Which non-banks have the best products for your clients? To find out, we asked Momentum Intelligence to survey brokers about the non-bank lenders they most favour for different client needs, across both residential and business loans.

The 2022 Product of Choice: Non-Banks Survey polled brokers from across the industry over April, asking them to evaluate and rank non-bank lender products.

This year’s survey asked brokers to rank non-bank lenders across 12 different product categories:

•  Prime owner-occupied loans
•  Near-prime loans
•  Investor loans
•  Specialist loans
•  Personal loans
•  Short-term loans
•  SME loans over $250k
•  SME loans under $250k
•  SMSF loans
•  Commercial mortgages
•  Debtor finance loans
•  Equipment and asset finance loans

Methodology

The Non-Bank Product of Choice survey was conducted by Momentum Intelligence via an online survey of mortgage and finance brokers on The Adviser’s mailing list.

Between 16 and 30 April 2022, respondents were asked to nominate who they believed were the three best non-bank lenders offering products for each of the 12 given categories. 

For each nomination, the top-ranked lender was allocated 3 points, the second position was allocated 2 points, and the third lender received 1 point.

The points were then tallied up and the lender with the most points was ranked first.

The results

Once again, the results revealed that non-banks have evolved from being just specialists of one particular area and are increasingly expanding their wings into new areas and delighting customers across multiple segments.

Pepper was once again ranked particularly well by brokers, taking out the first position across three product segments this year: near-prime loans; investor loans; and equipment/asset finance.

Resimac held onto its top title as the non-bank lender with the best prime owner-occupied loans for the third year in a row, and also was named the lender with the leading specialist loan products.

Liberty Financial was named the non-bank with the best SME loans over $250,000, while La Trobe Financial topped the ranking for commercial mortgages (up from its second spot placement last year).

For self-managed super fund loans (SMSF loans), brokers voted mortgage management company Mortgage Ezy as the leading player.

Personal lender Latitude cinched the title as the non-bank with best personal loan products, holding onto its long-held title as the personal loan non-bank of choice for the third-party channel.

SME lenders were also highly rated this year; Prospa was celebrated for its short-term loans and SME loans under $250,000; and ScotPac was found to be the lender with the best debtor finance products.

In the following Q&As, we catch up with the top-ranked non-bank lenders from each category to find out what they believe makes their products so popular with brokers.

Pepper Money

1st place: Near-Prime Loans, Investor Loans, and Equipment and Asset Finance Loans

Mario Rehayem, chief executive of Pepper Money, outlines how Pepper has been delighting brokers with its growing range of lending products

Q. What do you think makes your products so popular with brokers?

Catering to a shifting market requires flexibility, innovative products, and experience in understanding each applicant’s individual circumstances. Which is why over the last 22 years that we’ve been in business, we have tried, tested, and evolved our products and processes to ensure that we’re providing the best possible outcome for brokers and their customers; and we’ve done this through invaluable broker and customer feedback so we’re incredibly pleased with the positive response on these solutions with these wins.

While Pepper Money’s success is underpinned by our strong credit policy, it’s thanks to our focus on technology, effective BDM support, product diversification, and brand recognition we’ve been able to equip brokers with the right tools and knowledge to help more customers succeed.

Additionally, our transparency with credit and market-leading SLAs across all products allows us to differentiate ourselves from other lenders. We know that consistency and speed to provide a credit decision are critical for brokers now more than ever, as it allows them to confidently recommend a particular lender, knowing their customer will get a swift and suitable outcome.

So, when you deal with Pepper Money – whether it is for a home loan, commercial loan or asset finance – you have a higher probability of conversion because of our credit policies. So, for our brokers, that means you get the best use of that customer’s time and maximise your time spent by getting the deal through.

We’ve got very strong alliances with our brokers because they trust the brand and I’m pleased that we’ve earnt that trust for over two decades. There’s transparency, and brokers trust Pepper Money to get the deal done. 

Q. What are the main benefits of these products to borrowers? 

Pepper Money’s product range has expanded from a focus on non-conforming loans to now offering a diverse suite of prime, near prime, and specialist loans. Our diverse products across home loans, commercial, and asset finance are flexible to meet customers’ real-life circumstances.

