Powered by MOMENTUM MEDIA
the adviser logo
Lender

CBA confirms new home loan process

by James Mitchell10 minute read

The nation’s largest lender has announced a new home loan process that aims to speed up turnaround times for mortgage brokers.

While an article in The Australian Financial Review last week reported that CBA is overhauling its mortgage operations to better detect fraud, The Adviser understands the new process – which will see each mortgage application assessed by a case officer – is designed to speed up turnaround times.

“As the nation’s largest home loan provider, we constantly review and monitor our home loan processes to ensure we are maintaining our prudent lending standards and meeting our customers’ financial needs,” a CBA spokesperson told The Adviser.

“In response to feedback, and to improve time to decision, we have reinstated a process which means the assessor who reviews an application will manage it until a decision is made.”

==
==

Since the beginning of the year, CBA has seen a significant increase in volume being originated through the third-party channel, particularly mortgages for property investors.

CBA took 25.4 per cent of all broker-originated loans for property investment in February, up from 20.4 per cent in January and 17.7 per cent in December 2015, according to the latest AFG Competition Index.

CBA’s response to The Adviser’s Third-Party Lending Report – Major Banks highlighted that improving turnaround times remains a key issue for the major bank.

“We are always listening to our broker partners, and use that feedback to improve what we offer,” CBA general manager of broker sales, Sam Boer, said.

“We know turnaround times are critical; it’s something we are doing a lot of work on to get right. The feedback we received from our mortgage broking partners is that we are consistent and we have added additional credit capacity to further improve their experience,” Mr Boer said.

“A strong support model for brokers is critical to their business, this is why we increased and reinforced our support team across the country.”

According to Mr Boer, the bank has hired more relationship managers with direct access to local credit managers, a new team of desk-based relationship managers and provided access to a broker assist team for help with loan structuring, scenarios, advice and help with credit policy. In addition, CBA has hired a team of sales and process coaches to train brokers and their teams.

[Related: CBA dominating investor mortgage market]

default