Tic:Toc to offer broking services

The mortgage fintech – which launched in 2017 as a competitor to the broker channel, offering only direct-to-consumer mortgages (funded by Bendigo and Adelaide Bank) – is now preparing to tap into the strong demand for mortgage broking services by offering an in-house broking service.

It will do so by hiring in-house brokers, aggregating under AFG, and therefore becoming a lender and a brokerage.

It is expected that broking services will be offered as soon as the onboarding process, which is currently underway, completes.

The offering will enable Tic:Toc to offer AFG’s broader product set to borrowers who may not be eligible for a Tic:Toc branded home loan.

According to the platform, which is currently licensed by 17 enterprise partners, the move also aims to expand the capability of its automated lending platform to assess customers’ data against a wide suite of products. 

Tic:Toc founder and chief executive, Anthony Baum, commented: “AFG and Tic:Toc are aligned on our commitment to deliver customer-focussed, low-friction home loan solutions for Australians and their communities.

“This innovative partnership is an example of the work Tic:Toc is doing to make home loans faster, smarter and simpler for our customers and partners.”

It is expected that Tic:Toc may also offer its technology to AFG in the future to enable the development of “highly automated broker solutions”. This may include giving brokers access to the customer’s “fully assessed financial position”. 

AFG CEO David Bailey added that both AFG and Tic:Toc were leveraging technology to make the mortgage service experience better for Australian home buyers.

“We bring our best-practice aggregation solution, decades of experience in helping to build extraordinarily successful broker business, and a great range of products to the table, and Tic:Toc brings world-leading technology via their AI-driven lending platform and tech-centred customer focus,” Mr Bailey said.

“We think that our partnership with Anthony and his team will not only create an exceptional digital broker experience for Tic:Toc customers but that, collectively, we can work towards transforming the landscape for all AFG brokers. 

“We are excited about this partnership and look forward to it growing in the future.”

Tic:Toc partnerships in the broker channel

While the move to offer broking services is new for Tic:Toc, it isn’t the first time that the fintech lender has partnered with the channel.

In April last year, major brokerage Aussie launched its first online direct-to-consumer digital lending product, run in partnership with Tic:Toc.

The first product under the offering, Aussie Edge, is funded by Bendigo and Adelaide Bank (which has a 28 per cent stake in the fintech) and targets “digitally savvy” purchasers, refinancers, owner-occupiers and investors; with fixed rate, variable rate and an optional offset account.

As such, consumers can now access Aussie both via broker and direct.

The digital lender also recently announced that it had hired Purple Group Limited’s former vice-president of software development, Shantell Williams, as its next chief technology officer.

The fintech platform and digital lender said her appointment was intended to “supercharge the fintech’s next growth phase”. 

Mr Baum welcomed Ms Williams to the company, explaining that she joined at a “pivotal time” as the lender “accelerate[s its] capacity to respond to the surge in demand for digital lending and our technologies”.

He said: “Our model of running a direct-to-consumer digital home loan, as well as offering our technology to the industry, puts Tic:Toc’s platform at the core of our business, and Shantell’s strong technology and innovation background will be invaluable to us.” 

[Related: Major brokerage launches direct-to-consumer offering]