Baber Zaka is on a mission to clear up major misconceptions about banking giant's relationship with brokers
Earlier this year, Commonwealth Bank’s new general manager of third-party banking, Baber Zaka, was given the keys to Australia’s largest financial institution’s vast broker network.
His appointment comes at a time when CommBank’s relationship with the country’s increasingly dominant broker channel remains a source of confusion.
While broker market share across the entire residential market creeps towards 80%, CommBank, by virtue of having more physical branches than any other bank, receives just a third of its volume from intermediaries.
This is substantially below the other Big Four constituents – ANZ, Westpac and NAB – and not a scratch on non-major banks like ING, where broker dominance is well into the 90% range.
Make no mistake – with 25.4% of all home loans held at CommBank (per the latest APRA data), its third-party channel is a powerhouse whichever way you look at it.
But perceptions, whether valid or not, persist in regards to CommBank’s dedication growing its broker channel.
That is something Zaka wants to change. In MPA’s first podcast of the year, he discusses his vision for CommBank’s broker channel and how he intends to clear up a few misconceptions.
