STRING PLANS TO EXPAND ITS INDIA OPERATIONS (due to increasing

demand for its services from mid-sized financial institutions in the US)

Economic Times. Aug 30, 2007; pg 6

121 words
30 August 2007
Indian Business Insight
0013-0389
English
Copyright (c) 2007 Informatics (India) Ltd.

String Real Estate Information Services is a mortgage process outsourcing (MPO)

company, which provides back office transactions for the home loan industry based
in the United States (US). With increasing demand for its services from mid- sized
financial institutions in the US, the company plans to enhance its operations in India.
The company will increase its headcount from 450 people now to 1,100 people by
Mar 2008. It also plans to set up centres in tier-II cities like Madurai and Trichy to
leverage on their lower costs.

752661|ABSTRACT|DAILY

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Raman Roy buys US co's operations

137 words
8 August 2007
The Times of India
English
(c) 2007 The Times of India Group

NEW DELHI: BPO veteran Raman Roy-promoted Quatrro has acquired mortgage
technology platform and onshore-offshore loan processing operations of US-based
Preferred Financial Group (PFG).

Using this acquisition as a base, Roy said, the company would provide end-to-end
services to US home loan (mortgage) lenders. He said this would enable Quatrro to
provide world class service at 30%-50% lower price than current processing costs in
US.

The lower price point, he said, is possible because of the superior efficiency of the
acquired technology platform, coupled with the cost-effectiveness of onshore-ofshore
service. US mortgage companies are facing problem of default from the borrowers.
This is forcing them to outsource their back office operation to save costs. This has
provided an opportunity to the Indian companies.

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ACS signs expanded BPO contract with First Horizon Home Loan
Corporation

119 words
26 September 2006
M2 EquityBites
English
(c) Copyright 2006 M2 Communications, Ltd. All Rights Reserved

Affiliated Computer Services Inc (NYSE: ACS), a provider of business process

outsourcing and information technology solutions, on 25 September announced
that it has been awarded a renewed and expanded business process outsourcing
(BPO) contract with First Horizon Home Loan Corporation, a home financing
company.  The partnership between ACS and First Horizon commenced in 2002, with
ACS providing document preparation, scanning, and indexing of mortgage loan files
for the company.  As per the terms of the renewed contract, these services will
continue and will expand in scope to also include mailroom services. No financial
terms were disclosed.

Comments on this story may be sent to info@m2.com

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Mortgages
In Brief: Affinity, MoneyLine In Outsourcing Pact

By Jody Shenn
151 words
11 January 2006
American Banker
11
Vol. 171, No. 7
English
(c) 2006 American Banker and SourceMedia, Inc. All rights reserved.

WASHINGTON -- Affinity Bank of Ventura, Calif., has started offering residential

mortgages by using private-label outsourcing from MoneyLine Lending Services Inc.
of Irvine.

MoneyLine, a home loan outsourcing specialist, announced its deal with Affinity on
Monday. The outsourcing service will let Affinity customers submit mortgage
applications at branches, over the phone, or at the bank's Web site.

MoneyLine's services "are tailored to support the needs and interests of community
banks and their customers," John Doyle, Affinity's senior vice president of community
banking operations, said in a press release. The deal with MoneyLine is "key to the
ongoing growth of our branch network and will help us to better penetrate new
markets with a broader product line," Mr. Doyle said.

(c) 2006 American Banker and SourceMedia, Inc. All rights reserved.
http://www.americanbanker.com http://www.sourcemedia.com

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Mortgage Processor Expands India Outsourcing Unit

Womack, Brian
716 words
7 November 2005
Orange County Business Journal
11
Volume 28; Issue 45; ISSN: 10517480
English
Copyright (c) 2005 Bell & Howell Information and Learning Company. All rights
reserved.

An Irvine mortgage loan processor has tapped into an increasingly common source to
help clients cut costs: India.

Equinox Corp., which launched three years ago, has 500 workers in India, with eight
people at its Irvine headquarters.

The company, which provides loan processing, customer service and lead generating
services, was bought late last year by Indian outsourcing firm i-Flex Solutions Ltd.

Equinox can handle 32 different mortgage operations for clients who want to
outsource, said Chief Executive Don Ganguly.

I-Flex has customers in banking and other financial services markets. Its annual
revenue is about $260 million.

Equinox has boosted its India facilities from 25,000 square feet to 40,000 square feet
since its founding. That's enough room for 750 employees. Ganguly said he hopes to
add another 60,000 square feet or so by early next year to handle more growth.

"We're at the tip of the iceberg," he said.

Ganguly said the ties to i-Flex have made it easier for Equinox to attract banking
clients, which typically don't give their business to startups.

"They're really used to dealing with larger organizations," he said.

Equinox first targeted mortgage banking because processing home loans is labor
intensive, and the industry hasn't been as quick to embrace technology, he said.
Using workers in India cuts costs because they are skilled employees, but work for
much less than those in the U.S.

"The lower level of automation lends itself to outsourcing," Ganguly said.

For its part, technology outsourcer i-Flex got a fast-growing company that helped
build up one of its weaker units: business process outsourcing, including lead
generation and customer service.

Although nearly all of Equinox's business is in the mortgage industry, it's looking to
diversify into other financial services, including investment and retail banking.

Equinox and i-Flex could be part of an emerging trend among outsourcing firms that
target specific industries or sectors-unlike companies like Bermuda-based Accenture

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Ltd. and India-based Wipro Ltd., which provide outsourcing for just about any
industry.

One industry observer said the strategy of focusing on a single sector is growing in
popularity with outsourcing companies.

"I think the uptick in all of this is coming in the future," said Jagdish Dalai, a Hartford,
Conn.-based consultant who helps outsourcing companies with strategy.

Equinox is aware of the political sensitivities of outsourcing. The issue is the subject
of much debate and anxiety among U.S. workers who are concerned their jobs could
be easily shipped overseas.

But Ganguly said outsourcing is an important way for customers to cut costs and
improve their finances. Profits from outsourcing low-level jobs can be plowed back
into the company to hire skilled U.S.-based workers, such as sales staff.

"What you're trying to do is attack areas of high costs," he said. "There are a lot of
areas that money can go toward."

The mortgage industry is one of OC's biggest employers. Leading national subprime
lenders such as Orange-based Ameriquest Mortgage Co. and Irvine-based New
Century Financial Corp. are based here.

The big lenders typically run their own processing and customer service operations.
Increased outsourcing could be a way for them to cut costs as interest rates rise
and the real estate market tightens.

"Almost all economists agree that outsourcing on balance is a good thing that leads
to lower costs," said Doug Duncan, chief economist with the Mortgage Bankers
Association in Washington, D.C. "What we have seen is that reducing costs has
opened up the access of home ownership, particularly in the subprime area."

Duncan said the mortgage industry has crafted a set of common home loan process
ing standards during the past five years.

"The fact that standards are making their way into the industry is enabling
outsourcing firms to come in," Duncan said.

At the same time, rising interest rates are making it more expensive for mortgage
bankers to lend money to homebuyers.

"It makes you look at the operating costs," Ganguly said.

Copyright CBJ, L. P. Nov 7-Nov 13, 2005

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