Banks beat brokers on turnaround times: Report

The Consumer Access to Mortgages Report, an annual research initiative conducted by independent research firm Momentum Intelligence, asked 450 borrowers between January and April 2021 how satisfied they were with the approval speed of their mortgage.

The results showed 61 per cent of proprietary channel customers were satisfied, while just over half (53 per cent) of broker customers were satisfied.

The Consumer Access to Mortgage Report, released last year, noted that these differences may potentially indicate variances in processing times between the proprietary and broker channels that have been reported.

“Turnaround times are one of the most important factors to consider when placing a loan with a lender due to the timely nature of settlements,” the report noted.

“A timely approval will not only reduce anxiety and stress for the prospective borrower but it will mean the experience is positive and increases the likelihood of repeat business.

“Therefore, it is critically important that not only the lender selection is optimal but that the client’s expectations are managed effectively.”

A number of lenders have recently announced reviews of their operations in a bid to speed up approvals.

In May Auswide outlined plans to keep the momentum going in its loan book, by maintaining speedy turnarounds in the third-party channel. The bank said a series of robotic processes have already been successfully implemented in the operations and loan processing functions.

In June Beyond Bank expanded its partnership with NextGen in a bid to establish a complete end-to-end origination and assessment process.

According to NextGen, Beyond Bank will adopt the full capabilities of its ApplyOnline platform in a move to establish a single system across its first and third-party channels. 

Once complete, this measure will see the application of NextGen tools that include eSign, NextGenID and Access Seeker, as well as the fintech’s Financial Passport.