Vernon Building Society selects FintechOS to enhance digital mortgage journeys

Stockport’s Vernon Building Society has announced a partnership with FintechOS to support its investment in a unified digital mortgage platform that covers the full lending lifecycle.

The platform spans the complete origination workflow – from initial enquiry and Decision in Principle through to application, underwriting, offer, completions, product switches, and further advances – running above the Vernon’s existing core infrastructure without requiring system replacement.

Financial institutions are spending more on IT than ever, with budgets rising 7% in 2026. Yet, Accenture estimates that banks spend an average of 75% of their technology budgets on maintaining existing systems, leaving very little for genuine innovation. For mortgage lenders, this leaves limited room to modernise the origination processes that directly shape broker and borrower experience.

As larger lenders struggle to free up budget for innovation, the UK’s building society sector is already investing in its future. In the first half of 2025, building societies provided 32% of all UK net mortgage lending and grew total mortgage balances to £493 billion, with the sector’s total assets reaching approximately £677 billion, according to the Building Societies Association. The Vernon has chosen to partner with FintechOS as part of major investment to modernise its mortgage lending capabilities and improve the experience for members, brokers and colleagues without the disruption of a full system replacement.

The FintechOS solution brings the Vernon’s end-to-end mortgage origination processes into a single, unified system powered by FintechOS 8, with decision workflows, built-in compliance rules, and the ability for the Vernon’s own teams to design and launch new mortgage propositions using no-code configuration and AI-enabled capabilities. This approach is designed to help the Vernon respond more quickly to member needs and changing market conditions, while reducing reliance on complex technical change.

Critically, the platform unifies product and pricing governance with origination execution. The Vernon can configure and evolve business rules, eligibility criteria, and offer construction logic within a governed layer above the core, with versioning and auditability to support consistent outcomes across broker and adviser workflows. This reduces rework across systems and supports faster, safer change when market conditions, risk appetite, or policy requirements shift.

Teo Blidarus, CEO and Founder of FintechOS, said:

“The real cost of legacy technology isn’t only what it takes to maintain, it’s the opportunity cost: products you can’t launch, policy changes you can’t implement quickly, and experiences you can’t deliver. Forward-thinking building societies like the Vernon are choosing a pragmatic modernisation path: modernise above the core, unify product and pricing logic with origination execution, and move faster without the risk and disruption of full system replacement. Their leadership recognises that the institutions willing to move first will shape the next era of UK lending, and we’re proud to be the platform powering that ambition.”

Vernon Building Society – which grew its mortgage book 4.6% to £439.5 million and total assets 5.4% to £534 million in 2025 – identified that delivering on its ambition as a modern mutual required a purpose-built mortgage origination platform and a technology partner with proven UK experience in the building society sector.

Darren Ditchburn, CEO of Vernon Building Society added:

“This is an important step forward for the Vernon. Our partnership with FintechOS gives us a modern, flexible mortgage platform that will significantly improve the experience for our members, brokers and colleagues. It allows us to combine the stability of our core banking systems with the innovation needed to support future growth. Most importantly, it helps ensure we continue to provide great service, quicker human decision making and a more transparent mortgage journey, while remaining true to our mutual purpose.”