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The ASX-listed group most known for its health insurance comparison service employs 25 brokers and has been named the highest ranked new entrant in The Adviser’s Top 25 Brokerages this year.
iSelect is part of a growing sector of digitally savvy operators making serious headway in the home loan market.
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In the 2016 financial year, the group settled 961 loans and achieved $404 million in volumes. Chief executive Scott Wilson told The Adviser that he expects volumes increase significantly as the brokerage streamlines its conversion process.
“I’d like to see us quadrupling our volumes, so heading towards that $2 billion settlement mark over the next couple of years,” Mr Wilson said.
“We are starting to get that scale and leverage the marketing demand. We will continue building the number of brokers we have. We probably get as many leads as the big four banks, so it’s not about demand, it’s about achieving that efficient process. We are going to try and serve as many customers as possible as best we can.”
iSelect aggregates through AFG and has been offering home loans since 2012. Brokers provide assistance to clients over the phone, while technology has been used to replace what Mr Wilson calls the “non-value added” processes.
“Three years ago, we looked at digitalising the mortgage process without compromising on the advice given to the customer. Our objective as mortgage brokers is to get people into their homes with the right advice and the right loan as effortlessly as possible,” Mr Wilson said.
“We are just using a series of technologies in the back to strip out all the non value-added steps. Traditionally brokers would post out an information pack or visit the client for an hour, get to know them and identify their needs, then go away and do the comparison of what loan meets their requirements and then come back again,” he explained. “In our model, we use the website and technologies in the background to do that in real time. We are doing things like using MOGO to bring in a client’s bank statement and ZipID for identity verification.”
Late last year iSelect made headlines after announcing that it was trialling a digital mortgage process with AFG, ING DIRECT and Macquarie Bank.
“There have been considerable advances in recent years in the streamlining and digitising of financial services such as opening bank accounts, managing stock portfolios and filing tax returns. Yet, acquiring conditional approval for a home loan is secured in a similar fashion to how it might have been done decades ago,” Mr Wilson said at the time.
iSelect was ranked 13th in The Adviser’s Top 25 Brokerages. Check out our special episode of Elite Broker for full details of the ranking.
[Related: AFG explains new iSelect mortgage deal]
