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[ad_1] The use of tech in the current mortgage application process is disjointed and siloed. Borrowers, loan officers, and the corresponding processors and underwriters are often working on entirely different systems. Meanwhile, borrower’s real estate agents, brokers, and financial advisers may not even have access to those systems, preventing them from supporting their clients through what is typically the largest financial transaction of their lifetime.  With FinXperience, Tavant brings all parties together on one collaboration platform and provides hyper-personalized digital journeys to borrowers, loan officers, brokers, financial advisers and other participants in the lending ecosystem. The platform is loan origination system-agnostic and is designed to deliver value to both borrowers and lenders–”from the point of thought of buying a house to the point of owning a home.”  “Most of our competitors have offerings that coerce the lender to follow a pre-determined and inflexible customer journey since their architectures provide for limited flexibility on the user experience front,” Chief Revenue Officer Hassan Rashid said. “The flexibility of FinXperience allows lenders to create an extremely differentiated experience from other lenders, as well as a hyper-personalized experience across their customer segments. There are no cookie cutters here.”  As a white-label solution, the FinXperience platform is highly customizable and configurable, with the ability to align with a lender’s specific branding and marketing differentiators and customer segmentation. The platform’s features, functionality, and volume-handling capabilities are scalable with the lender’s growth in the market.  “With our VELOX platform, we helped our lender clients not only grow but also improve borrower/loan officer collaboration and close more loans faster. Our clients grew 117% YoY for the period (first half of 2021), improved their conversion by 64%, and reduced cycle times by 52% across purchases and refinances while improving loan officer productivity by 29%,” said Abhinav Asthana, Head of Tavant’s Fintech Products Business & Growth. “How did we achieve it? Our data-driven ecosystem that plugs into over 130 data and third-party service partners hyper-personalizes your borrowers’ experience, augments your business processes with hybrid workflows – leveraging humans and machines, and enables your loan officers to serve your borrowers better,” added Asthana. FinXperience integrates through a bi-directional framework with its surrounding systems, including CRM platforms, pricing engines, document management systems, and LOS. This integration allows all participants in the process to interact with and access loan data in a true, real-time manner.  “Tavant’s user journey and persona mapping for every party within the mortgage transaction leads to an optimal workspace for each user. The UX is friendly and intuitive, providing the most productive and efficient interaction coupled with bi-directional real-time data directly from the LOS based on security and data access rights,” said Mohammad Rashid, Head of Fintech Practice.  He further commented, “Our alignment with digital transformation strategies across the home loan journey and our injection of AI/ML techniques along the way reduces the cost of originating mortgages through scaled automation opportunities at every junction.”  Hassan Rashid, Chief Revenue Officer Hassan Rashid steers Tavant’s strategy for continued profitable revenue growth, supported by a fully aligned business development engine. Mohammad Rashid, Head of Fintech Practice Mohammad Rashid is responsible for driving innovation, strategy, offerings, and revenue of Tavant’s market-leading fintech business Abhinav Asthana, Head of Fintech Products Business  Abhinav Asthana is responsible for the overall innovation, go-to-market, and product management strategies for Tavant VΞLOX.  The post FinXperience brings all parties in the loan process together on one platform appeared first on HousingWire. [ad_2] Source link

[ad_1] Each week, Cut the Crap Investing founder Dale Roberts shares financial headlines and offers context for Canadian investors.  Will the energy crunch turn into an energy crisis?   The energy story is dominating headlines these days, described as a crunch or even an energy crisis that is ongoing in Europe and China.  While there are some local events adding additional stress, it is the ongoing mismatch between supply and demand that creates the long-term risk. We have increasing oil demand and decreasing supply in many areas. Stretch this event over time and that can turn crunch into crisis on a larger scale.  The unfortunate energy reality is that oil will likely (or potentially) be the world’s leading energy source for decades.  From this Bloomberg post…  “Global oil consumption is expected to return to pre-pandemic levels in the third quarter of 2022, with Asia continuing as the center for oil-product demand growth, according to BP Plc.  “Oil demand in 2022 is expected to see an average gain of 3.8 million barrels a day year-on-year, easing from growth of 5.4 million barrels a day in 2021, the president of BP Singapore Eugene Leong said in an email interview.”  The global crude benchmark recently breached $80 per barrel. Though it fell back, there are many industry calls for oil prices in the $100 area. That’s amid speculation the energy industry isn’t investing enough in fossil fuels to keep supply even at current levels. Inventory draws are at record levels.  