America's Second Largest Mortgage Lender Plans to Accept Bitcoin
United Wholesale Mortgage could embrace cryptocurrency by Q4.
Bitcoin's march to mainstream adoption continued earlier this week when United Wholesale Mortgage (UWM), the second largest mortgage lender in the U.S., announced plans to start accepting the cryptocurrency as payment later this year.
UWM CEO Mat Ishbia told The Detroit Free Press that his company is looking to start accepting crypto payments by as early as the end of the third financial quarter. He also said the company is considering support for other cryptocurrencies, including Ethereum, but plans to start with Bitcoin before expanding to other coins.
"We’re going to walk before we run, but at the same time, we are definitely a leader in technology and innovation and we are always trying to be the best and the leader in everything we do," Ishbia told The Detroit Free Press. "That’s the plan. Obliviously there’s no guarantees — we’re still working through some details. But absolutely."
UWM said during a recent earnings call that it closed a record $59.2 billion in mortgages in the second quarter, but its revenue dropped from $1.2 billion in the first quarter to $484.6 million in the second and its net income dropped from $860 million to $138.7 million in the same time frame, due to overall market conditions.
Will starting to accept Bitcoin as payment make a notable difference to UWM's bottom line? Probably not directly. But the cryptocurrency's recent price surge combined with growing interest from institutional investors, tech companies and the general public could make this the right time to start accepting it as payment.
UWM's adoption of Bitcoin (and, later, other cryptocurrencies) might also solve crypto's chicken and egg problem. People don't feel much pressure to use crypto because few companies accept it as payment, and because there isn't much demand from the average consumer, companies don't feel much pressure to adopt it.
But now the second largest mortgage lender—Cointelegraph noted that UWM only trails behind Quicken Loans in terms of the number of loans originated and the value of those loans—is pushing for Bitcoin to be a viable method of payment for one of the most common types of debt in the U.S. Chicken, meet egg.
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Nathaniel Mott is a freelance news and features writer for Tom's Hardware US, covering breaking news, security, and the silliest aspects of the tech industry.
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Alvar "Miles" Udell Did the sub prime mortgage crisis not teach these people anything about avoiding blatantly bad ideas?Reply -
USAFRet "United Wholesale Mortgage (UWM), the second largest mortgage lender in the U.S. "Reply
And how many people have heard of "United Wholesale Mortgage"?
Second largest?
Ask 100 of your friends with a mortgage.
How many send their monthly payment to the entity 'UMW' ? -
spongiemaster Reply
According to the below link they are also known as United Shore Financial, and even though they are the #2 mortgage lender, they only account for about 4% of HMDA reported mortgages.USAFRet said:"United Wholesale Mortgage (UWM), the second largest mortgage lender in the U.S. "
And how many people have heard of "United Wholesale Mortgage"?
Second largest?
Ask 100 of your friends with a mortgage.
How many send their monthly payment to the entity 'UMW' ?
https://www.fool.com/the-ascent/research/largest-mortgage-providers/
They appear to by far the largest lender to minorities, as well as the largest lender to lower income purchasers. So if you asked 100 of your friends and none of them had heard of this company, I guess we know who isn't in your friends pool. -
Krotow Even with stepping away from moral considerations I'm still curious how they expect adequate mortgage payments if annual crypto exchange rates deviate between 30-70%.Reply -
Co BIY ReplyAlvar Miles Udell said:Did the sub prime mortgage crisis not teach these people anything about avoiding blatantly bad ideas?
Bad Ideas like super cheap publicity that ties your boring company in a boring business to the "hottest thing right now TM" for the young "up and comers" who will soon be deciding on their first home mortgage.
and Yes - They all learned an important lesson. - Too big to fail is a good place to be.