It aims to be broker favourite
Bankwest wants to be the best broker bank in Australia and digital innovation in 2022 will play a key part in attaining that goal.
MPA caught up with Ian Rakhit (pictured), general manager of third party banking, to talk about the property market and what the next 12 months has in store for the Perth-based bank and its network of 13,000 accredited brokers.
Rakhit said lending volumes have remained strong through the pandemic.
“Bankwest continues to gear up for significant demand from customers and brokers in 2022,” he said. “We’ve invested significant resources in our digital innovation to create simpler and more efficient experiences for customers and brokers alike.
“Our end-to-end digital home loan process is an example of that, with digital document signing allowing eligible customers to sign their home loan contracts online from any device within minutes.
“This was a feature we introduced before the world experienced COVID-19, and it took processing times from weeks to days, and significantly reduced error rates.”
Rakhit said Bankwest recently introduced digital signing for home loan transfers “as we see more customers look to save money on their existing loans”.
Bankwest, which won the Bank of the Year at the 2021 Australian Mortgage Awards, is strongly committed to the broker network with 80% of its home loans originating through its 13,000 brokers.
“We’re determined to deliver brilliant customer experiences every day, but we also know some people prefer to have brokers support them in making one of the biggest financial decisions of their lives.
“That is why our broker network – and supporting those brokers with trusted BDM relationships and market-leading digital tools and processes – is so important to us, because we want to know that no matter how customers come to Bankwest, they’ve had a brilliant experience,” he said.
Rakhit said being the best bank for brokers is more than simply ensuring Bankwest is a part of initial conversations, “it means meeting brokers’ needs and expectations, and delivering for customers, in a way that ensures Bankwest is a part of every conversation, from new applications, to refinancing”.
“That is behind our drive to establish and build the BDM relationships, tools, processes, and support that brokers need and want, and that help them deliver for their customers,” he said.
It is also why Bankwest operates a case-ownership model, with one point of contact throughout the application process to ensure maximum efficiency for brokers.
“A key to achieving that was improving our processes to better use comprehensive credit reporting and reduce the document requirements for customers, and we complemented that change with more colleagues in processing and credit areas, increasing capacity and capability,” he explained.
Rakhit said the bank’s commitment to supporting brokers led to the creation of its dedicated Bankwest Broker Portal.
“This brings together features such as live chat, live application tracking, and our learning library that supports brokers in running and growing their business,” he said.
Brokers are also able to access the Pricing Tool via the portal to provide immediate reprices to new and existing customers, improving their experience by delivering the best possible price without delay.
“I’m proud of the collaborative relationships we’ve developed with brokers, because it’s only through those relationships that we can understand what actions we need to take, and what initiatives we need to deliver to best support brokers,” he said.
“We want to be known as the best broker bank in Australia, and we believe the best way to achieve that is by listening to brokers, delivering what they need and want, and then backing them to deliver the brilliant customer experiences Bankwest strives to be known for.”
Although Western Australia’s borders are shut, Rakhit said the WA economy has remained relatively buoyant during the pandemic.
“We continue to experience strong demand for new lending and renovation-type lending in WA,” he said.
Loan growth is spread across Australia, said Rakhit
“The past two years have seen significant lending growth and Bankwest has been delighted to help larger numbers of customers both east and west,” he said.
“Bankwest strives to provide the simple, friendly services, tools and practical support brokers need to be successful, so they can focus on helping these customers – these aspiring Aussie homeowners – to put a roof over their heads after two years of uncertainty, with confidence and ease.”
Rakhit said open banking will provide customers with greater power over their data.
“This in turn, will improve access times and reduce barriers to required data for permitted financial institutions, but it’s too early to be able to predict specifics,” he said.
“However, we already know technology has led to significant changes in the lending industry, such as the increased use of desktop valuations like Bankwest’s AVM in the Broker Portal, and digital signatures on loan contracts.”
Rakhit said Bankwest’s digital home loan process has resulted in significantly lower error rates and faster error identification and correction.
“Processing times of the application has gone from weeks when using hardcopy forms, to days,” he noted.
Last month, Bankwest introduced a boost for first home buyers in the form of a $1,500 cashback. This complements the 98% LVR including LMI lending offer for owner occupier and construction applications introduced in 2021, which remains in place.
Rakhit said coming later this year are plans to further develop Bankwest’s valuation portal to give brokers more decisions immediately, an extension of fixed rates “so we can offer these up to 98% LVR and an increasing use of ‘data over documents’ to help us get to ‘yes’ quicker”.