• First home buyers with gifted deposits, or those looking to buy their first investment property 
• Self-employed borrowers who have newly established (six months’ ABN) or growing businesses, who are seeking to release equity, improve cash flow or purchase commercial assets 
• First-time and professional investors, with no limit on the number of properties an investor can purchase
• Customers looking to consolidate their debts to get back on track, improve cash flow or release equity 
• Customers who have experienced a life event that caused disruptions to their income or credit history
• A wide set of loan options for assets including new and used cars, electric vehicles, motorcycles, caravans, boats, commercial vehicles, machinery, office equipment or renewable energy solutions

 We’re coming out with exciting products, we’re coming out with exciting technology – it’s all designed around giving the brokers the ability to serve customers faster, better, and freeing up more voids in the market.

Resimac

1st place: Prime Owner-Occupied Loans, Specialist Loans

Resimac’s general manager of distribution, Chris Paterson, outlines what makes the lender’s prime owner-occupier loans and specialist loans so attractive to brokers and their clients

Q: What do you think makes your products so popular with brokers?

To pick up two awards for both Prime and Specialist products is a reflection of the diverse product range we have in place at Resimac, which is backed by our strong funding program. 

We know brokers value having access to our competitive products that compete with the banks and provide their customers with several options.

Recent research we conducted confirms that broker customers are more informed when it comes to understanding mortgage products and are more engaged in the application process (compared to direct-to-lender customers). While low rates are important, just as important is finding a product that suits their requirements and objectives.

This is one of the reasons our products are favoured by brokers: they’re quality products that appeal to the more complex needs and preferences of their customers. All our products, from prime to specialist, and full doc through to alt doc, are sharply priced with rates based on security, not purpose. They also offer key features that you’d expect from some of the more expensive mortgage products, such as offset accounts, split loan options, redraw facilities and loan access cards. 

Q: What are the main benefits of these products to borrowers?

Our Prime Owner-Occupied products are designed to suit brokers’ customers who are looking for competitive rates. Across the LVR bands, we can offer a quick solution, with products that have all the key features a customer would expect from a quality prime product, plus funds may also be used for business purposes and as cashout, as well as purchase and refinance.

Within our Prime product suite, we also offer variants to cater for different customer needs. For those who focus on low rates, our Prime Flex product suites, or for customers who have as little as a 5 per cent deposit (and it doesn’t have to be genuine savings, so monetary gifts from the Bank of Mum and Dad are accepted), there’s our Prime Non-Gen 95 product.

As for our Specialist products, we know life happens – circumstances can and will change, with life events that are often out of the customer’s control. Someone may have had health issues or have gone through a divorce, but that doesn’t mean they’re bad with their finances. In instances like this, and where they’re on the road to financial recovering, we have Specialist products that cater for people in these situations. For starters, minor credit events such as current defaults under $2,000 or defaults paid over 12 months ago, don’t impact an applicant’s eligibility. Funds can also be used for a variety of purposes, and because we price based on the security used for the loan rather than the loan purpose, customers have an opportunity to take advantage of lower interest rates.

Prospa

1st place: Short-Term Loans and SME Loans Under $250k

With Prospa taking out two top spots this year, we catch up with Roberto Sanz, Prospa’s national sales manager, to find out what’s been driving the business lender’s success

Q: What do you think makes your products so popular with brokers?

We are grateful brokers recognise our efforts to offer market-leading products for small businesses and that they seek to advocate our products to their clients. 

At Prospa, we have established strong and supportive relationships between our team of lending specialists and partners to design the right funding solutions for their small-business clients.

We’ve focused on making our products flexible, fast and simple to access for brokers and their clients, whilst ensuring our partners have the option to be involved as much or as little as they choose. The service provided by our team ensures their clients are in safe hands as we walk them through our simple application process to access funds, often within 24 hours.

The team has also taken our partners along on our journey as a fast-growing company. We regularly sought feedback to further refine, improve and build new products to ensure what we offer meets the needs of all parties. This process has resulted in us expanding our products and tailoring our services for Prospa Plus Business Loans, which launched across Australia and New Zealand in October 2021, offering funds of up to $500,000 with direct access to our credit specialists and provisions of quotations prior to credit checks. 

