The general manager of a regional bank has said that fintech in the broking industry will not be a “disruptor to brokers”, but instead will benefit the industry and help increase third-party market share.
Adelaide Bank’s Damian Percy told The Adviser that he believes brokers were the “original disruptor” to the mortgage market, and that there is “no doubt” in his mind that brokers will continue to evolve and take advantage of the tools available to them, including the use of fintech.
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Mr Percy said that while there is a role in the industry for various comparison, bidding and price-driven platforms for borrowers from an educational perspective, “what brokers deliver in terms of advice, taking the grief away from borrowers [and being] that friend to help you through the process … that key part of the proposition, which is what broking is all about, will continue to be required by consumers”.
He added that broking will be made more interesting by technology, enabling brokers to become more productive “and if anything … get more market share rather than less”.
“We’re already seeing, courtesy of the aggregators, quite sophisticated technology being deployed to brokers, and we’re seeing today individual brokers or broker groups bringing technology to broking,” he continued, adding “it’s still fundamentally broking”.
Mr Percy concluded that he doesn’t see fintech as a disruptor, but “one of the tools brokers are going to use”.
He added: “If [brokers] embrace it, [they'll] continue to use it to disrupt even more”.
“We’re at 55 per cent market share now – I see no reason why it’s not going to get to 65 or 70 per cent,” he said.
[Related: Making fintech work - Tim Werner's commercial success]
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