Comparison website iSelect anticipates full rollout in 2017 | Westpac profits fall 7% but home lending strong
Three hour online mortgage being trialled by iSelect with rollout in 2017
A three hour, fully online home loan application process is being trialled by comparison website iSelect. With lenders currently including Macquarie, IMG and Australian Finance Group, consumers will be able to get conditional approval without needing to visit a bank or fill out paperwork, according to ASX-listed iSelect.
CEO Scott Wilson told the Australian Financial Review that the company was responding to an ‘antiquated’ application process: "we've had more than 200,000 people come and talk to us about home loans, but one of the frustrating things has been that is an antiquated process and there would be up to 46 pages of documents [needed for conditional approval] that had to be sent out and signed.”
Over the past three months, around 50%of conditional approvals for the three lenders involved in the trial have been completed via the digital process, equating to more than 20% of all iSelect home loan applications.iSelect utilises electronic signing through DocuSign, ZipID and credit checks through Veda, although 'verbal signatures' over the phone are still required.
Alan Caputo, iSelect’s financial services group executive said: “By eliminating the need for face-to-face meetings with brokers and enabling customers to develop an ongoing relationship with them through phone and email contact we have created a service that is more in tune with how people are accustomed to operating and communicating today… we feel we have created a digital process with a human touch.”
Launching a digital mortgage is part of iSelect’s drive to become a ‘life admin’ provider; alongside its extensive health insurance, car insurance and other businesses.
Westpac profits fall 7%
Westpac have announced what they claim are ‘consistent’ full year results, with a net profit of $7.45bn, down 7% on the previous year.
CEO Brian Hartzer said the results reflect a ‘disciplined’ approach to balancing growth and returns: “we have strengthened our balance sheet, carefully managed margins, and achieved $263 million in productivity savings, while increasing our investment in digital and other service initiatives.”
Hartzer picked out mortgages as an area of growth: “the consumer bank continued to be the driver of the Group’s growth. It expanded its customer base by 3% and had strong home loan and deposit growth of 8% and 7% respectively.”
Mortgage delinquencies also saw a minor rise, with 90+ day delinquencies rising 21 basis points compared to 2015, although some of that can be attributed to changes hardship reporting. Westpac say the number of houses in possession is just 262, in a mortgage book of 1.6 million.
A three hour, fully online home loan application process is being trialled by comparison website iSelect. With lenders currently including Macquarie, IMG and Australian Finance Group, consumers will be able to get conditional approval without needing to visit a bank or fill out paperwork, according to ASX-listed iSelect.
CEO Scott Wilson told the Australian Financial Review that the company was responding to an ‘antiquated’ application process: "we've had more than 200,000 people come and talk to us about home loans, but one of the frustrating things has been that is an antiquated process and there would be up to 46 pages of documents [needed for conditional approval] that had to be sent out and signed.”
Over the past three months, around 50%of conditional approvals for the three lenders involved in the trial have been completed via the digital process, equating to more than 20% of all iSelect home loan applications.iSelect utilises electronic signing through DocuSign, ZipID and credit checks through Veda, although 'verbal signatures' over the phone are still required.
Alan Caputo, iSelect’s financial services group executive said: “By eliminating the need for face-to-face meetings with brokers and enabling customers to develop an ongoing relationship with them through phone and email contact we have created a service that is more in tune with how people are accustomed to operating and communicating today… we feel we have created a digital process with a human touch.”
Launching a digital mortgage is part of iSelect’s drive to become a ‘life admin’ provider; alongside its extensive health insurance, car insurance and other businesses.
Westpac profits fall 7%
Westpac have announced what they claim are ‘consistent’ full year results, with a net profit of $7.45bn, down 7% on the previous year.
CEO Brian Hartzer said the results reflect a ‘disciplined’ approach to balancing growth and returns: “we have strengthened our balance sheet, carefully managed margins, and achieved $263 million in productivity savings, while increasing our investment in digital and other service initiatives.”
Hartzer picked out mortgages as an area of growth: “the consumer bank continued to be the driver of the Group’s growth. It expanded its customer base by 3% and had strong home loan and deposit growth of 8% and 7% respectively.”
Mortgage delinquencies also saw a minor rise, with 90+ day delinquencies rising 21 basis points compared to 2015, although some of that can be attributed to changes hardship reporting. Westpac say the number of houses in possession is just 262, in a mortgage book of 1.6 million.
