Leading aggregator and established lender announce partnership

Earlier this month, Bank Australia announced that it signed “Australia’s first electronic mortgage”, after one of the bank’s customers completed all loan paperwork via their internet banking portal, which was settled and lodged via PEXA, the online property exchange network that allows financial institutions to lodge documents with land registries and complete financial settlements.

The announcement marked Bank Australia’s first steps to “putting an end to some of the complications, delays and frustrations that typically come with a reliance on paper-based transactions”.

Blake Buchanan, GM of aggregation at eChoice, said the new partnership acknowledged a “mutual commitment” to ensuring cutting-edge technology can continue to deliver improvements to the brokers’ business processes.

Mr Buchanan said: “Bank Australia has an established reputation in the industry for continually developing ways to incorporate digital efficiencies into their processes to set new industry benchmarks.

“And now, by combining that level of experience and support with their quality product offering, eChoice brokers can offer customers the opportunity to benefit through this latest, key addition to our partner program.”

The move marks the latest step Bank Australia has taken to establish a stronghold in the broker market, after entering the third-party channel last year.

Bank Australia’s head of third-party distribution, Richard Irving, said the company was pleased to be collaborating with eChoice to provide a range of innovative tools and product options that would enable its growing network of brokers to build sustainable businesses for the future.

He added: “We look forward to partnering with eChoice to further develop our approach with brokers to ensure we meet the evolving needs of a consumer-driven environment.”

[Related: Leading aggregator credits growth to technology]