Bank Australia to introduce new loan portal

The bank’s head of lending, Martyn Norman, said that while its loan application process is streamlined and customer friendly, the area that Bank Australia needs to work on is after the application is submitted.

“That being said, in the past six months we have introduced SMS updates to our customers that apply online,” he said.

“So, we are trying to keep them informed until the portal is developed.”

Mr Norman said Bank Australia’s future focus will be on efficiency, and it is gaining inspiration from peer-to-peer lenders in regards to the level of automation involved in loan processing.

“We’re not lagging too far behind there,” he said. “But if you take a look at the peer-to-peer lending community, they do this really well, so we’re looking to replicate much of what they do.”

One of Bank Australia’s major focus areas going forward will be its relationship with PEXA – not only for standalone online mortgages and discharges, but also electronic settlement functionality. The e-conveyancing platform enables the bank to conduct refinances and purchase transactions, as well as streamline back-end processes.

Mr Norman said there has been a definite switch to improving the way lenders process mortgages and interact with customers.

“It’s that dynamic which gives banks and credit unions a chance to innovate and benchmark,” he said.

Mr Norman will be one of the featured speakers at the 11th annual Loan Origination Excellence conference, which will be held at the Aerial UTS Function Centre in Sydney from Wednesday 24 February to Friday 26 February.

[Related: Auswide inks deal with P2P lender]