PEXA subscribers make record digital refinance settlements

As Property Exchange Australia Ltd (PEXA), the digital conveyancing network powered by Property Exchange Australia, counts down to the 1 August compliance date for electronic refinance transactions in NSW, Victoria and Western Australia, subscribers are reaching record refinance settlement figures.

Twelve of the 4,114 PEXA subscribers set monthly refinance settlement records for May: ANZ, NAB, Macquarie Bank, St. George, BOQ, Newcastle Permanent, Greater Bank, Beyond Bank, People’s Choice, Heritage Bank, Hume Bank and ANZ Private.

While only two of the major banks set monthly records, all four topped the list for the number of refinance submissions in the last week of May, with Westpac Group reaching 559 refinance invitations, followed by ANZ with 419, CBA Group with 353 and NAB with 323.

Notably, legal firm MSA National Pty Ltd, came in ahead of several lenders, coming in fifth with 213 digital refinance submissions in the last week of May, ahead of lender Suncorp in sixth (with 172).

Commenting on the result, MSA CEO Ayhan Baba said: “We launched an internal digital transformation program called ‘Digital Now’ to change the mindset of our staff from paper to digital. The change in mindset has been easier than we thought. Our staff are embracing it with enthusiasm. We have leaderboards internally and there is a buzz of anticipation for the 1 August mandate.”

MSA managing director Sam Makhoul added that MSA had a “three-prong” strategy for digitisation, including IDme VOI mobile App, NewGen Digital Documents (in partnership with DocuSign) and MyVideo, our latest most exciting CX solution.

He added: “We are a partner that is committed to digital transformation with the ultimate goal of improving the customer experience and reducing the cost of getting a home loan. That’s what it’s all about. The customer. Everything we design is with complete empathy for ordinary people.”

First Legal, Gadens Lawyers Melbourne and Legalstream Pty Ltd also achieved a high number of digital refinance applications, coming in at seventh, eighth and ninth respectively, while Bendigo Bank rounded out the list at number 10 (with 52). 

Between 28 May and 4 June, the PEXA network reported total transactions swelled to 9,001, an increase of 4.3 per cent, while refinance settlements grew by 3 per cent, reaching 3,708. 

Standalone digital mortgages also increased by 1 per cent, growing to 772 and a 6 per cent increase to standalone discharge with 1,803. The number of PEXA subscribers is currently sitting at 4,114.

PEXA also noted that CBA Group recently reached a record 100,000 digital transactions since June 2013, when they were involved in PEXA’s inaugural transaction.

The network added that Westpac Group recently launched its Digital First campaign, designed to raise the profile of e-conveyancing and encourage staff to transition to digital and that in doing so, reached a 47 per cent increase in its digital applications compared to the previous week.

[Related: Mortgage refinancing to become paperless]