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The head of third party at a non-major bank believes brokers could soon be writing 70 per cent of Australian home loans as technology boosts productivity and efficiency in brokerages.
Speaking to The Adviser, Adelaide Bank general manager of third party Damian Percy said that mortgage brokers are “the original disruptors” who should feel empowered, rather than threatened, by the emergence of new online players.
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“There is no doubt in my mind that brokers will continue to evolve and take advantage of the tools that they’ve got,” Mr Percy said.
“We’re already seeing courtesy of the aggregators quite sophisticated technology being deployed to brokers and we’re seeing individual brokers or broker groups bringing technology to broking,” he said.
While he admits that there is a place in the market for comparison sites and the more price-driven home loan bidding sites, Mr Percy sees these are as a separate proposition to what traditional brokers provide.
“What brokers deliver in terms of advice, taking the grief away from borrowers, [is a] friend to help you through the process, that key part of the proposition, which is what broking is all about, and I think [that] will continue to be required by consumers,” he said.
“The fact that it is made more interesting by technology will just mean brokers become more productive and if anything, are going to get more market share rather than less.
“I don’t see technology as a disruptor to brokers. I think it is one of the many tools that, if they embrace it, continues to disrupt even more. We are sitting at 55 per cent market share. I see no reason for it not to get to 65 or 70 per cent.”
Industry leader Lisa Claes, who recently left ING DIRECT to take up the CEO position at CoreLogic RP Data, believes the opportunities for brokers to embrace digital technology outweigh the threats – if brokers can utilise the benefits of data.
“While these platforms provide an end-to-end mortgage offering on a commoditised basis, they can be harnessed to provide a deeper level of insight into particular customer habits, behaviours and characteristics,” Ms Claes said. “Don’t ignore. Embrace, integrate and utilise.”
[Related: Digital disruption 'massively oversold', says former CBA exec]
