Optoma, who will be acting as a packager for the new broking operation, said it hopes to be processing around 500 cases a month from the deal.
MoneyExpert.com was formed in May 2003 and allows consumers to research around 8,000 mortgage products on its website.
“We established that only 3 per cent of consumers would actually complete a mortgage application online due to the complexity of the product make-up and the need for advice and human interaction,” said MoneyExpert.com chief executive Sean Gardner.
“We realised that MoneyExpert’s mortgage proposition was primarily a research tool for consumers and subsequently that the commercial opportunity was one of lead generation into ‘advice channels’.”
As a result MoneyExpert has launched a 12-seat call centre at its head office in Haydock, Merseyside, including a start-up team of four brokers and seven customer liaison operators.
The firm plans to scale the mortgage sales operation to 40 seats by the end of 2005.
Gardner said: “We chose Optoma as our processing partner because of its innovative IT solutions and fast turnaround of applications. This will translate into a better and faster service for MoneyExpert customers.”
Matthew Bright, managing director of Optoma, said: “It is refreshing to see an internet company which recognises the limits of the web in terms of financial advice and is willing to take the logical step of broadening its offering.”
MoneyExpert claims to generate around 4,000 mortgage leads per month and said it was in negotiations to supply them to appropriate
brokerages in addition to its own operation.
