Finova and Leeds Building Society Partner to Automate Mortgage Applications with AI

Finova has partnered with Leeds Building Society to provide mortgage brokers with free access to its AI-driven "Agentic Apply" tool for a three-month introductory period. This collaboration aims to eliminate the repetitive manual data entry that currently plagues the mortgage application process, allowing intermediaries to focus on advisory services rather than administrative overhead.

What was announced

The partnership centers on the rollout of Agentic Apply, an AI-powered application tool designed to function across the entire UK mortgage market. During a three-month introductory window, brokers can submit applications to Leeds Building Society through the platform without incurring fees. Additionally, Finova is offering new users three free applications to any lender in the market for a limited time.

Agentic Apply is designed to handle a comprehensive range of mortgage scenarios, including residential purchases, remortgages, rate switches, porting, and additional borrowing. It also supports specialized cases such as buy-to-let, let-to-buy, and Joint Borrower Sole Proprietor (JBSP) mortgages. The technology utilizes AI to map data captured during the initial customer fact-find directly into lender application portals, removing the need for brokers to re-key information manually.

A significant feature of the tool is its "multi-DIP" capability. In what is described as an industry first, brokers can request Decisions in Principle (DIPs) from multiple lenders simultaneously using a single data set. The AI processes these submissions in the background and returns the results for broker review. Since its beta launch on September 24th, the tool has processed more than 1,000 applications. Finova reports that the system saves brokers between 30 minutes and four hours per case, totaling over 500 hours of saved administrative time in its first month of operation.

"Brokers should be spending their time advising customers and helping them navigate one of the biggest financial decisions of their lives, not repeatedly entering the same information into different systems. We launched Agentic Apply to tackle exactly that challenge."

Gareth Richardson, CEO of Finova

The companies involved

Finova is a prominent fintech provider in the UK mortgage and savings sectors, currently backed by the private equity firm Bain Capital. The company specializes in cloud-based technology designed to streamline the lending lifecycle, serving both lenders and intermediaries. Finova has established a significant presence in the market, positioning itself as a developer of "market-first" tools that leverage automation and artificial intelligence to reduce friction in financial transactions.

Leeds Building Society is a major UK mutual institution, governed by its members rather than shareholders. As a founding partner for the Agentic Apply rollout, the Society is focusing on its core purpose of putting home ownership within reach for more people by improving the efficiency of its intermediary channels. The Society operates extensively through broker partnerships, which are central to its distribution strategy. By subsidizing the use of Finova’s AI tool, Leeds Building Society is attempting to lower the barrier for brokers to adopt more efficient digital workflows when placing business with them.

What FF News has reported before

Finova has been active in strengthening its leadership and expanding its strategic reach over the past year. In September 2026, the firm announced it had bolstered its board with the appointment of former Barclays executive Mark Arnold as a non-executive director. This followed the 2025 appointment of Daniel Broadhurst as Commercial Director to spearhead growth initiatives. The company also recently extended its long-term strategic partnership with LV=, highlighting its role as a persistent technology partner for major financial institutions. Meanwhile, Leeds Building Society has remained focused on member value, recently launching an exclusive 6.5% regular saver to reward its existing customer base.

What this means

This announcement signals a shift in the mortgage sector from theoretical AI discussions to practical, "agentic" utility. By automating the "re-keying" process, Finova is addressing the single largest productivity drain for mortgage intermediaries. This move puts significant pressure on lenders who maintain closed or cumbersome application portals; if brokers can bypass these hurdles using third-party AI, the user experience of the lender’s own portal becomes less relevant than the quality of their API integration. The success of this rollout will likely depend on the accuracy of AI data mapping in complex cases, but the initial volume of 1,000 applications suggests the market is ready to move away from manual entry.