While the majority of cases will have an immediate decision made once an application is submitted, cases referred to Standard Life Bank’s underwriters will have a decision within three working hours.
Key facts illustrations (KFIs) can be obtained immediately and mortgages can be customised with extra features, such as adding the mortgage fees to the loan. The website also offers a series of movies designed to help customers research and find the right mortgage.
Standard Life Bank is promoting the service by offering intermediaries a £100 flat fee in addition to their commission for every completed case placed online.
Jackie Moran, head of sales at Standard Life Bank, said: “Our online application service supports the advice process, rather than bypassing it, and helps advisers to free up their time, allowing them to focus on building their business and strengthening client relationships. The online movies are designed to make the research process quicker and easier, and being able to apply online means no more hanging around for call-backs or e-mails from lenders.”
Financial adviser Carl Weller of Positive Solutions, who trialled the service, said: “I have nothing but praise for the new service. It genuinely took me around 15 minutes to complete the whole application. I’ll definitely recommend it to my colleagues.”
Nicholas Hanson, director of Hanson Financial Management, commented: “I can’t see a downside to it, as long as the post-submission doesn’t go awry and the criteria doesn’t change after the submission. It will be a helpful business tool. But if Standard Life Bank is portraying the mortgage process as seemless in the movies and raising a client’s expectations, it might be digging itself into a bit of a hole, as many don’t go through smoothly.”
