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The majority of brokers have said that they intend to use or rely on digital tools in the future but cited a lack of knowledge as barriers to using technology.
Over eight in 10 brokers have said that they intend to use digital tools more in the future, according to a survey by Advantedge Financial Services.
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The survey, conducted following Advantedge’s digital mortgages webinar, found that 73 per cent of all respondents are most likely to use electronic loan enablers such as eSign, while 78 per cent are most likely to use identification tools such as IDyou and ZipID, and 62 per cent are likely to use digital mortgage documents by MSA National.
However, the survey highlighted the need for continual education around the use of these digital tools, revealing that barriers to potential future use included a lack of knowledge and confidence in knowing how best to apply digital solutions.
Commenting on the findings, Advantedge general manager Adam Brown said: “In the midst of COVID-19, it is more important than ever that brokers have access to, and education around, the latest technology to provide a simple and quick end-to-end process for their customers.”
Advantedge’s webinar, which was held in late July, updated brokers on the tools available through the wholesale funder as part of its digital end-to-end loan submission capabilities.
It also updated brokers on its eSign upfront capability and covered updates to its verification application IDyou, which offers the option of remote functionality.
Advantedge recently announced that it has narrowed its product offering as part of a new simplification strategy.
From 25 May, it ceased lending to “non-core segments”, which included guarantors, trusts and companies, while also ceasing servicing multi-construction loans and loans with six or more securities.
In addition, it introduced a new rate card with a simplified price structure, where previously special carded rates on loans with an LVR of less than 80 per cent became the standard variable rate across all loan sizes.
The wholesale funder’s survey findings from the webinar have come as several lenders announced changes to, and an increased digitisation of, their home loan policies, including enabling remote verification of identity and virtual client appointments in response to social distancing measures to curtail the spread of the coronavirus.
This prompted a coalition of associations to urge the government to make permanent the temporary rules that allowed lenders to process a mortgage digitally.
The coalition, which includes the Australian Banking Association (ABA), among other organisations, called for a number of changes, including allowing deeds to be created and signed electronically, accept electronic signatures for a broader range of legal and business documents, and process a mortgage digitally.
Brokers joined this call for technology-driven changes to the mortgage application process to be made permanent, with a survey by HashChing showing that over 90 per cent of brokers want temporary changes to the mortgage application process in response to COVID-19 to be made permanent.
The Finance Brokers Association of Australia’s managing director, Peter White, recently labelled it “farcical” for lenders to still be posting loan documents to brokers, and urged banks to move to digital documents.
His comments followed a social media post by Blank Financial broker and CEO Bernard Desmond, who said he waited for more than a week for documents to arrive to a lender a few suburbs away, and found out that the couriered package had been accidentally sent to Adelaide.
