![The Adviser](https://res.cloudinary.com/momentum-media-group-pty-ltd/image/upload/c_fill,e_unsharp_mask:100,g_center,h_389,q_auto:best,w_798/v1657606059/The%20Adviser/basic/default_vvdbbx.webp)
Jessica Darnbrough
Just four months after signalling its intention to launch into the third party distribution sector, ME Bank has expanded its broker footprint by securing a place on the lending panel of some of Australia’s largest aggregators.
At the end of last year, ME Bank unveiled National Mortgage Brokers as its first aggregation partner.
Since then, the bank has joined forces with Smartline and will soon join Vow Financial’s lender panel.
Speaking to The Adviser, ME Bank’s national manager, brokers Stewart Saunders said the lender was currently in the process of accrediting Smartline brokers.
“We have been accrediting brokers for the past month and hope to finish this process soon,” he said.
Following this, the lender will start work with Vow Financial.
“We are in talks with a number of aggregation groups at the moment, but we have nearly completed a deall with Vow Financial and we expect to start distributing products through them by the end of May,” Mr Saunders said.
Vow Financial’s chief executive Tim Brown told The Adviser that the partnership was new and exciting terrain for the aggregator.
“One of the things our brokers told me when I came on board was that they wanted a broader panel of lenders. In the last six months we have signed Barnes Home Loans and now we will look to bring on ME Bank too,” Mr Brown said.
“ME Bank is not a major bank, but they are a well respected Australian bank that has a following within the union movement, so it is important for us to have them on our panel.
“We want to make sure we offer a broad range of products and lenders.”