It’s no dead certainty brokers will divert ING deals to Scotia, in fact, argue some, the spoils could go to monolines able to duplicate the lender’s star offerings.
It’s no dead certainty brokers will divert ING deals to Scotia, in fact, argue some, the spoils could go to monolines able to duplicate the lender’s star offerings.
“I think that the Scotia operation is quite different from ING’s in terms of both product and underwriting,” Jeff Attwooll, with Verico KW Mortgage told MortgageBrokerNews.ca, within hours of the announcement “the little bank that could” plans to exit the channel. “That makes it unlikely brokers will automatically be sending those deal to Scotia.
“But I would say that those non-bank lenders that are able to replicate some of ING’s standout products and terms will win a good chunk of those deals that would normally have gone to ING.”
That thinking likely reflects the conversations now going on in executive offices across the broker channel as monolines look to capitalize the exit of yet another high-profile lender.
In a letter to broker partners Wednesday, ING Director of Broker Sales Kim Luxton points to overlap between her operation and that of its new parent Scotia in explaining the move to severe the connection to mortgage professionals.
"We felt that both ING DIRECT’s and Scotiabank’s objectives would be better served by allowing each entity to focus its efforts on its own relative strengths,” she writes. "Scotiabank has the capacity to meet your needs and your clients’ needs, providing you with the level of service you have become accustomed to with ING DIRECT."
Brokers aren’t necessarily on the same page.
Attwooll is one of many telling MortgageBrokerNews.ca that ING’s HELOCs and its 25/25 prepayment terms are just two of several key offerings that separated it from the pack. They’re hoping a monoline will move quickly to fill that gap by effectively copying ING’s product line. They’re less hopeful Scotia will be able to pull off the feat.
“No clear frontrunner has yet emerged,” says Attwooll, a high-volume broker with ING and, quite frankly, one of its greatest supporters. “Still, if I had to bet at this time, I think Merix, given how it has stepped up its game, may emerge as that.
“It’s wait and see now.”
