Auswide Bank thriving in the broker channel

Testing and tweaking

In July and August we decided to offer incredible value to the market, so we launched a market-leading packaged home loan offer. Yes, we pulled the lever because we wanted to reward brokers who were supporting us, attract new broker accreditations and introduce new customers to the bank.

We learnt a lot through that experience. We found that our existing brokers would support us with incredible gusto, we were inundated with new broker accreditation requests and the in ow of loans quickly challenged us to significantly lift and stretch our processing capacity.

Whilst I am grateful to all those brokers who worked through that amazing campaign with us, changes have been implemented internally to allow us to scale up dramatically (when increased loan inflows require us to do so) so that service level standards are consistently delivered. We increased our team of assessors, implemented a market leading documentation set, simplified our customer onboarding process, and much more. Subsequently, we have tested our revised platform with another market-leading campaign in October and November. I am very happy to demonstrate to our supporters that we are an organisation that learns from the challenges it faces and implements improvements to address those challenges.

On the ground support 

We are setting our sights on further market expansion via the broker channel. We introduced our first on-the-ground broker relationship manager (BRM) in Sydney in June. Up until that time, our centralised relationship model had been serving us well and all national geographies were being serviced from the centralised team operating from Brisbane. Robert Walkley hit the ground running and our Sydney business has been booming since. As we speak, I am considering candidates to fulfil the BRM function on the ground in Melbourne. Perth will follow once the new candidate hits their straps in Victoria.

The key for us

Everything we do when dealing with broker-introduced customers seeks to honour the relationship between the broker and the customer. There simply is no channel conflict within our business. I am proud to hold this out as our key differentiator and I am very comfortable overseeing this principle – after all, our brokers know that I am only a phone call away when they need to reach me.

The shifting landscape

Auswide Bank competes at the value end of the equation with fully-featured home loan products that are competitively priced.

On the contrary, it is evident that the major banks will push the boundaries around ‘out of cycle’ rate increases using the regulatory capital impacts as the validation for their actions.

I am excited that this competitive tension exists in the mortgage market because mortgage brokers can emphatically demonstrate to consumers that they offer a service that is in the best interests of the customer. Consequently, I predict that more borrowers will turn to brokers as their first option for guidance, instead of walking into a bank that only offers a tied product set.

I would be delighted for Auswide Bank to assist more brokers nationally to demonstrate such value to their customers. Please contact an Auswide Bank BRM today to discuss the opportunities further – we would love to do business with you!

Charlton Nevis is general manager, third party and business banking at Auswide Bank