Non-bank lenders compete with majors

According to The Adviser’s latest weekly straw poll, 72.8 per cent of brokers think non-banks are becoming more competitive.

Of the 400 respondents, only 25.8 per cent said non-banks had not improved their offering, while 1.5 per cent were unsure.

Homeloans’ general manager third party distribution Tony Carn said the non-banks that survived the global financial crisis were using their second life to rival the majors and re-introduce themselves to the lending market.

“Liquidity is starting to come back into the market which means non-banks can all of a sudden compete with the majors on a number of levels,” Mr Carn told The Adviser.

“Pricing is just one area we are competing in. We are also improving our servicing levels by keeping everything centralised, at a time when some of the banks are moving their functions offshore.

“Brokers can be assured of better service from their non-bank lender, because there is no channel conflict.

“Moreover, we also offer brokers an incredibly competitive commission structure. There are no hurdles brokers have to overcome to take advantage of our services such as minimum volume requirements.”

Intuitive Finance’s managing director Andrew Mirams said it was good to see non-bank lenders becoming more competitive.

“As is stands the market is very unhealthy. The majors hold the lion’s share and this needs to be challenged,” Mr Mirams told The Adviser.

“While I don’t think non-banks are quite ready to compete on price, they are able to compete in other areas. The great thing about non-bank lenders is they offer niche services, products and solutions that the majors tend to avoid.

“Once each non-bank lender discovers what their true niche is, I think we will see them become even more competitive.”