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Another major bank has boosted its broker portal capability for faster borrower rate processing.
The National Australia Bank (NAB) has responded to broker feedback about customer demand for lower loan rates faster, it announced on Monday (27 February).
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The major bank has ‘enhanced’ its instant pricing tool (IPT) to enable automated processing of interest rate changes directly into customer accounts, it has explained.
This capability will mean that brokers “guiding customers” to secure the best interest rate on their existing NAB home loan will be able to “instantly lock in savings” for their customers following the successful roll-out of straight-through processing (STP) via the NAB Instant Pricing Tool.
The new automated process only applies to existing home loan customers where there are no material changes to existing lending, the bank has clarified.
NAB executive broker distribution Phil Waugh commented that the enhancement would enable a ‘more streamlined and automated experience’ and reinforced NAB’s commitment to ‘helping brokers to retain customers’ who are looking for more competitive rates.
“Brokers have told us they need more support on customer retention in today’s competitive market,” Mr Waugh said.
“The Instant Pricing Tool enhancement will allow brokers to accept an approved interest rate and have that rate applied directly to the customer’s account at the click of a button.
“Customers will no longer have to wait days for the rate to be applied through a manual process.”
Customers feeling the pinch
A rising cost of living is the biggest cause of stress for 51 per cent of Australians, according to the latest NAB Australian Wellbeing Index, with many people looking more carefully at their household budgets and expenses.
“Customers are increasingly feeling the pinch of higher living costs,” Mr Waugh explained.
“In this environment, brokers have seen their workloads increase with a focus on retaining existing customers who are looking for ways to save.
“At NAB, we’re constantly listening to broker feedback and working to make it easier for brokers to do business with us.
“Our straight-through process to instantly apply rate changes for customers will significantly reduce the amount of time brokers need to spend in sending emails and following up on repricing applications.
“It will allow them to reshape their business models to be much more efficient when they are retaining customers with NAB.
“As the Bank behind the Broker, this enhancement initiative ties in with NAB’s commitment to simplifying and digitising the home-lending experience for brokers and their customers.”
Initial success thus far
When The Adviser asked about any surge in borrowers making refinance queries since last May and the initial results of the STP and IPT, Mr Waugh confirmed: “NAB is well positioned to manage changing market dynamics including higher refinance activity as fixed-rate loans mature.”
“NAB’s focus is on customer retention, proactive customer engagement and maintaining strong broker relationships,” he said.
“This enhancement was created based off broker feedback, and we have already seen over 100 of our brokers’ customers repriced instantly,” Mr Waugh added.
Broker input vital to major-bank online interfaces
Mortgage brokers being at the coalface of the rising-rate environment has resulted in other major banks evolving their digital platforms.
Only recently did the Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) tweak its broker portal to help ‘arm brokers’ as fixed rate ‘mortgage cliffs’ approach, the major bank explained.
Part of the CBA’s CommBroker facility, the new Your Loans tool was designed and refined via broker feedback to give the bank’s broker partners “greater visibility over their portfolios”, it explained.
By using Your Loans, a broker can check that a customer’s offset accounts have been linked correctly, potentially helping their customers save on interest, the bank outlined.
Your Loans also allows brokers to check their customer’s repayments are accurate and the repayment frequency is correct, it confirmed.
[Related: NAB reports 1% lift in loan book in 1Q23]
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