The head of sales of a small business loan specialist has said that brokers “have to expand their offering” to cover resi and commercial writing as competition in the industry increases.
Michael Burke, the head of sales at OnDeck Australia, has said that he expects a growing number of brokers to move into alternative lending, in addition to the move from residential to commercial lending, due to increased competition in traditional markets and as a means of revenue diversification.
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Noting that a “growing number of traditional mortgage broking houses” were looking at product diversification due to increased competition in the industry (for example, Aussie, Connective, FAST and PLAN have all added asset finance to their bow), Mr Burke said: “As a result, brokers have to expand their offering to include residential, commercial, asset, equipment finance and more.”
Mr Burke added that fintechs such as OnDeck also benefit from fast turnaround times.
“Brokers are not only looking to move into online lending because of the speed and ease of doing business it offers, but because their time-poor customers are demanding a more convenient solution involving faster turnaround times.”
OnDeck has said that it is now seeking alliances with commercial loan brokers, mortgage brokers and other business finance brokers to offer unsecured small business loans via their broker platforms.
“We would like to continue to provide an online lending solution to small business owners by expanding our industry relationships,” Mr Burke said.
He concluded that the company will be bringing in more BDMs and account managers in 2018 as part of its plans to “strengthen its broker offering”.
[Related: SME lender keen to deepen partnership with brokers]