Pepper: give your business some kick

By offering a full range of solutions from prime through to specialist, brokers can open the door to more clients and strengthen their value proposition.

That proposition is all about offering borrowers a broad range of products and choices equipped with a high standard of personalised service. A broker pigeonholing their offering will dilute their positioning in the market.

The good news is that writing a specialist loan is no different from writing a traditional loan. Any experienced broker will already possess the required skill set.

Pepper’s range of solutions provides brokers and clients with flexibility. “Unlike traditional lenders, we don’t get fixated on a credit score nor are we beholden to a mortgage insurer; instead, we look at each application on a case-by-case basis and assess each loan on its individual merits,” says Pepper’s director of sales, Mario Rehayem.

There are many reasons why a customer might require a specialist solution. A common misconception is that specialist lenders only service clients with past credit impairment. While Pepper do offer an extensive range of products that consider previous declines, defaults and arrears, this is only the tip of the iceberg.

Customers are applying for a specialist solution from Pepper for a host of reasons: to refinance personal or business debts; to pay out a tax debt; to use income from casual employment or commissions and bonuses; to use alternative income documentation; or because they do not possess genuine savings.

“Over the last 12 months, 65 per cent of the specialist loans we serviced are from borrowers with a clean credit history,” Mr Rehayem says.

In late 2013, in direct response to feedback from brokers, Pepper launched a new prime product so that borrowers with a clean credit history could benefit from a flexible solution with market leading turnaround times as well as competitive rates.

The response has been overwhelming. With credit criteria tightening, borrowers can now access a flexible prime product from as low as 4.85 per cent with no credit scoring or LMI requirement.

“A key advantage for brokers in adding a non-bank provider such as Pepper to their panel is that they can access multiple solutions by submitting only one application,” Mr Rehayem says.

“Pepper will automatically assess a borrower’s application under our full suite of products (Prime, Near Prime and Specialist), inclining to get the deal approved within one application.

“Brokers can provide a genuine solution with a fraction of the time and effort it would otherwise take.”

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