing information during the mortgage application process.

Six-Week Implementation

Since signing the new partnership in early June 2024, Blend has been able to quickly onboard FNB Mortgage to the platform, enabling them to actively originate in under six weeks.

"Our customers want to execute quickly and with high quality, and Blend can help them deliver that," said Nima Ghamsari, Co-Founder and Head of Blend. "We're proud to partner with leading institutions like FNB Mortgage who are busy preparing for the next rebound by building out their technology suite with Blend as the core solution."

About Blend's Mortgage Suite

Blend has over 12 years of experience building leading mortgage and consumer lending solutions for hundreds of financial institutions nationally. Based on an independent 2023 impact analysis conducted with Blend customers, Blend's Mortgage Suite eliminates an average of 8 days from the overall loan cycle time, from processing to closing, resulting in $914 in average cost savings per loan.

About Blend

Blend (NYSE: BLND) is the infrastructure powering the future of banking. Financial providers- from large banks, fintechs, and credit unions to community and independent mortgage banks-use Blend's platform to transform banking experiences for their customers. Blend powers billions of dollars in financial transactions every day. To learn more, visit blend.com .

About First National Bank of Fort Smith

FNB Mortgage is the mortgage lending division of The First National Bank of Fort Smith, and serves other bank divisions - First National Bank of NWA in Northwest Arkansas, National Bank of Sallisaw, Oklahoma, and Central National Bank of Poteau, Oklahoma. Their mission is to be the leading financial service provider in Western Arkansas, Northwest Arkansas, and Eastern Oklahoma by providing exceptional customer service, and offering financial products and expertise that will meet the needs of their customers. First National Bank of Fort Smith which was established in 1872, Member FDIC and Equal Housing Lender.

For more information on FNB Mortgage, and The First National Bank of Fort Smith, or their current mortgage offerings, visit: https://fnbnwa.com/home-loans/ .

Forward-Looking Disclaimer

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. These statements generally relate to future events, future performance or expectations and involve substantial risks and uncertainties. Forward-looking statements in this press release may include, but are not limited to, our expectations regarding our product roadmap, future products/features, the timing of new product/feature introductions, market size and growth opportunities, macroeconomics and industry conditions, capital expenditures, plans for future operations, competitive position, technological capabilities and strategic relationships, as well as assumptions relating to the foregoing. The forward-looking statements contained in this press release are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual outcomes to differ materially from the outcomes predicted. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by terminology such as "may," "will," "should," "expect," "plan," "anticipate," "could," "would," "intend," "target," "project," "contemplate," "believe," "estimate," "predict," "potential" or "continue" or the negative of these terms or other comparable terminology that concern Blend's expectations, strategy, plans or intentions. You should not put undue reliance on any forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements should not be read as a guarantee of future performance or results and will not necessarily be accurate indications of the times at, or by which such performance or results will be achieved, if at all. Further information on these risks and uncertainties are set forth in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. All forward-looking statements in this press release are based on information available to Blend and assumptions and beliefs as of the date hereof. New risks and uncertainties emerge from time to time, and it is not possible for us to predict all risks and uncertainties that could have an impact on the forward-looking statements contained in this press release. Except as required by law, Blend does not undertake any obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future developments, or otherwise.

Source: Blend

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