J.D. Power Study: Customer Satisfaction Surges as Mortgage Originators Adopt Advisory-Style

By Roy Urrico

With new mortgage origination volumes on the rise again – based on the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) and forecasting and advisory services firm iEmergent – after declining the past four years, lenders fundamentally changed how they interact with borrowers, according to the Troy, Mich.-based in its 2025 U.S. Mortgage Origination Satisfaction Study.

Mortgage lenders evolved from a transactional, volume-at-all-costs approach to adopt more consultative, advisory-style engagements, the study found. That shift is paying off in the form of significantly higher customer satisfaction scores, improved trust and increased levels of brand loyalty.

Bruce Gehrke, senior director of wealth and lending intelligence at J.D. Power.

“Mortgage lenders have come to recognize that the more educated their customers are about the details of their mortgage products, the more loyal and lucrative their relationships become,” said Bruce Gehrke, senior director of wealth and lending intelligence at J.D. Power. “The highest-ranked lenders in today's market aren't just those with the best rates, they're the ones that have perfected hybrid engagement. By blending high-touch advisor relationships with intelligent digital infrastructure, leading lenders are transforming what used to be a transactional, document-focused ordeal into a consultative partnership.”

Key Findings

The U.S. Mortgage Origination Satisfaction Study measured overall customer satisfaction based on performance in six factors (in alphabetical order): communication; digital channels; level of trust; loan offering meets my needs; made it easy to do business with; and people. The study, fielded from September 2024 through September 2025, is based on responses from 10,067 customers who originated a new mortgage or refinanced within the past 12 months.

The study’s findings include:

• Overall satisfaction rose sharply. Overall customer satisfaction with mortgage lenders is 760 (on a 1,000-point scale), up 33 points from a year ago when mortgage customer satisfaction was in decline. In the past year, mortgage lenders have made significant strides in customer communication, reliability and accountability and use of innovative technologies to engage with customers.

• Lenders build loyalty with advisory-style approach. Mortgage lenders received top scores from a majority (79%) of their customers for providing useful guidance or advice, up from 76% in 2024, 70% in 2023 and 69% in 2022. Additionally, customers of mortgage lenders that received top scores for delivering useful guidance are 2.3 times more likely to say they “definitely will” choose the same lender for future loans.

• Early engagement drives higher satisfaction. Overall satisfaction is 32 points higher when lenders connect with customers at the beginning of their home-buying journey, before they start actively shopping, compared with satisfaction when engagement begins later in the journey. Satisfaction drops by 64 points when lenders first engage at the mortgage application stage.

• Borrowers open to artificial intelligence (AI) involvement in lending process. Slightly more than half (54%) of customers say they are “completely comfortable” with their lenders using AI in the mortgage origination process and another 31% say they are “partially comfortable” with the use of AI. However, customers also want to know how the technology is being used; 71% say it is “very important” for their lender to inform them when they are using AI.

• Mortgage origination rankings. In mortgage origination satisfaction, Citi ranked first, (with a score of 802), Bank of America (792) ranked second and Citizens Bank (787) ranked third. Navy Federal Credit Union scored a 783 but did not meet all the ranking criteria, because they only serve military members or their families, as opposed to the general population. (Navy Federal achieved the highest overall satisfaction score in the J.D. Power 2025 U.S. Mortgage Servicer Satisfaction Study released in July 2025)

Source: J.D. Power.

The Concern for CUs and Community Banks

When Finopotamus asked whether credit unions (and community banks) should be concerned about how mortgage lenders have fundamentally changed the way they work with borrowers, Gehrke responded: “All lenders must stay attuned to evolving borrower expectations.” He continued, “Borrowing is increasingly viewed as part of a broader financial relationship rather than a standalone transaction. As technology has commoditized operational efficiency, personal interaction has become the key differentiator in the lending experience.”

Gehrke also said, “Credit unions and community banks should leverage their strongest assets: local presence and deep customer relationships. This industry shift toward consultative engagement plays directly to their strengths. While well-capitalized competitors can replicate technology, authentic community relationships and trusted advisory capabilities represent sustainable competitive advantages that drive higher satisfaction, loyalty, and advocacy.”

There is another takeaway for smaller financial institutions such as credit unions and community banks from the survey results, he noted. “Hybrid experiences, those combining digital convenience with personal engagement, deliver the highest satisfaction and loyalty. Credit unions and community banks should pair streamlined technology with their relationship advantages. Institutions facing budget constraints can pursue partnership models with specialized providers to deliver competitive digital experiences while maintaining their differentiated personal touch.”