Leeds tech success launches innovative new portal for mortgage & insurance advisers

Tech specialist and Infinity Works co-founder Dan Rathbone from Ilkley has joined local entrepreneur Simon Horsfall to launch BINDER, an online portal to modernise how mortgage and insurance professionals advise their clients.

Simon, a mortgage and insurance adviser for over 15 years, was inspired to develop BINDER as a digital solution to manage and organise cases for his clients and to create a more efficient, streamlined, and secure way for his customers to provide the necessary confidential and personal data such as passports, bank statements and pay slips.

With over 5,580 mortgage broker businesses in the UK generating a total market value of £1.78bn, Simon was left frustrated when he could not find an existing solution to help him manage his cases more effectively and provide a better and more convenient service and experience for his customers.

Simon also from Ilkley said, “I was really frustrated by how inflexible the process was and how reliant we were on being able to access a paper case file in the office. I needed something more streamlined that would allow me to work from anywhere and access all the information needed for any of my cases at any time.

“The existing services available were overly complicated, with long set-up processes and costs that kept changing monthly; I was determined to find a simpler way to manage my cases.”

After teaming up with tech entrepreneur Dan Rathbone, BINDER will launch in the UK market in June 2023 to help thousands of mortgage advisers and their customers. Dan has 20 years of experience in the tech industry, having started his career as a software engineer and going on to co-found successful Leeds-based digital transformation consultancy Infinity Works.

After the high-profile sale of Infinity Works to Accenture, Dan joins the BINDER team, applying his tech knowledge accrued by working with companies from start-ups to blue chips to solve the frustrations and challenges Simon experienced.

Dan said, “When Simon told me about BINDER, I could immediately understand his frustrations and see its potential. It has been great to apply my technical experience and industry knowledge to create a solution that is simple and easy to use and has a real impact on users’ productivity.”

With features such as document management, BINDER enables advisers to request the documentation needed and for clients to upload them safely and securely, whilst a live chat function allows real-time communication that is stored securely alongside the case to avoid a proliferation of emails, SMS and WhatsApp messages that can so easily be missed.

Jake Smith, independent mortgage & protection specialist at Vista Financial Management who has been using BINDER, said: “I’ve had clients in the past sending me numerous documents that would get missed on both sides, but now, with the press of a few buttons, documents can be requested.  

“It has saved me a lot of stress and time having the instant chat function with my clients rather than having to look through my text messages, WhatsApp and emails remembering what has been said and what has been asked for.”  

Sean Gilks from Vista Financial Management added: “Binder has streamlined how we work with our clients it’s straightforward to use, with a centralised place for assigned administrators to easily access and update progress on applications.”

By Mark Adair – Correspondent, Bdaily

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