Turns out customers are extremely passionate about their mortgage apps. That’s if one mortgage payment app is to be believed.
Mr. Cooper — the whimsically-named mobile app from what was once Nationstar Mortgage ($NSM) (they're now called Mr. Cooper) — saw an influx in has thousands of positive reviews within the past month alone. As of this writing, the app has received 9.3K ratings and is enjoying a high rating of 4.8 stars on the official Apple App store. For comparison, it had 84 just reviews in May.
Mr. Cooper’s ratings count began spiking sometime during the middle of May, specifically around the 18th, and has been on the rise since.
The company, which is based in Dallas and listed on the NYSE as NSM, provides “quality servicing, origination and transaction-based services related principally to single-family residences throughout the United States,” according to its website.
It’s unclear whether the mortgage services provider paid for the recent flurry of positive app reviews -- the company couldn’t be reached for comment for this story -- but the upward trend seems to suggest so. They were relatively recently (August 2017) rebranded by Hollywood-based agency Phenomenon as Mr. Cooper, and with that rebranding likely came not just the new app but a positive reviews and social media campaign.
A quick look at the sample of “5-star” reviews posted during the month of June shows generic rave reviews from supposed app users. One user by the name gardeniarose_ wrote “Amazing !! I love how smooth and easy this app is! Pay your mortgage on the go just got easier ! I love it!”
Another Mr. Cooper user named Crystal Nichol JM vaguely wrote: “Make things Quick, Easy, and Simple! Love ‘Touch ID” to sign in!!!!” Furthermore, a June 9 review by tapoumm cut right to the chase: “In less than 1 minute I was able to complete the payment.”
While encouraging positive app reviews by users is fairly commonplace in tech, an inundation of the Mr. Cooper type comes off dubious. This is especially true when considering the Google Play version of the app has only received 147 reviews and currently stands at a lackluster 3-stars over at the Google app store.