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Suncorp Bank’s Head of Home Lending Services Kate Zaia says being involved in its home lending transformation has been one of the most special times of her professional career.
“Kate and her team play a critical role in Suncorp Bank’s home lending success. Turnaround times are the best they’ve ever been – our SunLight loans see final approval in 48 hours or less – many within 4 hours, versus over 7 days in the past,” Troy Fedder, Head of Broker Partnerships, Suncorp Bank.
Joining Suncorp Bank in 2021, I knew our team had the ability to deliver market leading turnaround times, but we had to believe we could do it first.
As the Head of Home Lending Services, my team includes home lending assessors and operational staff that support all home loan customers - new and existing - including broker origination. Having oversight of the full end-to-end customer experience is an absolute privilege, acknowledging that brokers are a huge part of that customer journey, responsible for around 70% of all home lending volumes.
On my arrival at Suncorp, the bank’s home lending transformation had begun and yet our lending services team was still a way behind. We were process focussed not outcome focussed. We weren’t reaching a customer outcome in an efficient manner and our time to decision was way out of line with the market.
Recognising that not only system and process changes were required to improve, but that cultural change was an essential element, my team and I sat with our broker support teams - the people closest to our brokers and customers - and we listened.
We’ve since embarked on a significant program of change, leveraging of all our teams: broker partnerships, product, credit risk, everyone with superior alignment and collaboration to drive improvement.
As I reflect, it’s one of the most special times of my career. I’ve been privileged to have a diverse and varied background, but this is right up there. What we observed was a team that began to believe we could challenge top lender turnarounds, and then delivered them. The hard work, commitment and incredible discipline that we put in place is delivering results.
We’ve been named Number 1 for five months in a row for the fastest time to formal approval for Connective’s TAT (November 2022 - March 2023).
And we’re also a finalist for Non-Major Lender in all States at the upcoming MFAA Excellence Awards as well as Mortgage Business Awards 2023 for Non-Major Bank of the Year.
But it’s our Broker NPS that really reveals the story of our improvement. Our broker NPS is now at plus 42. At the end of 2020 it was minus 22. And we’re hearing great feedback from our brokers who are genuinely advocating for us and are excited by our improvements.
The system and process change we’ve implemented mean our team is now 100% more productive than they were 18 months ago. A standout contributor to our faster turnarounds is our SunLight loans that deliver a decision in 48 business hours, often much faster.
SunLight has the benefit of smart design through our credit, risk and product teams and aligning our operational resources. Brokers simply lodge their application and if it meets the SunLight criteria, it’s fast tracked for assessment. We’ve also improved our document generation which means our brokers can lodge a SunLight loan application in the morning and the documents can be ready for the customer to sign in the afternoon.
We’ve also created a more streamlined process for our Add Loans (‘Top Up’ loans) which were significantly out of line with market. Right now, leveraging the efficiency of eSign for application and loan documents, an Add Loan is faster and takes 24 hours from lodgement to funding.
I’m here to create and deliver innovative service propositions. We want to win business because of our service. We want brokers to say, ‘Suncorp is a great choice because I know they’re consistent, reliable, have excellent service and I can pick up the phone and speak to an Assessor.’
While the environment has changed in FY23 with interest rate rises and increased refinance rates, what we must deliver is the same value to our brokers, the same service standards, and we must continue to improve.
I’m continually delighted when I hear my team interact with our brokers. Our team leaders make ‘care calls’ each week to a selection of brokers and check in on their assessment experience and listen to their feedback.
Customer obsession starts with a culture that gives our team permission to think ‘customer first’. I’m proud when my team come to me with a solution for a problem that begins with a customer mindset. That’s what customer obsession is to me.
For more information on SunLight loans, visit the Suncorp Broker Portal or contact your Suncorp BDM.
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