PEXA, the world leader behind the first digital property exchange process, today announced that Metro Bank plans to work with them to explore how to make the re-mortgaging journey for their customers faster and easier. The goal is to deliver quicker post-offer processes, faster remortgage completion times and greater transparency for Metro Bank’s customers and brokers, all while building greater capacity for the bank.

“This signals a fantastic opportunity for PEXA and Metro Bank to work together to remove the friction in the conveyancing experience for its customers and brokers”, said PEXA Group Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer Glenn King.

Richard Saulet, Chief Commercial Officer at Metro Bank said; “The benefits PEXA can bring to our customers and brokers is clear. Following our successful testing of the PEXA settlement system with the Bank of England, we are excited to collaborate with PEXA on how we can simplify and speed up the remortgage journey”.

The announcement follows a period of significant progress for PEXA in its mission to streamline the property remortgage and completion process. It launched its new payment system in September 2022, resulting in the UK’s first-ever digitally enabled remortgage transaction. Using PEXA’s proprietary technology means parties can orchestrate financial settlement directly from the incoming lender’s account, and seamlessly collaborate to lodge the application for registration with HM Land Registry, streamlining a process that typically takes days into minutes.

PEXA has also collaborated with the Bank of England to develop PEXA Pay – only the seventh net settlement payment system to clear through the Bank of England, and the only one dedicated to property transactions. The Bank of England is acting as the settlement service provider. Metro Bank has already completed its testing of the settlement system.

PEXA acquired Optima Legal in Q4 2022 to accelerate the adoption of its digital platform and its associated benefits for the UK market. Optima Legal provides legal services in the UK’s fee-assisted remortgage market, working directly with eight of the UK’s top eighteen mortgage lenders.