Quicken to Change Name to Rocket Mortgage to Align with Company Branding

Quicken Loans, a linchpin of the Detroit-based Rock Cos. portfolio, will officially change its name to Rocket Mortgage on July 31, the company announced today.
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One Campus Martius
Quicken Loans, which is headquartered at One Campus Martius in Detroit (pictured) plans to change its name to Rocket Mortgage on July 31. // Photo courtesy of Quicken Loans

Quicken Loans, a linchpin of the Detroit-based Rock Cos. portfolio, will officially change its name to Rocket Mortgage on July 31, the company announced today.

The change comes as the Rocket Cos., owned by Detroit entrepreneur Dan Gilbert, looks to align its portfolio of companies under the Rocket brand. Company leaders are hopeful the change makes Quicken Loans more synonymous with the Rocket brand’s focus on fast and technology-focused service. Gilbert is chairman of Rocket Cos. and founder of Quicken Loans.

“Rocket Mortgage has grown to be the industry leader and the measuring stick for all other lenders,” says Jay Farner, CEO of Quicken Loans. “With this official name change, we will have a consistent brand that is synonymous with innovation and excellence.”

Rocket Homes, Rocket Autos, and Rocket Loans are among portfolio companies that have already taken on the branding. The company says customers are not expected to see any difference to the digital experience they currently receive.

The most noticeable change, according to the company, is expected to be the move in letterhead and logos from Quicken Loans to Rocket Mortgage branding.

Gilbert founded the company in 1985 as Rock Financial, a regional branch-based mortgage broker in metro Detroit. In 1999, the company was the first of its competitors to connect with clients directly online when it launched Rockloans.com.

Over the next few years, the company closed all its brick-and-mortar branches and embraced the centralized model of an online-only lender.

Quicken Loans ran with new technological advancements, allowing it in turn to grow its popularity over time. The company was the largest lender in the country in the fourth quarter of 2017.

The company implemented the ability for clients to e-sign mortgage documents in 2002, then became the largest online retail mortgage lender in 2004. It was the first home lender to launch a mobile application in 2011.

Four years later, the company launched a fully online mortgage experience — completely digital from application to closing — in late 2015. A 2016 Super Bowl ad announced this new, online option for getting a mortgage.

“More than 20 years ago, Dan Gilbert, our founder and chairman, had a vision of putting the entire mortgage process online to simplify the lending experience and add more transparency,” says Farner. “Since then, we developed proprietary technology to improve every piece of the process, but we officially revolutionized the mortgage industry when we launched Rocket Mortgage in 2015.”

The company moved its headquarters to downtown Detroit in 2010. Rocket Cos. became a publicly traded company last year.