With our customer-centric ethos, we will continue to keep our finger on the pulse to ensure the funding solutions we offer stand out from the rest of the market for our partners and their clients.

Q: What are the main benefits of these products to borrowers?

Prospa combines technology with personalised service to provide small businesses with flexible short-term funding products. 

Our business lending specialists take the time to understand each small-business client and provide tailored solutions to address their cash-flow needs. This ensures customers feel confident that they are working with a lender that truly understands the uniqueness of their business and can provide a solution that is right for their business. This is, in part due to the investments, we’ve made in our technology, particularly our credit decision engine that analyses applications fast and makes funding possible in as little as 24 hours. 

Once funds have been approved and made available, customers enjoy flexible repayment options that work with their business cash flow.

We know we provide funding solutions that keep small businesses moving. It is the experience of borrowing from Prospa that sets us apart and that is why we’ve been able to achieve an NPS of +80.

Latitude

1st place: Personal Loans

Once again, Latitude was ranked as the non-bank lender with the best personal loan products by brokers. Natasha Riddell, Latitude’s general manager broker & partnerships, outlines why their products are so popular

Q: Why do you think Latitude’s personal loans are so popular with the broker channel?

At Latitude, we are about relationships. We engage with our aggregation partners and brokers clearly and in a straightforward way, giving them confidence that they are partnered with a trusted lender that can help them grow. We listen, take on feedback and work together to improve the experience for our brokers and customers. 

We have one of the largest and most knowledgeable relationship management teams in Australia, supported by a business that values brokers, so we can provide tailored support and really deliver results for our partners. 

Q: What are the main benefits of this product for borrowers?

Our personal loans are flexible so we can meet all customers’ specific needs, which can be everything from paying for home renovations, medical and dental costs, motor vehicle, debt consolidation or covering stamp duty and other fees associated with buying a home. 

Our loans can be secured or unsecured, we can tailor fixed rates and our secured loans allow the customer to refinance multiple loans in one with a discounted rate. 

Our mobile app also means our customers can stay up to date and view balances, loan terms, interest rates and more at their convenience.

La Trobe Financial

1st place: Commercial Mortgages

Rising up the ranks for its commercial loan products is La Trobe Financial, whose senior vice-president and chief lending officer, Cory Bannister, says is testament to the strong underwriting team 

Q: What do you think makes your commercial products so popular with brokers?

La Trobe Financial has been helping brokers with specialised lending for seven decades and in the past couple of years has seen substantial increase in commercial lending – particularly for development finance. As such, it is no surprise that, when brokers need the extra support to navigate commercial loans, they come to La Trobe Financial.

We help brokers explore new opportunities with Australia’s broadest range of loans. That means brokers can take advantage of an incredibly wide range of solutions for their clients. We can do this with confidence thanks to the deep level of expertise each of our people has to support their borrowers. 

Our 140-strong underwriting team is helping brokers grow their businesses by supporting them in certain situations or with products they’re less familiar with.

La Trobe Financial does this with a highly personalised relationship service model to support brokers that also finds opportunities and solutions that new-to-commercial brokers may not yet have capitalised on. 

This distinction means brokers can lean on an experienced, informed and responsive team that knows exactly how to get them the outcomes they require. Thanks to the strong relationships developed with brokers, it is evident that brokers see La Trobe Financial as a partner, so commissions are therefore paid without the risk of clawback.

Q: What are the main benefits of this product to borrowers?

Through La Trobe Financial’s commercial lending, borrowers can make confident decisions because of the responsive service they’re getting from a team that provides the answers they need, in the time they need it. 

This is most appreciated by underserved borrowers whom La Trobe Financial helps with personalised service, which automated underwriters simply can’t help with. La Trobe Financial underwriters go the extra yard with credit assessment techniques to appropriately assess lending. Then, when borrowers experience La Trobe Financial’s service, it’s simple.

Liberty 

1st place: SME Loans Over $250k

Speaking to The Adviser, John Mohnacheff, Liberty’s group sales manager, outlines how the non-bank has been helping find more solutions for those outside of traditional lending criteria

Q: What do you think makes your SME loans so popular with brokers?