And we see in this tweet, citing an RBC Capital Markets report, CAPEX is down 30% from pre-COVD, and down 60% from 2013 spending levels. (CAPEX stands for capital expenditures, the monies that companies will spend searching for and producing from new oil sources.)  Supply, meet demand. Or, make that, “supply might not meet demand.”  The consensus view is that oil production should be able to surpass demand in 2022. Not everyone is convinced. Canadian oil and gas guru and portfolio manager Eric Nuttall feels OPEC might not be up to the challenge of filling that gap.  Another banger of a report by Bob Brackett at Bernstein contrasting OPEC paper barrels vs. real ones. Bob estimates ~4MM Bbl/d of true capacity = exhausted in 2H'22 so long as demand continues to normalize. This + end of US shale hyper-growth + ESG pressures on supermajors = pic.twitter.com/9xFECaIrNM — Eric Nuttall (@ericnuttall) September 10, 2021 A greater risk of that energy crunch and crisis may develop over the next several years. For my money, it’s a risk worth a hedge. Resource stocks also contribute to that overall commodities hedge.  And as Nuttall often reminds us, Canadian oil producers don’t need $80 or $100 oil. They can be cash-flow gushers in the $60 range.  Oil and gas stocks are back on an incredible run in September 2021.  Source: S&P Global  Canadian energy stocks are up 17% in September, using the iShares capped energy index as a benchmark.  Year-to-date, iShares XEG is up about 62%. Nuttall kindly reminded me his Ninepoint energy fund is up 141%, to Wednesday, Sept. 29, 2021.  And what’s wrong with the markets this week?  Certainly, the energy story is weighing on stocks this week, but the greater perceived threat is bonds. The benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury yield rose again on Tuesday. The move began the week ending Sept. 24, and it is now at its highest levels since June 2021.  Of course, bond prices move in the opposite direction to yields. You’ve likely seen your bond funds fall in price and value, and bonds will also put pressure on a balanced portfolio.  From Yahoo! Finance… “‘The prospect of higher energy prices, fuelling inflation, and rises in bond yields that appear to be pre-empting tighter monetary policy by central banks, have prompted widespread selling across global stock markets,’ Chris Beauchamp, chief market analyst at online trading platform IG, said in an email on Tuesday.” And it is those growth darlings that can be more in the crosshairs of an increasing rate environment. Beauchamp continued: “‘…it is the highly-valued growth stocks that have taken the brunt of the selling, as investors fret that a lower growth, tighter policy environment will hurt these previous star performers’.” And it wasn’t just in the U.S. and Canada; bond yields rose around the globe.  The U.S. isn't the only country seeing its yields rise lately. pic.twitter.com/kc3y99b0OL — Kathy Jones (@KathyJones) September 29, 2021 The event that saw low and falling rates supporting rising stock prices is now working in reverse, as rising yields are putting pressure on stocks.  TINA—”there is no alternative (to stocks)”—might get some competition: an alternative to stocks on the risk/reward proposition.  As (or when) the Fed begins to taper, that could put added pressure on stocks as more money will eventually flow into bonds with higher yields. That event began over the last week and even further back. In the Sept. 27 column, we discussed how the Fed’s hawkish “extra light” taper talk soothed the markets. But then the bond market had ideas of its own and took down rates.  Scott Barlow of The Globe and Mail shared a perspective from Goldman Sachs strategist Ryan Hammond, on why higher bond yields are more of a threat to equities this time around. The article is paywalled, but worth the small fee as it’ll give you the good bits:  “Mr. Hammond emphasized that stock prices were better able to withstand climbing inflation-adjusted yields if accelerating economic growth, which helps profit expansion, was the main driver. Unfortunately that is not the case now. ‘Today,’ writes the strategist, ‘[U.S] economic growth is decelerating, the FOMC is expected to announce the start of tapering at its November meeting, and our economists have downgraded China’s economic growth forecasts’.” FOMC (the Federal Open Market Committee) is the gang with their hands on that bond lever.  This will be more than interesting to watch. We haven’t seen anything like this. Tightening usually occurs or is used as a tool during a strengthening

[ad_1] The post 11 Best Transcription Jobs for 2021 | Make Money at Home appeared first on Millennial Money. If you have a computer and are a decent typist, there are plenty of transcription jobs waiting for you. Transcribing audio can be a great gig that you can work from home — or anywhere else you park your laptop. You can transcribe as a funny-money side hustle or even make it a full-time career. There are hundreds of transcription opportunities online. So how do you find the legit ones that pay real money?  