TowerGroup, in its latest research, has found that with the gradual decline in mortgage lending volume and profits, lenders looking to maintain a long-term competitive position in the marketplace have increased their focus on technology, business process re-engineering and offshoring in order to improve operational efficiency and lower unit costs. Offshoring has moved from being a leading-edge business strategy to being a required activity for lenders that want to grow or maintain their competitive position over the long term.

According to TowerGroup, global sourcing of IT services and Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) has become a mainstream strategy in the U.S. U.K. TowerGroup estimates that as of December 2005, 15 of the top 20 U.S. mortgage lenders and five of the top 10 U.K. lenders had captive or BPO offshore operations in India, the Philippines, or elsewhere.