We have a proud history of helping borrowers who don’t fit rigid traditional lending criteria – and supporting small businesses is a critical part of that. We understand the unique needs of business owners, and tailor our solutions to even the most complex scenarios. With a broad range of flexible options, our free-thinking SME loans can help Australian businesses secure the finance they need.

With more than two decades of experience in specialist lending, Liberty understands that SME customers often require significantly faster access to funds than your typical mortgage customer. As such, we take care to deliver fast turnaround times on our SME loan applications to help ensure our business partners can provide a delightful customer experience.

Q: What are the main benefits of this product to borrowers?

Faced with continued uncertainty, small-business borrowers are seeking more flexible financial support. At Liberty, the personalisation of our solutions is what really benefits borrowers. As well as broader LVRs, we offer a range of business solutions to help borrowers in a variety of situations access funds to keep their business moving forward. 

We assess each application on a case-by-case basis, taking time to understand the needs of each customer. Whether a borrower has historical credit issues, lacks the typical documentation, or simply prefers to do things differently, together with brokers we help customers find their best fit.

Mortgage Ezy

1st place: SMSF Loans

Peter James, the CEO of Mortgage Ezy, details what he thinks the secrets to success are for the lender’s SMSF products

Q: What do you think makes your products so popular with brokers? 

Mortgage Ezy is renowned for filling the gaps in lending the banks leave behind and brokers have long been voting with their feet choosing to bring their clients to Mortgage Ezy because they know that we offer a personalised service, treating each applicant as an individual not just as a number as the banks are apt to do.

Now with CBA and ANZ competing even more with brokers for prime loans by launching their own digital mortgage divisions, specialty lending now, more than ever, provides unique opportunities for brokers to diversify and strengthen their overall business. 

We are continually committed to providing a one-stop shop for wholesale lending as we specialise in saying yes to those sometimes tricky SMSF, expat, commercial or other loans that don’t fit into the “cookie cutter” policy of most other lenders. 

Q: What are the main benefits of the SMSF product to borrowers? 

With banks pulling out of the SMSF space, Mortgage Ezy has become the “go-to lender” for SMSF loans, both for purchasers and refinances. 

With many clients stuck paying [interest rates in the] 6s or 7s, previously unaware that they could refinance to a much better solution at rates as low as 3.59 per cent, it’s no wonder Mortgage Ezy is so popular. 

Incorporating great features such as 100 per cent offset, cashback and express refinance (also known as simple switch) is the icing on the cake. The good news is that the lower the LVR the cheaper the rate and as Mortgage Ezy regularly conducts fortnightly webinars and customised training it’s easy to get upskilled in SMSF products. Too Ezy! 

ScotPac

1st place: Debtor Finance Loans

Craig Michie, ScotPac’s group executive, asset finance, says that the lender’s experience and background help instil confidence in brokers

Q: What do you think makes your products so popular with brokers?

ScotPac’s collaborative approach and 30-year track record of delivering great results instil confidence in our broker partners. Brokers have access to decision-makers who work with speed to tailor the right funding solution to match the unique needs of their clients, whatever their size or sector. 

Brokers know well our invoice, trade and asset finance solutions, and with our new Home Loan, Cash on Call and Business Loan (both secured and unsecured) products, we can meet almost all client needs with speed and flexibility. Put simply, the breadth of our product range means we can help brokers assist their clients where others can’t. We have also invested to help them be successful. 

Our new Partner Portal gives brokers access to thousands of dollars in marketing materials and more tools than ever before to help them thrive in a competitive marketplace.

Q: What are the main benefits of your debtor finance products to borrowers?

We understand SME borrowers and the many issues owners face daily, from sales and marketing to finance and accounting. They like our ability to provide fast, flexible funding for every stage of their business. For example, growing businesses often struggle with cash flow as working capital demands increase in line with sales.

ScotPac delivers tailored solutions to help these borrowers. Our invoice finance provides fast access to working capital as businesses grow, and we can approve asset finance limits that consider forecast cash flow to help with future business needs. 

Another borrower benefit is the ability to digitally link their accounts with our loan products, which streamlines the borrowing process, saves time and makes record-keeping a breeze. ScotPac has a solution for almost all businesses at any stage of their life cycle.

Written by Annie Kane

Last Updated: 17 June 2022

Published: 10 June 2022