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Several third-party banks have revealed they have been holding discussions with lenders that are investigating moving into the broker channel.
P&N Bank, Teachers Mutual Bank and Wide Bay Australia told The Adviser they have been approached by other customer-owned banks that want to learn about their third-party experiences.
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P&N's manager of broker and relationship banking, Tony Versace, said he had discussed the challenges and benefits of the third-party channel with several interested parties.
"You've got price, product, process and people. We've talked a little around all those aspects and what we believe has worked for us in terms of getting a bit of market share," he said.
"My guess is that if any were to enter, it would be in the back half of the financial year based on the couple of discussions I've had."
Teachers Mutual's national manager of third-party distribution, Mark Middleton, said he had advised interested parties to prepare thoroughly before entering the third-party channel.
"You could go in tomorrow, but if you don't get it right you're going to burn brokers and they're never going to use you again," he said.
Mr Middleton said it took Teachers Mutual 12 months to prepare for last year's move into the mortgage broker market.
"Anyone who has entered into this space has found it a hard space. If you want to get it right, you've got to do it right," he said.
Wide Bay Australia's general manager of third-party and strategic alliances, Charlton Nevis, said lenders often become interested in the third-party channel after hiring executives with broker experience.
"That seems to be a stimulus and that conversation gets some excitement at leadership level, and I find that that often continues until the point when their decision-makers start to get into the detail of it, and that's when I find the chatter stops or slows," he said.
Mr Nevis said lenders will continue to show interest in the third-party channel as brokers continue to increase their market share.
"A lot of these organisations are seeing that potentially as an avenue of growth for their balance sheet," he said.
"However – and this is especially for the smaller ones – once they start to get their mind around what's involved, that's where they run into strategic challenges for themselves.
"There's a level of commitment and investment required before you get the payoff."
Bank of China entered the third-party channel in late October, while Bank of Sydney is currently conducting a "soft launch" ahead of a full launch in early 2015.
[Related: Bank of China forecasts broker expansion]
