RBC has upped its retention game with a new mobile renewal experience that vows "choice, convenience, and security." For a general helicopter overview, here's my consumer story about it in the Post.

Just as interesting as the consumer angle, however, are the competitive implications of this app and how it symbolizes banks evolving from stodgy institutions to tech-savvy hustlers.

Seemingly every year, it's like Groundhog Day in Canada's mortgage industry. New mortgage finance companies (MFCs) pop up like furry marmots, each one hoping to burrow into the insured mortgage market.

Meanwhile, only 1 in 6 new mortgages are insured, and there are already 20+ MFCs in a battle royale for that business.

Every new entrant sings the same song, "We're high tech, we shower you with service, our underwriters are wunderkinds, we have 'competitive rates,'" yada, yada. But, if you cut back the fluff, scaling an MFC comes down to one vital factor: strong uninsured funding...

...which brings us to Highclere Capital, a new MFC that'll debut in April.

A Spotlight Shines on RBC's Appraisal Policy

All of a sudden, RBC’s preconstruction appraisals are getting more scrutiny than Facebook's Metaverse ROI projections. And it's thanks in part to this Globe story about a guy who could have saved his $439,000 condo deposit by mortgaging with RBC—who would have valued his condo $600,000 above its current worth—but he chose not to.

Mortgage Hall of Famer Paul Grewal and capital markets expert Leon Dadoun have teamed up to launch Highclere Capital.

GTA-based Highclere is a technology-driven broker-focused mortgage finance company that promises: