Small bank turnarounds fastest since January 2020: Broker Pulse

This is the fastest time taken to make a credit decision in this lender segment since January 2020*.

Simultaneously, the survey of 221 brokers conducted between 1 and 15 September 2022 also found that broker satisfaction with the smaller banks (those used by less than 20 per cent of broker respondents) spiked to a record high, with 76 per cent of those surveyed reporting that they were satisfied.

This was up from 73 per cent in July and 68 per cent in June this year.

According to the respondents, MyState was the fastest among the small ADIs, with turnaround times of three days in August, down from four days in July.

The largest fall in turnaround times was at Heritage Bank (down from 10 days in July to six days in August) while Newcastle Permanent reduced its time to an initial credit decision from 10 days to seven, and Beyond Bank took eight days, down from 11.

Both UBank (formerly 86 400) and Citibank reduced their turnaround times by one day to five days in August, according to broker respondents.

On the other hand, turnaround times increased at Teachers Mutual Bank from 8 days to 11 days in August.

Turnaround times at both Beyond Bank and Auswide Bank were at 11 days in August.

MyState recorded the highest broker satisfaction rate among the smaller banks with 94 per cent of brokers reporting that they were satisfied with their experience in August, while Bank Australia came second at 92 per cent.

On the other hand, only 59 per cent of brokers reported being satisfied with HSBC (the lowest proportion in this lender segment) after satisfaction plummeted with its assessment process (from 73 per cent to 33 per cent) and its settlement process (from 89 per cent to 40 per cent).

Turnaround times at the large ADIs (those used by more than 20 per cent of respondents) remained steady at five days (still the lowest on record).

Among the major banks, ANZ’s turnaround times fell to a record low of six business days, after hovering around three weeks for many months in the recent past.

While Westpac’s turnaround times contracted, it remained stubbornly high at 10 days, the slowest in this lender segment.

The Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) and National Australia Bank’s turnaround times remained steady at four days.

Macquarie Bank maintained its lead, with brokers reporting turnaround times of two days. The non-major bank also recorded the highest satisfaction rating of 96 per cent, up from 92 per cent in July.

Satisfaction with ME Bank grew considerably in August, with 87 per cent of brokers reporting that they were satisfied with their dealings with the lender, up from 68 per cent the previous month.

Similarly, 81 per cent of brokers reported that they were satisfied with their experience at Suncorp, up from 68 per cent in July.

An uptick in satisfaction with both the non-major banks’ business development managers, and application, assessment, and settlement processes contributed to the higher overall satisfaction ratings, the Broker Pulse data revealed.

It was a mixed bag at the major banks, with satisfaction down in August at both Westpac (from 57 per cent to 54 per cent) and NAB (from 81 per cent to 78 per cent), but up slightly at ANZ (68 per cent) and CBA (87 per cent).

Speaking about the trends, Momentum Intelligence director Michael Johnson said: “It is fantastic to see all lenders continuing to improve their turnaround times and broker experiences. It is a great outcome for all parties involved.”

“We have been tracking lender performance metrics on Broker Pulse for three years this month and we can see how these trends are evolving over time quite clearly.”

To participate in next month’s Broker Pulse survey or for more information, click here.

*An earlier version of this article erroneously reported that small bank turnarounds were fastest on record in the Broker Pulse surveys. This has been amended to say it’s the fastest since January 2020.

[Related: Brokers reach parity on turnaround times: Report]