Lender BDM ratings reach new record high: Broker Pulse

The latest survey, which received 232 responses from Broker Pulse members between 1 and 13 October 2021, revealed that brokers are increasingly satisfied with the support offered by business development managers (BDMs) at the lenders.

According to the data, the average BDM rating for the month of September was +56, the highest score achieved by BDMs since the inception of the Broker Pulse survey in 2019.

The BDMs at several lenders, including Newcastle Permanent, Teachers Mutual Bank, and AFG Home Loans were all given a 100 per cent approval rating, followed by MyState Bank (93 per cent).

Pepper Money, which saw an increase in broker usage over the month, also maintained high BDM ratings, with a “helpfulness” score of 90 per cent.

At the most commonly used banks, BDMs at Macquarie Bank, Bankwest and ING were rated the highest in their segment, at 92 per cent, 88 per cent and 85 per cent, respectively.

Brokers responding to the latest survey also revealed that credit assessors were improving the consistency of performance – with an overall score of +32. This marks the highest credit assessor rating in over a year (since June 2020).

Turnarounds hold firm

Turnaround times held firm over the month of September, according to broker respondents, with the average time to initial credit decision across all lender segments remaining around eight business days for the third month in a row.

The most commonly used banks saw turnarounds uptick slightly to nine business days, while the lesser-used banks improved their time to initial credit decision by two business days (coming in at seven days for September).

Non-bank lenders continued to suffer from delays in their turnarounds, brokers suggested, with time to initial credit decision for this segment rising for the third month in a row.

In fact, non-banks are now reaching an initial credit decision in just over seven business days, its longest time on Broker Pulse record. However, this may be due to longer blowouts at outliers, rather than reflective of the segment as a whole.

Speaking of the latest survey findings, Michael Johnson, Momentum Intelligence’s head of strategy, commented: “We’re seeing some strong improvements across most areas this month as turnaround times continue to stabilise.

“Brokers are reporting improved experiences from some of the major banks while some of the non-banks continue to slide.

“As we head towards the end of the year, it will be interesting to see how lenders are able to handle this sustained level of flows.”

Brokers interested in joining the Broker Pulse community can sign up to Broker Pulse here. Each month, participants of the survey will receive full access to the report and exclusive insights into the research. Sign up today and receive last month’s results straightaway.

[Related: Turnarounds improve despite record loan volumes: AFG]