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Westpac has proven to be a powerful presence in the asset finance industry after the latest Broker Pulse: Commercial Lending report from Agile Market Intelligence recognised the major as having positive feedback from brokers.
The data revealed that Westpac was the most popular choice for asset finance, with nearly half (47 per cent) of brokers using the major to service these types of loans throughout January.
Further, the bank scored the fastest turnaround times among the majors for asset finance, with an average of just 1.2 days.
Broker experience with Westpac also surged ahead, scoring the highest satisfaction scores among the majors for its BDMs (86 per cent), application process (81 per cent), credit assessment (81 per cent), and settlement (84 per cent).
Speaking to Broker Daily, Westpac’s national general manager of specialised lending, Greg Pell, said that asset finance continues to remain a priority for the bank.
“Equipment finance is a significant focus area for Westpac, and a real strength of our business. Over the past decade we’ve had a leading and consistent proposition in market and our specialist team of equipment finance bankers are second to none,” Pell said.
A refreshed broker introducer portal has been credited with boosting market presence. The DriveOnline platform is helping promote efficiency among commercial and asset finance brokers.
“Westpac’s market leading online platform DriveOnline makes submitting applications easy for brokers, and for equipment finance up to $500K, we offer approval and settlement in as little as four hours. So if a business needs to buy a commercial vehicle or an excavator tomorrow we can make that happen,” said Pell.
“Our DriveOnline platform sets us apart when it comes to accessing finance fast, but our biggest asset is our people. We have a dedicated and passionate team of expert equipment finance bankers who partner with customers and brokers to find the right solutions to suit their needs. It’s about speed, consistency and excellent customer service.”
Westpac also scored well in other areas of the Broker Pulse report, making the top three in both commercial mortgages and business loans, with broker usage at 27 per cent and 20 per cent, respectively.
In asset finance, most brokers (39 per cent) were servicing loans valued between $50,001 and $250,000. Meanwhile, 14 per cent were handling loans less than $50,000 and 27 per cent, $250,001–$1 million.
Victoria and Tasmania were hotspots for asset finance, with January seeing an average of six applications submitted per broker. Queensland, NSW, and ACT followed with an average of five.
[Related: Finance Specialist: Shining light on commercial and asset finance]
