MBA Adds FTI Consulting Cybersecurity Help as a Member Benefit

The Mortgage Bankers Association on Friday, Oct. 9, announced a new member benefit with FTI Consulting. MBA members will get preferred access to FTI's cybersecurity assessments, threat monitoring and incident-response support.

Why this matters: Mortgage companies hold borrowers' Social Security numbers, bank statements and income records, and they depend on many outside vendors. When a breach happens, how quickly a company gets expert help can affect borrowers, closings and regulators. The benefit lands just as MBA's annual convention opens in Chicago.

Cover: Editorial illustration for the MBA cybersecurity member benefit. Illustration created for mortgage.news; it does not depict a real person, property, product screen or document.

What members get

MBA says members can engage FTI Consulting in three areas:

• Identifying urgent security gaps.
• Finding exposed systems or compromised credentials.
• Getting expert help during and after a cyber incident.

MBA says the benefit offers focused access to advisory services without requiring a full cybersecurity audit or an ongoing engagement. The release does not disclose pricing, discounts or response-time commitments, so members should ask FTI directly what "preferred access" means in practice.

What it is not

This is access to a consultant, not a security program. A targeted assessment or incident hotline does not replace a lender's own written information security program, vendor oversight, employee training, testing and the controls required under federal and state rules. A company that has not done a full risk assessment still needs one.

It also does not change any rule. The benefit is voluntary and applies only to MBA members.

What the two sides said

"Cyber incidents can harm consumers and undermine trust, interrupt loan production, and expose borrower data," said Rick Hill, MBA's vice president of industry technology. Michael Peretz, a senior advisor at FTI Consulting, said mortgage companies manage sensitive borrower information "while relying on interconnected technology and third-party providers."

FTI Consulting says it has more than 8,100 employees in 32 countries and territories and reported $3.8 billion in fiscal 2025 revenue. Those are company figures.

Practical takeaway

For mortgage company leaders: the best time to line up incident-response help is before you need it. Even if you use this benefit, make sure your response plan names who to call, who notifies borrowers and investors, and how loans in process keep moving.

For borrowers: be cautious with any email or text that asks you to send closing funds or change wiring instructions. Call your lender or title company at a number you already know before sending money.