ANZ extends its home loan assessment activities

That means its assessment and document preparation teams will be available from Monday to Saturday between 8am and 8pm AEST.

ANZ's phone lines will also be open six days a week, between 9am and 5pm.

This service upgrade comes after the November 24 release of a new online toolkit that allows brokers to model complicated scenarios with their clients and then save the information.

ANZ's head of third-party relationship channels, Keiran Evans, told The Adviser that the extended operations would differentiate the bank from its rivals.

"The period of greatest angst for a customer is between putting in the loan application and then waiting for the decision, because until they get that decision they don't know whether they've captured the house," he said.

"At the moment, we're predominantly doing our loan applications same-day. When you combine that with the fact we're now providing decisions on Saturday, it leads to a far better customer outcome."

Mr Evans said brokers regularly ask him for quicker turnarounds, especially late in the week when customers are preparing to go to auction.

"If brokers have scenarios they want to discuss – the same as they do Monday to Friday – they're going to be able to do so on Saturday," he said.

"For those customers who desperately need an answer by Saturday, the scenario team will be invaluable for them."