| Course | FI310 FinTech Principles and Concepts |
|---|---|
| Unit | Unit 2 |
| Paper type | Process comparison |
| Length | About 610 words, 5 pages double-spaced |
| Format | APA 7 student paper |
| School | Purdue University Global |
| Program | BS in Finance |
| Updated | October 2026 |
Free sample paper for FI310 Unit 2
A Table, a Notary and 140 Pages, or a Screen: A Unit 2 Process Comparison of Paper and Digital Mortgage Closings
[Student Name]
Purdue University Global
FI310: FinTech Principles and Concepts
Unit 2 Process Comparison
[Instructor Name]
[Date]
The credit union, its counties and every figure are composite; the statute and articles cited are real.
The Credit Union
The credit union closes about 1,900 mortgages a year across fourteen counties. Ten county recorders accept electronic recording; four still require paper delivered by courier or mail.
The Paper Closing
A paper closing is a 90-minute appointment at a branch or title office. The borrowers sign or initial roughly 140 pages in front of a notary, who stamps the mortgage and any affidavits. The closer checks every page before the borrowers leave, but about 3 percent of files still come back with a missed initial or an undated page, which means a second visit or a courier to the borrower's home. The signed mortgage then goes by courier to the county recorder, and recording takes three to nine days depending on the county. Funds are disbursed once the title company confirms it has the signed package.
The Digital Closing
In the digital version, most documents are delivered to the borrowers a few days before closing and signed electronically at home, which federal law treats as valid as ink for most consumer documents (Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce Act, 15 U.S.C. § 7001, 2018). The documents that must be notarized, chiefly the mortgage itself, are signed in a remote online notarization session: the borrowers and a commissioned notary meet by video, the borrowers' identities are verified by knowledge-based questions and an identification scan, and the session is recorded. The signing platform will not let a borrower skip a required signature or date, so the 3 percent error rate falls close to zero. In the ten e-recording counties, the mortgage reaches the recorder electronically and records within a day.
Eleven Steps, Compared
Of eleven closing steps, the digital process changes seven. Document delivery moves from the table to the borrower's inbox days earlier, giving time to read. Signing and initialing move to a screen with built-in completeness checks. Notarization moves to video with identity verification and a recording that serves as evidence. Error correction largely disappears. Recording moves from courier to electronic submission where available. Four steps change little: the final title check, the wire of funds, the collection of the cash to close and the delivery of keys.
The digital closing removes the errors and delays that come from paper, but its benefit stops at the county line wherever the recorder still wants paper, so in four of the fourteen counties the credit union would still print, courier and wait.
Which Suits the Credit Union
Research on mortgage lenders that adopted technology-based processes found they processed applications faster and adjusted capacity more easily without higher default rates (Fuster et al., 2019). For this credit union, a hybrid is the practical choice: digital closings in the ten e-recording counties, and a hybrid closing in the other four, with documents signed electronically at home and only the mortgage signed with an in-person notary, then couriered for recording. That keeps the error reduction and the borrower convenience everywhere and accepts the paper step only where the recorder requires it.
Technology in finance tends to change the customer's experience first and the institution's costs more slowly (Philippon, 2016). Some borrowers will still prefer a table and a person. The credit union should keep the in-person option, especially for first-time buyers who want to ask questions face to face.
References
Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce Act, 15 U.S.C. § 7001 (2018).
Fuster, A., Plosser, M., Schnabl, P., & Vickery, J. (2019). The role of technology in mortgage lending. The Review of Financial Studies, 32(5), 1854-1899. https://doi.org/10.1093/rfs/hhz018
Philippon, T. (2016). The FinTech opportunity (NBER Working Paper No. 22476). National Bureau of Economic Research. https://doi.org/10.3386/w22476
What the FI310 Unit 2 assignment asks for
The second FI310 unit asks you to compare a traditional and a technology-based version of one financial process. Choose a process with distinct steps, then describe the institution that runs it, including any outside constraint such as regulators or counties. Lay out the old process step by step with times and error rates, then the new one the same way. Compare them step against step so the reader sees exactly where the technology acts and where it leaves things alone. Name the law that makes the digital version valid. Close with a recommendation for this institution, not for the industry, and say who might still prefer the old way. Mark composite figures as illustrative and cite research on technology adoption in lending along with the governing statute in APA 7.
