One of Australia’s major lenders has doubled the number of brokers in its elite segments over the past year.
Westpac general manager of broker distribution Tony MacRae told The Adviser that the bank has seen a significant increase in loan volumes from its broker partners.
To continue reading the rest of this article, please log in.
Looking for more benefits? Become a Premium Member.
Create free account to get unlimited news articles and more!
Looking for more benefits? Become a Premium Member.
“We have seen growth in the volume we do, growth in the number of brokers we deal with and we have seen a lot of organic growth of brokers moving through our segments,” Mr MacRae said.
“We have almost doubled the number of brokers we had in our platinum, A Plus and A Plus Prestige segments over the last 12 months,” he said.
"That’s because they have grown the volume of business that they deal with us or the quality of business they deliver for us.”
Mr MacRae said segmentation is a simple business model to look after the people who look after the bank. Westpac is also working with brokers keen to become a top loan writer with the bank, he said.
“What we try and do is build a pathway for those that aren’t quite there. So with the BDMs going out, talking to brokers who are either new or have been with us for a while but aren’t quite at that point, helping them get to that point.
“I don’t think it is exclusionary at all as long as you ensure you go out and give the option of availability for pathways to get there.”
Mr MacRae said he would like to double the segments again this year.
“Doubling it means we’ve actually got people working in that space and working with us,” he said.
[Related: Aggregator reports strong growth in broker numbers]