Fidelity to Expand Mortgage Services with Acquisition

The title insurance company Fidelity National Financial Inc. plans to expand its mortgage services with the acquisition of the software company Commerce Velocity.

The Jacksonville, Fla., company said Thursday in a press release announcing the purchase that it plans to "strategically align" Commerce Velocity's Web-based software programs with ServiceLink, its unit that provides valuation, loss mitigation, asset management and other mortgage services.

The purchase price was not disclosed.

Jeff Coury, the president and chief executive of ServiceLink, said the acquisition is part of an effort to offer more technology products to its customers.

Commerce Velocity "we think can really add value to many of the larger servicers throughout the country and integrate with some of the products and services that Fidelity and ServiceLink offer," Coury said in an interview.

Commerce Velocity, which was formed in 2000, sells three software applications: a loan origination program called Spectrum; Optimizer, which helps servicers manage delinquencies and defaults; and a loan acquisition tool called AssetX.

"This acquisition will bring a comprehensive technology platform that can effectively support the lender's process while incorporating the premier origination and default solutions for which [Fidelity] and ServiceLink are known," Fidelity Chairman William Foley 2nd, said in the press release.

ServiceLink first became aware of Commerce Velocity when it licensed the company's technology to build out its third-party loss-mitigation service, Coury said. ServiceLink does not really offer technology products to customers but plans to change that, he said.

Commerce Velocity has between 60 and 80 employees, with operations in Irvine, Calif., and Bangalore, India, its chief executive, Umesh Verma, said.

"We'll continue to grow our product portfolio essentially and continue to help the mortgage institutions deal with the regulatory challenges [and] compliance challenges," Verma said in an interview.

Fidelity National Financial owned Fidelity National Information Services Inc., the banking technology vendor that was spun off in 2006.

This story has been reprinted with permission from American Banker.

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