EXCLUSIVE — While more and more consumers are flocking to mobile banking, users are still reticent to go to mobile for more complex financial transactions, like applying for a mortgage.

However, while users might not be ready for a new mobile mortgage experience, that doesn’t mean they aren’t ready for a new kind of mortgage, Jim Riccitelli, co-CEO for home ownership investment provider Unison, told Bank Innovation.

“Most people still want to talk to a live person at some point in the process, because [Unison] is something that is relatively new to them and some people have never heard of it at all before this,” Riccitelli said. “We’re starting to get a little more mainstream, but it’s still new enough that people do want to hear a voice at the other end of the phone.”

Unison offers users the new “consumer category” of home ownership investment, which users can use to fund a mortgage, home improvements, investing in a business, or a reverse mortgage — a popular option among customers, according to Riccitelli. Users can also use the money to pay off a student loan or credit card debt, two areas that have historically barred younger consumers from investing or buying homes.

The company works with lenders and customers to “co-invest” in a property, offering to split the cost of a down payment (users are required to pay about 10% of the down payment, according to Unison) in exchange for a stake in the home alongside the customer. When a user sells, Unison receives its investment back, plus a percentage of the value from the sale of the home.

For now, the company is working on expansion and on personalizing the user experience, rather than on exploring mobile. In other words, the company is focused on revamping the traditional mortgage process, rather than on what technology the customer uses for that process.

Currently, Unison operates in 13 states, including New York, California, and the District of Columbia, and is in the process of expanding to 16 additional states.

“The 13 [states] that we’re in today already account for 54% of the U.S. housing stock just because they’re the states that are the most populous, and the ones with the highest home values,” Riccitelli said. “When we add those new states we will be covering the vast majority of the U.S. home value.”