Morgan Stanley

Hey, we're cool and hip. Really, we are.........aren't we? That's Morgan Stanley convincing themselves they are still relevant. Always in fear of becoming yesterday's news, M.S. is building a new suite of apps to get younger clients (ya know, the ones that prefer digital products) into the established bank. Their latest new "toy" is a digital mortgage app to speed up the application and approval process so users can outbid other home buyer competitors before prices go up. So see, old Morgan Stanley is still relevant and in touch.

(Bill Taylor/CEO)

"Morgan Stanley is developing a new digital mortgage application tool in a bid to get more of its existing clients to turn to it for home loans, its wealth management technology head said on Tuesday.

Morgan Stanley has invested heavily into growing its residential mortgage and customized lending business in recent years. But only 2 percent of current clients have home loans with the bank, Naureen Hassan, chief digital officer for wealth management, said at the bank's U.S. Financial Services conference in New York.

Hassan said the new tool will allow clients to get rate estimates, upload documents and apply entirely online. She did not say when the bank planned to launch the platform.

The announcement follows a deal the bank made with 10 technology firms back in January to help improve its digital offerings by introducing a suite of new financial apps, including an investment-tracking software called Addepar and a payments app called Zelle that’s being launched in partnership with three other banks. The digital initiatives are apparently a priority for Morgan Stanley CEO James Gorman.

"We've got to be careful that we are not penny wise and pound foolish," Gorman told Reuters when the bank first announced the initiative back in January.

With revenues from traditional businesses like trading and wealth management set the shrink..."

Source: Zerohedge