In this guide to the best transcription jobs, we’ll show you the top ways you can get started as a professional transcriptionist today. Or, if you’re already an experienced transcriber, you may find your next client from our list. 11 Best Transcription Jobs for 2021 These are the top 11 transcription jobs available today. Rev Daily Transcription GoTranscript TranscribeMe CastingWords GMR Transcription Quicktate SpeakWrite 3Play Media CrowdSurf Upwork 1. Rev  Pay Range: $0.30-1.10 per audio minute Average Earnings per Month: $245 Payment Method: Weekly via PayPal Qualifications: No prior experience needed Rev is a transcription company that offers its services to more than 100,000 customers around the globe. And all of the transcription work is done by an army of more than 60,000 freelance transcriptionists. Because Rev has such a huge clientele base, once you become a “Revver,” you can choose from hundreds of available jobs. Rev is always hiring close-captioners and subtitle translators, as well as transcriptionists, too. Rev doesn’t cap how many jobs you can take on, and the harder the job, the more it pays. Transcriptionists currently earn between 30 cents and $1.10 per audio minute, while captioners earn between 54 cents and $1.10 per video minute. You don’t need any previous experience to become a Revver. So it’s worth checking out even if you’re a beginner transcriptionist. However, you will have to take a quiz and submit a trial transcription to prove that you have mastery of English and Rev’s style guide. 2. Daily Transcription Pay Range: $0.75-0.85 per audio minute Average Earnings per Month: Not disclosed Payment Method: Weekly via check Qualifications: Typing speed of at least 50 words per minute If you have some experience as a transcriber — or if you’re a quick typist — Daily Transcription might be a good fit for you. The transcription company pays more per audio minute than many other services on this list. You can apply to be a freelance transcriptionist if you are over the age of eighteen and reside in the U.S., Canada, the U.K., Australia, or South Africa. You must also be a “native” speaker of American English. After you send in your initial application, you’ll need to pass both a skills assessment test as well as a transcription test. Daily Transcription also requires you to download either Express Scribe or oTranscribe. These transcription apps are both free. Daily Transcription provides video training to its freelancers. It also lets you try as many practice jobs as you want. The company also offers “constructive feedback” on each task you complete. Although Daily Transcription doesn’t release its freelancers’ average monthly earnings, the company reports that its top transcriptionists make anywhere from $250 to $950 per week. That indicates there isn’t always steady work. Although you can make decent money with Daily Transcription, there might be weeks when there are few jobs available. 3. GoTranscript Pay Range: Up to $0.60 per audio minute Average Earnings per Month: $150 Payment Method: Weekly via PayPal or Payoneer Qualifications: No prior experience needed If you can pass the GoTranscript entrance exam, you can become a freelance transcriber and earn up to 60 cents per audio minute. GoTranscript hires freelancers from all over the world, and there are occasionally jobs available that require a language other than English. The company lets you choose which assignments you want to work on. And you can listen to each audio file before committing to a job. This transparency lets you determine whether a job is worth your while. GoTranscript’s job listing page shows you exactly how much you’ll earn from the project upfront. Editors will review each file and grade your work. If you score consistently high grades, you may be given more pay per audio minute. You may also be promoted to a higher-paying editor position. 4. TranscribeMe Pay Range: $0.25-0.42 per audio minute Average Earnings per Month: $250 Payment Method: Weekly via PayPal Qualifications: No prior experience needed TranscribeMe is one of the largest transcription services out there. The company reports it currently has more than 2 million transcribers using its platform. To become a General Transcriber, you don’t need any prior experience. But you do need to be at least eighteen years old and a citizen or permanent resident of the U.S. or Australia. It’s a good choice for the beginner transcriptionist looking for small jobs to complete in their downtime. That’s because new TranscribeMe freelancers start by working with short audio files. Most of the jobs available to General Transcribers are only two to four minutes long. TranscribeMe pays $15 per audio hour for General Transcribers. That translates to 25 cents per audio minute. But if you can pass a background check and an additional exam, you could join the Special Style team. This team takes on larger, more difficult projects that pay $25 per audio hour, or 42 cents per audio minute. 5. CastingWords Pay Range: $0.09-1.00 per audio minute Average Earnings per Month: Not disclosed Payment Method: Weekly via PayPal Qualifications: No prior experience needed To become a CastingWords transcriber, you don’t need any prior experience. And you can sign up if you live in any of the 200-plus countries where PayPal is available. But you must be eighteen years of age or older. CastingWords may or may not require you to take a test (for reasons it doesn’t share). Regardless, you’ll need to read and understand the company’s style guide. CastingWords’ pay scale

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[ad_1] British gas pumps still dry, growing concerns pigs will be culled [ad_2] Source link

[ad_1] Debt ceiling review at White House concluded that there were few options.  The Washington Post Why October 19 could be a catastrophic day for the US economy  CNN Janet Yellen, Jerome Powell outline the cost of a U.S. debt default  CNBC Television The debt ceiling crisis may need a truly ridiculous solution  MSNBC Mint the coin: An absurd solution to an absurd problem  The Washington Post View Full Coverage on Google News [ad_2]

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[ad_1] HousingWire recently spoke with John G. Stevens, President at SRE.com, about the challenges mortgage loan officers and brokers face as the market continues to shift toward purchase money business and how human-assisted eCommerce can help them win more business. HousingWire: Why should referrals be a key part of originators’ strategies? John G. Stevens: As the market heads into 2022, mortgage originators are going to need some good strategies to win more purchase money mortgage business because there just won’t be enough refi business to maintain the volume they have enjoyed over the past two years. Nothing beats a good referral strategy because you are relying on a trusted go-between to introduce you to someone who needs you right now. People will always have more faith in what a friend or family member tells them about their past mortgage experience than they will in anything the lender has to say to them. Competition is going to continue to heat up and loan officers who have cultivated good business referral relationships will have the chance to win more business and that can make all the difference. HW: What challenges do originators face with regard to building referral relationships? JGS: It’s very challenging to be in the right place at the right time. It can be even tougher to have someone else who isn’t in the business ready and able to refer business to you effectively when the need arises. When someone is considering a new home purchase, they will generally reach out to a real estate agent for a lead on financing or talk to a trusted friend or relative. Good business referral relationships are important and they can help in the first case, but it’s very competitive because every loan officer is calling on them. Far better to have the LO’s satisfied past customers make the referral. The big challenge here is that even if the customer loved the experience, it’s in the past now and they may not remember any of the details when they are asked about it, especially if the LO has been so busy closing new business that they haven’t stayed in touch. Referral business has been a hit-or-miss proposition for many professional loan originators in the past. It won’t be next year, at least for those who hope to be successful. HW: How can human-assisted eCommerce help with these concerns? JGS: Human-assisted eCommerce, a term we coined at SRE to speak to the dual need for customer-facing technology and trusted human advisors, is great for the loan officer’s referral business for two reasons. First, it puts all of the loan officer’s information online where the prospective borrower is going to go to pursue their home ownership dreams. Lenders can’t know when or where prospective borrowers will be in the real world when they decide to buy a new home, but we know they will be online and so we need to be there, too. Second, it removes the burden from the LO’s satisfied customers of remembering to recommend them to friends and family when the need arises because their positive reviews will already be online, written when they were still experiencing the joy of their completed real estate transaction, and easy for their friends and family to find. HW: How does SRE.com’s multi-solution platform better connect borrowers to the real estate professionals serving them? JGS: We know that to put industry professionals and prospective mortgage borrowers together, we have to provide a wonderful place for that to happen. That’s why we’re spending millions of dollars to create SRE.com. The old consumer-facing portals that lenders tried to use to attract new business failed because that’s not where consumers go to start the real estate buying process. They ask their Realtor or trusted friend or family member for a referral. We know they go online, but primarily to look for their dream home. If you want to attract the borrowers of the future, you have to offer them the dream. While the site allows them to transact with both real estate sales professionals and mortgage loan officers, it’s not really about the transaction. It’s about the dream of homeownership and all of that comes with it. SRE.com will be the online location for home buyers, sellers, real estate agents, mortgage originators and all of the other vendors that play a role in helping Americans make the most of their real estate investments. Loan officers who complete their free profiles on the site now will be well positioned to meet, interact and transact with these consumers. Those that complete their profiles by the end of October can win one of FIVE free trips for two to Hawaii. The post Why lenders should build a referral-based business appeared first on HousingWire. [ad_2] Source link

