Fintech PEXA completes UK’s first digitised remortgage transaction

Ellie Duncan
08 Sep 2022

Digital property exchange fintech PEXA has completed the first digitally-enabled remortgage transaction in the UK, together with the Hinckley & Rugby Building Society, as part of its aim to make same-day remortgaging a reality.

The building society has become the first UK lender to complete a remortgage using PEXA’s new digital exchange and payment system, PEXA Pay, while the conveyancing was undertaken by national law firm Muve.

Hinckley & Rugby Building Society and Muve used the new technology to orchestrate financial settlement directly from the incoming lender’s (RT) account, and could collaborate to lodge the application for registration with HM Land Registry.

The transaction took place at around midday yesterday (7 September), and following its success, PEXA plans to onboard Shawbrook Bank as an additional partner.

PEXA Pay is the seventh active payment system in the UK, and has the Bank of England acting as the settlement service provider.

The fintech’s expansion into the UK follows its rollout in Australia, where it has facilitated over 13 million property transactions worth AUS$2 trillion.

Now, more than 80% of all property completions in Australia are processed on the PEXA platform.

Recent research conducted by PEXA found that one in five, or 20%, of UK mortgage borrowers who tried to remortgage in the past two years have found the process so difficult or complex they abandoned it altogether.

James Bawa, PEXA UK CEO, said that the completion of the UK’s first digitised remortgage transaction acts as a tangible proof of concept for the wider industry.

“The successful launch of our new platform is a testament to the openness to innovation and collaboration we have seen from the Government, Bank of England and the wider lending and conveyancing industry in the UK. Not least, Hinckley & Rugby Building Society, which has provided early and consistent support, and is now the first to benefit from our platform,” Bawa added.

“We will continue to invest and work with industry to roll out our platform more widely, so that we can help bring about better consumer outcomes, making a stressful and delayed remortgage process a thing of the past.”

PEXA will announce further lenders and conveyancers as partners throughout 2023.

Colin Fyfe, CEO of Hinckley & Rugby Building Society, added: “Our staff have been working closely with PEXA on the design, testing and implementation of the PEXA platform and it has been a privilege to be the first UK lender to undertake a PEXA transaction and to settle the remortgage funds via the new PEXA Pay scheme.”