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The launch of Mortgage Choice Freedom, powered by Athena promised game-changing new fair-value home loan products. Two months later, we caught up with Mortgage Choice brokers from across the country to find out how Mortgage Choice Freedom is delivering for brokers and their customers.
With more than $230 million in loans submitted since launch, it’s clear the Mortgage Choice Freedom suite has made an impact on the market
David Thurmond, a Mortgage Choice broker in Berwick, VIC, said, “The Mortgage Choice Freedom suite has been a welcome addition to the Mortgage Choice panel. For a relatively new lender, Athena has developed a strong brand and consumer proposition which makes it instantly stand out as a home loan provider that my customers recognise and trust. I’ve found that Athena takes a pragmatic approach to expense categorisation, which results in a great experience for my clients.”
Particularly appealing to Mortgage Choice Freedom borrowers is no longer having to worry about ‘loyalty tax’, with existing customers guaranteed to always receive the same rate as new customers on a like-for-like variable loan.
Mortgage Choice broker in Belmont, WA, Aaron Brewer said, “Rate creep – where lenders slowly charge more for existing customers – has been a big pain point for my clients who have been with bigger banks over the last five years. Mortgage Choice Freedom’s unique value proposition strikes a chord with these clients as a product that is trying to do right by the customer. No fees for offset accounts and no monthly account keeping fees also help in a competitive rate environment.”
Everyone benefits from sophisticated loan lodgement technology delivered by Simpology, which is creating a faster path to approval
With Simpology LoanApp 2.0, loan lodgement with Mortgage Choice Freedom is simple and seamless and means that 90% of the time, customers receive first approval within just 24 hours. This allows brokers to spend less time submitting loans and more time meeting with clients.
Mr Brewer said, “Time to approval was on par with some of the quickest lenders. A couple of the loans I've submitted to Mortgage Choice Freedom have been approved in under 24 hours – customers were ecstatic with that time frame.”
Sam Neville from Mortgage Choice in Blackwood, SA added, “Just yesterday, after I’d submitted a loan for some clients who were going to buy an investment property at auction, the Mortgage Choice Freedom credit team came back with a query on their servicing calculator that differed to mine. I sent the paperwork back with the changes that I needed made and suggested that we could drop the loan by $1,000 after discussing with my clients. From there, the team approved the loan within an hour.”
Mortgage Choice broker in Elsternwick, VIC, Christopher Ladley commented, “It’s ridiculously easy to submit a loan to Mortgage Choice Freedom through Simpology Loan App 2.0. It’s lightning quick to put an application together, attach the supporting documents and submit.”
Dedicated support from Athena BDMs is helping brokers deliver exceptional customer experiences
The three Mortgage Choice Freedom products: Freedom Saver, Freedom Flex and Freedom Fixed were co-designed with Mortgage Choice brokers. And the partnership goes beyond that, with dedicated Athena BDMs on hand to support brokers.
Mr Ladley continued, “With a new lender, I like to run different scenarios by the BDM before hitting the go button and submitting a loan. My local BDM has been very supportive and helpful when workshopping a deal.”
Ms Neville said, “My local BDM is wonderful and very responsive. I've found that the Freedom team is open to improving process and taking feedback on board.”
Fair-value products, fast approvals and market-leading technology means Mortgage Choice Freedom stands out in a competitive home loan market
Mr Brewer commented, “I’m excited to continue to offer Mortgage Choice Freedom products to those customers who are a good fit, and to see this partnership continue to shift the market to a more customer-focused offering.”
Mr Ladley added, “We’ve had deals approved in under a day. I’ve sent docs out and the loan has settled the day after, which is why I keep coming back to Mortgage Choice Freedom.”
The Mortgage Choice and Athena partnership won’t stop here, with exciting product enhancements to be delivered in the coming months.
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