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Good quality leads and high conversion rates are on top of the wish list for any broker. Yet the fly in the ointment are clients who don’t disclose the full extent of their debt, which can waste a huge amount of time and effort.
One of the standard processes in weeding out the tyre kickers involves getting the client to complete a questionnaire prior to a meeting to establish their level of debt. However, this is reliant on the client being open and honest, and requires further digging to validate the information.
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What if there was a way to speed up and automate the process?
There is a growing trend for consumers to use financial apps where transaction history from multiple bank accounts is gathered by a third-party aggregation company, and then categorised to help people better manage their money. In the US and UK, many of these apps (like Mint) are powered by technology provided by software firm Yodlee.
The company, which just raised US$75 million ($86 million) in its initial public offering, also has its own money management tool called Money Centre that consumers can use to access transaction history and reports on how they spend their money. Plus, it supports many of the online banking websites run by retail banks.
Yodlee analyses the data it collects from Money Centre and the third-party apps and websites it supports, which it then sells back to the banks and other financial institutions including accounting software providers like Xero. This analysis gives a clear and complete picture of a consumer’s financial behaviour across all of their bank accounts.
The firm is already in the Australian market and offers a similar service to financial organisations here, working with the likes of ANZ and supporting products such as BankVision. For brokers, this tool could also be a real boon. Imagine being able to access a complete view of a potential client’s finances during the pre-qualifying stage without having to use a questionnaire or review mountains of bank statements?
While there are obvious privacy and security concerns that would need to be addressed, data aggregation and analysis of this kind has the potential to change the way brokers interact and market to their customers. Whether it’s provided by Yodlee or another firm, this technology is definitely something to keep an eye on and I suspect that this may be the standard in three to five years.
