Personal Touch, which has been providing Trigold free to members, has now signed a deal with Mortgage Brain whereby its back-office system Toolbox has been integrated with the Mortgage Brain sourcing engine and the Mortgage Trading Exchange (MTE).
As a result, its ARs will now have to switch to Mortgage Brain if they want to receive a free sourcing system.
A letter sent on Thursday 19 January by Martin Wilson, chairman of Personal Touch Financial Services, to its ARs, states: ‘Full pre-population into Trigold will continue and we have negotiated a discounted price for those that wish to continue using this system. Please note Abbey are not continuing with the sponsorship of Trigold discs for our membership so anyone wishing to continue with the system will need to make a monthly subscription directly to Trigold.’
The decision has aggrieved some Personal Touch ARs who are concerned about the accuracy of Mortgage Brain.
One member said: “Why have they gone to a system that has been criticised for its inaccuracies? Members will also have to find their way round a new system. Maybe it was cheaper to go with Mortgage Brain, but is cheaper better? I think a lot of the members will stay with Trigold, even though they will have to pay.”
Mortgage Introducer revealed last week that Mortgage Brain had again been criticised for displaying products that no longer existed.
Mike Allison, managing director of Personal Touch, said: “We were charging £200 for our back-office system but now it is free. We are just waiting for Trigold to come back to us with the possibility of offering its system for free as well, as long as Toolbox is integrated into it.”
