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ISCOVER
Staff Reporter
One lender’s decision to slash its suite of fixed rate products is paying dividends, with the bank recording a massive jump in the number of broker applications.
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According to ME Bank’s national manager brokers Stewart Saunders, applications from brokers jumped to 20 per cent of total home loan applications in September – up from 9 per cent in August and 5 per cent in July.
“The increased activity has come in part from the huge response ME Bank has had to its new fixed rates,” he said.
“ME Bank slashed its SMHL Standard Home Loan three-year fixed rate to 5.39 per cent p.a. at the start of September and we have secured additional funding to continue the offer.
“Overall applications have increased by over 100 per cent since the offer was announced with fixed rates continuing to be in high demand now jumping to 45 per cent of all applications, up from 14 per cent which we were experiencing earlier in the year.”
Mr Saunders said the increase has also come in part from ME Bank’s deliberate decision to increase exposure to a greater number of broker panels, after entering the broker market in December 2011.
“We’ve now joined the panels of 11 aggregators in the last 11 months, including three new aggregators in August – Connective, Choice and PLAN– bringing the total number of accredited brokers to nearly 2000.”
Mr Saunders said he was pleased by the response from brokers, which will expose a significant number of new customers to a fairer banking experience.
“We are managing the spike in applications well with application decision times staying within 72 hours.
“We’ve also ensured our policy of providing equal access to credit teams has been maintained, which is part of our fairer banking ethos,” he said.
