Login
ISCOVER
The MFAA has conceded that its decision to discard the term ‘broker’ in favour of ‘credit adviser’ was inappropriate.
The industry body came to the realisation following a series of discussions with brokers across the country.
MFAA CEO Siobhan Hayden told The Adviser that the result of the association’s ‘Paving the Road’ sessions was that brokers do not relate to the term ‘credit adviser’.
“The term was adopted by the MFAA a few years ago and it is on our magazine and in our terminology, but when you see lenders that don’t have a retail distribution channel, their advertising in the market is ‘Talk to your broker today’,” Ms Hayden explained.
“The ‘credit adviser’ term often provides a misunderstanding of whether they are a financial adviser.
“When you talk to brokers in the market, obviously everyone has different approaches, but I have rarely heard anyone say they are a credit adviser.”
Ms Hayden said the MFAA will now move away from the term ‘credit adviser’ and adopt the term ‘finance broker’.
“The term is all encompassing and aligns with one of my passions for my leadership at the MFAA in relation to diversification,” she said.
The MFAA advocated the term ‘credit adviser’ in 2013 under Phil Naylor’s leadership.
Now, Ms Hayden believes the movement away from the term ‘broker’ was “not well adopted or well accepted”.
“To keep pushing the term ‘credit adviser’ would require a significant change program at a consumer level.”
Ms Hayden added that it was a ‘good sign’ that the MFAA has now adopted the same terminology as the FBAA.
“If the two industry bodies representing our industry term our customers the same way then that’s a good sign, if you ask me,” she said.
FBAA chief executive Peter White told The Adviser that the term ‘finance broker’ is actually the collective term for the entire industry.
“That’s the way it has always been,” Mr White said.
“Unfortunately the process through the NCCP was so fixated on home loans it became a generic outflow that when people referred to brokers you generally heard the term ‘mortgage broker’ or ‘home loan broker’,” he said.
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.
“That is only a segment – that’s not the whole market place.”
Mr White stressed that the market is “more than just mortgages and always has been”.
[Related: Should the MFAA and FBAA merge?]
