Friday, January 26, 2007

Solving old problems with New Media tools

RSS stands for Real Simple Syndication, usually. Actually, it's a simple XML file that we use to allow news feed aggregators to pull down content. Web Logs (Blogs) represent one example of how RSS has been used to syndicate content, but there are many ways to leverage this technology.

Some companies are generating RSS feeds to record changes in their websites. Anyone who subscribes to the feed will know exactly what has changed as soon as the changes are made.

So what kind of information do we need to share in the financial services industry? One example are wholesale lender loan product rate sheets. If the rate sheets are coded as attachments into an XML RSS file and brokers subscribe to the feed, they'll get the new sheet as soon as it comes out.

One company is already offering this service. New York-based eStyle Software, makers of the PreQualEngine mortgage loan prequalification, product search and pricing engine, offer an RSS feed to brokers who want to track changes in the rates and guidelines of the lenders who license eStyle's software. Smart.

There are other ways to leverage this New Media tool. Think about it.

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