Why We Built Aplos: The Future of Loan Operations for Resi and SBC.

Overview

The loan operations industry is drowning in data inconsistencies and manual reconciliation. Here’s why we’re building the solution that transforms how institutions manage their loan operations for residential and small balance commercial assets.

The Problem That Kept Us Up at Night

After decades in loan operations, we’ve witnessed the same painful scenario repeatedly: sophisticated financial institutions with billions in loan portfolios spending weeks each month reconciling data that should match but doesn’t.

Picture this: Your loan servicer reports one balance. Your asset manager shows another. Your custodian has a third number. Meanwhile, your accounting team is manually comparing spreadsheets, your risk team is making decisions on questionable data, and your executives are asking questions you can’t answer with confidence. Sound familiar?

The hidden crisis: While the loan market is experiencing rapid growth—with loan servicing growing at 16.4% annually toward $4.6 billion by 2028—the data infrastructure supporting these operations remains fractured, manual, and error-prone.

We kept asking ourselves: Why, in an era where we can process transactions in milliseconds, do loan operations teams still spend days reconciling basic portfolio data? Why do brilliant institutions make critical decisions based on data they’re not sure they can trust?

The answer was clear: The industry needed a fundamental solution for loan operations and data integrity built on a scalable, event-driven architecture.

The “Aha” Moment: It’s Not About More Data—It’s About Clean Data

Here’s what we learned after working with institutions managing billions in loan assets:

More data sources create exponentially more problems, not better insights.

Every loan touches multiple systems:

• Loan servicers handle payments and borrower communications
• Asset managers oversee portfolio strategy and performance
• Custodians manage cash and settlement
• Internal systems handle accounting, reporting, and compliance

Each system has its own data taxonomy, timing, and desynchronized information about the same loan. The result? Data chaos disguised as operational sophistication.

We’ve seen institutions spend millions on advanced analytics platforms, only to realize their insights were based on inconsistent, unreconciled data. We’ve watched brilliant operations teams become full-time data detectives instead of strategic analysts.

The breakthrough insight: The future of loan operations isn’t about collecting more data— it’s about having complete confidence in the data you have.

Introducing Aplos and OWLS: Complete Loan Operations and Data Excellence

Aplos was born from a simple but powerful vision: What if loan operations data could be both comprehensive AND completely reliable?

At the heart of our solution is OWLS—Operational Whole Loan System—named deliberately to reflect our mission. Like the bird of wisdom that sees clearly through the darkness, OWLS provides the keen oversight needed to navigate the complex landscape of whole loan operations data.

We built Aplos and our OWLS platform around three core principles:

1. Aggregation + Reconciliation = Truth

We don’t replace your loan servicers, asset managers, or custodians—we make them work together seamlessly. By aggregating data from all sources and applying intelligent reconciliation, we create the single source of truth your operations need.

2. Client access to reporting and analytics

Our platform doesn’t just collect data—it validates, reconciles, and standardizes it before feeding clean, reliable information to your accounting system, risk platform, and reporting warehouses. No more garbage in, garbage out. CLEAN IT UPSTREAM.

3. Built for Complex Operations, Delivered Simply

Our solution handles the complexity of multi-party loan operations while delivering clean, standardized data flows that integrate seamlessly with your existing systems.

What Makes Aplos Different

For Institutions with Managed Services Needs

Our comprehensive data management service isn’t just about technology—it’s about operational expertise:

• Multi-Source Aggregation: Seamlessly collect data from all your loan servicers, asset managers, and custodians
• Intelligent Reconciliation: Smart matching and exception identification across all data sources
• Expert Resolution: Experienced team that investigates and resolves discrepancies with your counterparties
• Documentation: Complete audit trails for every reconciliation, adjustment, and break
• Custom Reporting: Tailored data feeds to your accounting, risk, and reporting

For Institutions Ready for Self-Service

Our OWLS platform gives you enterprise-grade data reconciliation without enterprise complexity:

• Universal Integration: Connect to any loan servicer, asset manager, or custodian system via API or file transfer
• Real-Time Processing: Continuous data ingestion and reconciliation, not month-end batch jobs
• Data Lineage: Complete transparency into how every number was calculated and validated

The Aplos Advantage: Data You Can Trust

Here’s what’s unique about Aplos: We specialize exclusively in loan operations data integrity. We’re not trying to be your loan servicer, your accounting system, or stress test your loans. We do one thing exceptionally well—ensuring your loan operations data is accurate, complete, and reliable.

Real Impact: What Data Excellence Looks Like

We measure our success by the problems you stop having. Here’s what “complete loan operations data excellence” means in practice:

Operational Efficiency

• Eliminate 95% of manual Excel reconciliation work through carefully designed screens
• Reduce month-end closes from weeks to days with real-time data validation and file processing
• Free your team to focus on analysis instead of data detective work and servicer chasing

Risk Management

• Make portfolio decisions based on data you can defend
• Identify discrepancies before they become material issues
• Maintain complete audit trails for every data point and adjustment

Financial Accuracy

• Ensure accounting entries are based on fully reconciled loan data
• Eliminate surprise adjustments from late-discovered discrepancies
• Maintain investor confidence with consistent, accurate reporting

Regulatory Compliance

• Meet regulatory reporting requirements with validated, auditable data
• Demonstrate robust controls over loan operations data management
• Reduce examination findings related to data integrity issues

The Market Reality: Data Chaos is Getting Worse

The loan operations landscape is becoming more complex every day:

• Multiple counterparties per loan increase reconciliation complexity exponentially
• Regulatory requirements demand higher data accuracy and auditability
• Portfolio growth makes manual reconciliation processes unsustainable
• System integration challenges multiply as institutions work with more service providers

Financial institutions that solve their data integrity challenges will gain sustainable competitive advantages. Those that continue with manual, error-prone processes risk regulatory issues, investor concerns, and operational inefficiency.

Why We’re Passionate About This Mission

Our team didn’t set out to build another data company. We’re loan operations professionals who got exhausted by spending more time reconciling data than analyzing it.

Every feature in our OWLS platform solves a real operational problem we’ve encountered managing actual loan portfolios. Every process in our managed services offering has been refined through years of resolving real discrepancies between real counterparties. We chose the name OWLS—Operational Whole Loan System—because wisdom in loan operations comes from seeing the complete picture clearly, even when the data landscape seems murky.

We believe loan operations data should enable decisions, not paralyze them. When you have complete confidence in your data integrity, you can focus on what really matters: optimizing portfolio performance and serving your stakeholders.

What’s Next: The Aplos Journey Begins

We are at the beginning of our mission to solve loan operations data integrity for institutions everywhere. Over the coming months, you’ll see us sharing insights, analysis, and best practices that help the entire industry elevate its data management game.

We’ll be diving deep into topics like:

• Reconciliation Automation Strategies that eliminate manual processes without sacrificing accuracy
• Straight-Through Processing – Can this be done in the Resi world?
• Multi-Counterparty Management – Best practices in changing a loan’s servicer
• Others – One a month

But most importantly, we’ll be working with forward-thinking institutions to prove that complete loan operations data excellence isn’t just possible—it’s essential for competitive operations.

Ready to Experience the Future of Loan Operations Data?

If you’re tired of spending more time reconciling data than using it, we’d love to show you what’s possible with OWLS.

Whether you’re interested in our managed data services, exploring our OWLS platform, or just want to discuss the future of loan operations data management, our team is ready to help.

Schedule a conversation with our team to learn how Aplos can transform your loan operations data from a monthly headache into a daily competitive advantage.

The future of loan operations data management is here.

Welcome to Aplos.