GMAC-RFC announced that its online binding decisioning system is worth as much as £35,000 per annum to intermediaries and identified four key areas where current users had identified benefits, which included more customers signing-up on day one, time being saved on administration, freed-up time leading to more sales, and more cases being complete.
But Les Whitfield, director of Western Mortgage Brokers, queried GMAC-RFC’s figures. On the statement that £14,000 worth of broker’s time can be saved by cutting administration, he said: “Surely the time saved on administration has simply been used on extra selling; hence you can forget the £14,000.”
Whitfield also pointed out that the gains assumed by a 15 per cent increase in completions failed to take into account the fact that some cases may not complete. He said: “If that is how GMAC-RFC does its sums, we are in real trouble. We use GMAC-RFC and it generally provides a good service but it assumes too much in these figures.”
Jeff Knight, head of marketing services at GMAC-RFC, said: “Our calculations are based on assumptions made after extensive research among intermediaries. There isn’t any double counting. Because the decision is binding, more customers sign-up on day one rather than shopping around, which results roughly in one extra sell.”
He added: “With POSD we’ve found 15 per cent more cases complete whereas with an old-fashioned DIP they may not. The value to individual intermediaries will vary however, depending on their own business volumes.”
Matt Grayson, head of public relations at BM Solutions, said: “There are benefits available to brokers that are quantifiable and non-quantifiable, and if the POSD system was available for them to submit applications 24 hours, rather than closing at 10 pm, it would make the numbers even more attractive.”