[ad_1] When I think of a card with well-rounded benefits, flexible points and generous hotel and insurance perks, American Express is top of mind. While still not as widely accepted as competitor cards bearing the Visa or Mastercard name, the American Express Gold Rewards Card still stands out as one of the most flexible points cards in Canada. And it features a strong earn rate fit for frequent travellers looking to maximize their rewards.  With more and more cards to choose from, as well as improved airline credit cards like that from Air Canada/Aeroplan, American Express has further enhanced the Amex Gold Rewards card—albeit with an annual fee of $250. Plus, your card comes in one of two all-new metal colours, gold or rose gold.       AMEX Gold Rewards card quick facts Annual Fee $250 Rewards 2 points per $1 spent on travel, gas, groceries and drug store purchases in Canada; 1 point per $1 on everything else Welcome Offer 50,000 points when you charge $3,000 in purchases to your card in your first 3 months; additional 10,000 points when you make a purchase between 14 and 17 months Income Requirement None specified Purchase interest rate None—this is a charge card and you’re required to pay off your balance in full every month Best features Flexible travel redemptions, competitive transfer options to partners like Aeroplan and Marriott Bonvoy, up to $100 annual travel credit, $50 NEXUS credit Who it’s good for Frequent flyers, savvy points collectors Get more details about the American Express Gold Rewards Card* 8 things to know about the Amex Gold Rewards Card 1. The card offers impressive points The American Express Gold Rewards Card packs a punch with impressive points earn rates. You earn 2 Membership Rewards points for every $1 spent at eligible gas stations, grocery stores, drug stores and eligible travel purchases (flights, hotels, car rentals and cruises). For everything else, you earn 1 Membership Reward point per $1. Plus, if you book through the American Express travel portal, you earn an additional 1 Membership Reward point for every $1 charged to the card. As a new applicant, you’ll also get 25,000 bonus points when you charge $1,500 to your card within the first 3 months. 2. You can transfer your points to other loyalty programs One of the biggest selling points of the American Express Gold Rewards card is the flexibility to transfer to partner programs that you might already be a member of, including airline and hotel groups like Aeroplan (Air Canada’s loyalty program), Marriott Bonvoy, British Airways Avios and others.  Through American Express’ website, you can browse a growing list of programs that allow you to exchange your points at a competitive ratio, enabling you to combine your points pools to access even larger and premium rewards. For example, you can transfer Membership Rewards points 1:1 to Aeroplan, and get up to 20% more value out of your points. 3. Flexible travel redemption options Along with the huge array of transfer options, a major benefit of this card is the flexibility you get when redeeming points for travel within Amex’s own Membership Rewards program. You can apply points towards travel through the American Express Flexible Points Program, which enables you to find the best deals on your own, or you can redeem for travel through the Fixed Points program, which follows a regional redemption chart.  Amex Flexible Points program is great for those who want to find deals on their own (whether online, through a travel agent, or via Airbnb). Every 1,000 Membership Rewards points you redeem gets you a $10 credit on your statement. You can use it towards eligible travel transactions, and that includes flights on any airline to hotels and car rentals. With a value of $0.01 per point, this is a strong option for the traveller who wants to book travel on their terms, without being tied to a specific airline or blackout dates. The 50,000-point welcome bonus equals a $500 credit on eligible travel transactions. Amex’s Fixed Points program can offer you a slightly better incentive, when used strategically. This option follows a regional redemption chart, enabling you to book travel domestically and internationally at competitive redemption rates for points. Depending on the destination and seat class desired, you can strategically redeem fewer points for travel (up to $0.02 per point on some short-haul flights domestically). Note, though, the Fixed Points program only applies to the base ticket price, not taxes and fees—but you can cover those charges using the Flexible Points to avoid paying anything out of pocket. 4. Travel insurance If you’re considering an American Express Gold Rewards card, travel insurance is a big reason to go for it. A generous $5 million in travel medical emergency coverage is included for trips up to 15 days, while rental car collision, loss and damage waiver insurance will cover vehicles of up to $85,000. Plus, trip cancellation and interruption coverage, flight delay insurance, travel emergency assistance, and lost and delayed baggage insurance covers checked and carry-on baggage while in transit for up to a maximum of $500 per trip. 5. You’ll get Amex Perks exclusive cardmember offers. Find access to discounts in your area on their website, or take advantage of offers to save on everyday purchases. Plus—the big one for many—Front of The Line access gives American Express customers an early chance to purchase tickets for concerts, shows and local events.  6. Access to an annual travel and NEXUS credits Similar to the Gold Rewards Card’s cousin, the Platinum Card, included is a $100 Annual Travel Credit, for use once annually towards any single travel booking of $100 or more. The booking must be charged to the American Express Gold Rewards Card through American Express Travel Online. Additionally, a $50 NEXUS Card statement credit is offered upon charging the renewal fee to the card.  For stays, a US$100 hotel credit can be used for qualifying hotel amenities charged to the room during

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