Following on from GMAC-RFC initiating its automated valuation model (AVM) point of sale offer (POSO), and a host of lenders set to launch similar propositions in the coming months, packagers and distributors confirmed that they would have to adapt to the changing marketplace if they were to survive.
Vic Jannels, managing director at of All Types of Mortgages (AToM), admitted that the packager model would have to change. He said: “”we have got a very strong view that technology is key in all aspects of the industry. I think that there will be a reduction in the number of large packagers in the market, but rising from this will be smaller packagers that have the ability to deal with large volumes of distribution in niche sectors.”
He added: “there are a lot of distributors and packagers already working on models in which the intermediary can key in a decision-in-principle (DIP) that can be used for an online decision. Once this has been approved by the introducer and client the broker can press a key so that all of the information can be pre-populated for the packager. However, if there is a pre-population of information, if there are any changes, or the lender is switched then the process has to be started again. There needs to be a system in which the systems will allow for changes like that.”
David Wylie, chairman of the c2-Group, said technology could both help and hinder the packaging and distributor market. He said: “I do think that there is a significant risk to established packagers as the recent launch of AVMs means that fewer brokers have to go through packagers. Packagers have already tried venturing into the niche sectors including the bridging and overseas market, but have only had limited success.”
