Break the mortgage lending mold as Wipro has with its BPaaS model for Discover Home Loans

The mortgage industry is at an inflection point. Mortgage origination surged during the pandemic, fueled by record demand, only to contract post-pandemic amid rising inflation and interest rates. Meanwhile, servicing—an already low-margin business—remains heavily manual, lacking the same innovation focus as origination. In a market defined by volatility and shifting dynamics, digital adoption is no longer optional—it’s a competitive necessity.

This report explores how Discover Home Loans (DHL), a division of Discover Financial Services—a digital bank and payments company that operates like a fintech—seized this momentum. By leveraging a technology-led business process as a service (BPaaS) model alongside Wipro, DHL accelerated its digital transformation, setting a new benchmark for mortgage lenders. The report offers key takeaways for lenders looking to modernize before the next industry shake-up.

The why: Transform or be left behind—the digital shift is now

For DHL, transforming the entire credit journey—from customer experience to back-office operations—was a top priority. The reasons were clear: high costs, rising customer expectations, and the urgent need to shorten approval-to-disbursement timelines. Incremental improvements wouldn’t be enough. Instead of patching together legacy processes and risking a fragmented experience, DHL took a bold, end-to-end approach, rethinking how credit is processed, approved, and delivered in a digital-first world. The goal wasn’t just operational efficiency but to enhance the borrower experience, accelerate time-to-market for new products, and create a seamless, digitally-enabled lending journey that will set them apart from competitors. As DHL’s strategic service provider partner, Wipro flipped the script from simply implementing a loan origination system to delivering technology, automation, and managed services—all wrapped into a BPaaS-driven model to modernize DHL’s credit operations at scale.

The how: Take a phased approach to achieve an end-to-end digital credit journey

While taking an end-to-end view, DHL and Wipro limited the first wave of transformation to automation-driven efficiency, streamlining processes to enhance the customer experience. This also included launching a new website and establishing a strong digital presence to enable seamless borrower interactions.

The second wave prioritized user experience optimization and futureproofing for third-party integrations. Some key initiatives included systematic ordering and processing of appraisals and titles, verification of employment services, and building automation to systematically generate and deliver disclosures. These enhancements have significantly reduced borrower effort, minimized rework, and improved overall cycle time—driving a more efficient and digital-first lending process.

The what: Adopt Wipro’s BPaaS blueprint for scalable digital lending

The traditional lending setup was often a single monolithic system incorporating every aspect of the lending process—from assessing creditworthiness to printing documents. That approach is increasingly outdated, as it constrains lenders from adapting quickly.

To help DHL transition to a digital credit model, Wipro collaborated with them to understand their goals and assess how their existing technology and data infrastructure could support or hinder progress. With this foundation, they charted a transformation roadmap, ultimately choosing a BPaaS model as their guiding vision—ensuring scalability and faster time-to-market for their newly launched digital business.

Today, DHL operates with a 24×7 back-office for document review and workflow management. They are leveraging API-driven integrations and automation to enhance efficiency. Their transformation is an ongoing journey, continuously refining processes to deliver seamless customer experiences and the highest-quality service.

The so what: Transform to meet strategic imperatives of lower cost, elevated CX, and faster disbursal

DHL’s competitive edge lies in its integrated, tailored customer experience, requiring an ingenious digital transformation. Delivering such a complex, customized solution demands significant investment and specialized expertise, which Wipro provided. Rather than choosing between a standard loan origination system (LOS) or a fully tailored approach, Wipro helped DHL strike a middle ground, integrating a commercial LOS with modular technology and skilled resources, creating a flexible and scalable solution.

The impact has been significant and continues to grow, with 90% of DHL customers now completing their journey through digital channels. This has reduced friction and enhanced convenience. The lender has also achieved 50% lower origination costs compared to the industry average, along with faster approval-to-disbursement times, driving higher customer satisfaction and greater operational efficiency.

And yes, you heard it straight from the source—Santosh Kumar, Chief Product Officer at Discover Financial Services, who leads the Home Loans business and oversees a portfolio exceeding $8 billion:

Innovation is at the heart of our transformation strategy. By leveraging a technology-led BPaaS model, we reimagined the entire credit journey—from customer experience to back-office operations. This bold, end-to-end approach has not only enhanced operational efficiency but also set a new benchmark for digital lending in the industry.

The Bottom Line: Wipro’s BPaaS transformation for DHL proves that digital lending isn’t just an advantage—it’s a necessity. By cutting costs, accelerating disbursals, and enhancing customer experience, DHL has set a new benchmark. Lenders must act now or risk falling behind in this rapidly evolving industry.

The mortgage industry is evolving fast, and lenders that fail to modernize at scale risk being left behind. DHL’s transformation with Wipro proves that a BPaaS-driven, digital-first approach is not just a competitive advantage—it’s a strategic necessity. By automating processes, leveraging digital capabilities, and embedding API-driven integrations, DHL has cut costs, accelerated disbursals, and enhanced customer experience—all while ensuring operational agility for future market shifts.

For lenders, the takeaway is clear: traditional loan origination systems alone can’t support the digital demands of today’s mortgage market. To stay ahead, lenders must look beyond conventional approaches and adopt innovative, out-of-the-box models—such as the BPaaS-driven transformation that Wipro delivered for DHL.