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ISCOVER
Jessica Darnbrough
Brokers will soon be given access to Australia's credit union mortgage products via a cooperative scheme.
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The new scheme, which is being rolled out through PLAN Australia and Phoenix Mortgage Management, has the full backing of the credit union association CUSCAL.
“Australia’s mutuals have long formed a pillar in Australian banking and supported millions of borrowers to meet their financial goals. However these products and services have only ever been available via retail channels – much to the frustration of brokers and their clients,” Phoenix Mortgage management chief executive officer Allan Willoughby said.
“The reality is that the mutuals have significant surplus funding capacity yet up until now this has been untapped. Mutuals offer a safe and stable option for borrowers via their government guarantee; as approved deposit taking institutions credit unions are regulated by ASIC and APRA.”
According to Mr Willoughby, the new initiative will help brokers better service the needs of customers and give Australian borrowers even greater choice outside of the major banks.
Up until now, Australia’s mutuals have believed that third party distribution had a level of risk that they did not wish to be associated with.
“As our industry has grown from strength to strength, with professionalism very much at the fore considering new NCCP legislation, this has opened dialogue between the two sectors,” Mr Willoughby said.
“Moving forward Phoenix will be the conduit between mutuals and brokers as this relationship evolves – focused on the key tasks of marketing, compliance and building growth channels within the third party industry.”
PLAN Australia has been selected by Phoenix as the distribution partner behind the scheme.
