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Damian Percy, general manager at Adelaide Bank, says third-party lending should be first and foremost a ‘people business’, and he’s committed to keeping the experience a personal one
“I've been involved in Adelaide Bank’s third-party businesses for a dozen or so years, and when I think about the amount of change in that time, it’s remarkable,” says Mr Percy.
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“We’ve seen the emergence, growth, contraction and now gradual recovery of the non-bank sectors; the journey to licensing and regulation; consolidation in the lending sector; a rush of vertical integration; and, more broadly, transformational technologies that allow us to watch funny cat videos on phones 30 seconds after they’re filmed. But we’re yet to be able to settle a home loan without paper.
“In spite of all that change, I think one constant has been the importance of people and relationships.
“Actually, it’s the main reason why I think the threat to brokers from online models is overstated. The quality advice and the confidence a broker can provide to customers is difficult in a purely online environment.
“It’s similar in terms of then relationship between lenders and brokers. Technology is crucial and good processes should be an absolute focus, but in my experience things are more likely to fall down when participants in the chain forget there are people at the end of it.
“A lender that is constantly aware of the people impacts will probably do a better job than one that is too large or too fragmented to feel connected to the customer. “It’s an advantage of not being too large – you’re still able to keep what you do at a personal level. Our scale and the way we do business means our staff feel connected to the transactions they’re involved in and the people affected.”
Consumer confidence
Never having been too shy to speak his mind, Mr Percy thinks the sector needs to be prepared to talk openly about protecting its greatest asset – consumer confidence in the model.
“The broker space is changing rapidly and the increasing professionalism in the industry has largely meant that we’ve managed to avoid the reputational damage suffered by, for example, the financial planning industry,” he says.
“The industry focus on elevating barriers to entry and promoting and enforcing industry codes of conduct continues to build confidence in brokers as trusted and competent advisers.
“The only developing risk, in my view, is ensuring that the vertical integration that dominates the financial planning sector and is, increasingly, a characteristic of our own, doesn’t lead to consumers starting to doubt broker independence. Brokers need not only to be giving independent advice, but to be seen to be doing so. I think improved transparency around ownership structures would assist in maintaining consumer confidence.”
Focus on the future
“Adelaide Bank’s major initiative over the next year is the replacement of our lending platform for both our branded business and wholesale partners,” says Mr Percy.
Our current platform was first released in 1999; at that time we were one of the first banks in the world to move to a paperless process environment.
“This month we kicked off the replacement project, which will deliver further efficiencies and a better ‘front of house’ experience for our partners and their customers.
“Keen pricing, great turnaround times and smart products are just one part of the overall experience with Adelaide Bank. It’s the people element that makes our business special and helps brokers to build on the success of their business.
“We look forward to continuing to serve this growing industry and to providing an even more compelling case for partners to do business with us.”
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