Resimac confirms 2021 roll-out of digital loan origination system

A time frame for when Resimac Group Limited (Resimac) will introduce its digital loan origination system to Australia has been announced, with the non-bank lender stating its intentions earlier this week. 

Speaking at Resimac’s 2021 annual general meeting (AGM) on Tuesday (16 November), chief executive Scott McWilliam revealed that the ASX-listed company’s loan origination system will roll out “with the Australia environment” next month. 

The decision comes after the recent introduction of this digital system to New Zealand.

“This system will drive the required scale in our origination process to facilitate the targeted $8 billion of home loan settlements in FY24,” Mr McWilliam said in his speech to shareholders. 

However, as Mr McWilliam continued, he noted that next month will also see the introduction of this digital core banking system to New Zealand, with the product on track to roll out in the country by this time.

The Australian go live for this digital core banking system is expected to be late financial year 2022. 

“But these milestones are really just the start of an ongoing digital journey that we’re committed to for the long haul, whereby we continually evolve our business to remain relevant to our customers,” Mr McWilliam added. 

These announcements are the latest steps taken by Resimac into the digital space.

Roughly 12 months ago, the non-bank lender revealed it had partnered with the technology providers Infosys, Loanworks, NextGen.Net and Equifax as a means to develop and implement a digital loan process. 

According to the 2021 AGM, a September-launched campaign of its direct-to-consumer offering homeloans.com.au saw an increase in applications over October that was 70 per cent higher than the monthly average for 1Q22. 

During this same AGM, it was announced that Resimac recorded a normalised net profit after tax of $104 million for FY21, with the non-bank lender attributing its ongoing investments into its digital transformation as a key driving factor. 

The ASX-listed lender simultaneously confirmed it had reached $2.5 billion in home loan settlements during 1Q22. 

However, while Resimac’s position does represent a rapid momentum for the lending industry’s pivot towards digitalisation, other lenders have highlighted the issues facing borrowers currently.

Speaking at a CoreLogic webinar earlier this week (16 November), Athena Home Loans chief risk officer Joseph Seychell said the sector is ripe for disruption around how customers switch providers, before criticising the “complex process of reapplying for loans” and the need to traverse through multiple components.

“I’ve got a loan, I want to move to a lender who’s given me a much better rate, a much better deal. That’s just got to be easier than this now complex discharge process where customers are being harassed… and all sorts of processes to frustrate them,” he added.

“Really, as an industry, I think we’ve got to move to the point where customers make the decision to move and that just moves just like you’re moving phone numbers.”

86 400 head of lending Melissa Christy shared mutual concerns, stating that the post-settlement customer experience still exhibited flaws and that there was a need for data insights. 

“I think there’s a big opportunity to get all of those maintenance and things you want to do with your loan, as well provide insights about your property and your loan, [which] will give you information about changes you might want to make to your loan in your app,” Ms Christy said.

“I think that’s something that’s next on the agenda.”

[Related: Digital lenders indicate mortgage industry blind spots]