Inside the FI310 Unit 2 example
The sample opens with the credit union's 1,900 annual closings and the four counties whose recorders still want paper. The paper closing takes 90 minutes, about 140 pages and a notary's stamp, and about 3 percent of files return with a missed initial; recording then takes three to nine days by courier. The digital closing delivers documents days earlier, accepts electronic signatures under ESIGN and moves notarization to a recorded video session with identity checks. Of eleven steps, seven change and four, such as the wire and the keys, barely move. The highlighted sentence explains why the benefit stops at the county line, and the recommendation applies digital closings in ten counties and a hybrid in the other four.
FI310 Unit 2 rubric: what earns full points
Process comparisons in FI310 earn points for describing both versions in parallel and deciding for a specific institution. Graders check that steps are compared one to one, that time and error figures appear with their basis stated, and that the legal footing of the digital version is named. The rubric rewards spotting the limits of a technology, such as an outside party that still requires paper, and it values a recommendation that follows from those limits. Comparisons that praise digital processes in general, rank them without a setting or skip the steps that do not change score lower. Labeled composite figures and research on lender technology adoption give the analysis its credibility.
Common FI310 Unit 2 mistakes, and how to avoid them
Weak Unit 2 comparisons describe the digital process in detail and the paper one in a sentence, so nothing is really compared. Others count benefits without naming the steps that stay the same, which overstates the change. Many leave out the outside constraint, such as a county recorder or a regulator, that decides whether the new process can run end to end. Recommendations often apply to "banks" rather than the institution in the prompt. Figures appear with no source or label. Should your prompt center on account opening, wire transfers or insurance claims instead, a writer can map those steps against each other and recommend for the organization you were given.
Get an FI310 Unit 2 example written to your instructions
Which process does your Unit 2 prompt put on trial, and for what kind of institution? Send that with the FI310 instructions and rubric, and the comparison is built step by step for that institution, displaced work named and new costs priced. The first custom sample is free of charge and typically lands within 24-48h. The paper above is an original model document written by our desk, not a submitted student paper and not an official Purdue University Global document.
More FI310 papers and BS in Finance samples
- FI310 Unit 1: Discussion Post on Mobile Deposit
- FI310 Unit 3: Payments Analysis
- FI310 Unit 4: Digital Lending Case Study
- FI310 Unit 5: Platform Business Analysis
- FI310 Unit 6: Seminar Reflection
- FI310 Unit 7: Risk Assessment Memo
- FI310 Unit 8: Technology Adoption Brief
- FI310 Unit 9: Financial Inclusion Analysis
- FI310 Unit 10: Sector Outlook Report
FI310 Unit 2 questions, answered
Does my comparison have to pick a winner?
It has to reach a recommendation, which is not quite the same thing. The sample chooses a hybrid closing for one credit union and says the answer would differ for a lender whose counties all accept electronic recording. A paper that ranks two processes in general tends to score lower than one that decides for a named institution and states why.
Where do the timing and error figures come from?
In the sample they are composite, set at levels a mortgage operations manager would find plausible and labeled as illustrative. Your own comparison can draw on industry surveys, a vendor's published case material read skeptically, or the process at an employer. Whatever the source, say what it is, because unsourced efficiency claims are among the first things graders question here.
Is a mortgage closing the only process that works for this unit?
Far from it. Account opening, insurance claims, wire transfers and small-business loan applications all have a traditional version and a technology-led one. The closing works in the sample because its paper steps are easy to picture and each one kept a specific person busy. Whatever process your prompt names, the two-column table carries over.
Where can I find a free FI310 Unit 2 sample paper?
This page holds a full FI310 Unit 2 process comparison of paper and digital mortgage closings at a composite credit union, with eleven steps compared, a hybrid recommendation and APA 7 references.
Which law makes the digital closing count?
Mainly one federal statute, with state rules beside it. A digital closing is only a real alternative if its signatures and notarization are valid, so the sample names the federal ESIGN statute and notes that remote notarization depends on state rules and the county recorder accepting the result.