Freedom of choice

Q. From the launch to the first anniversary, what for you have been the standout elements of rolling out and establishing a white label product with Athena?

Anthony Waldron (AW): There really wasn’t another lender doing what Athena does – having no loyalty tax and offering fair value (as we call it) to customers. That was essentially what people had been crying out for.

Being able to co-build the Mortgage Choice Freedom product suite with our broker network and then take it to market, it’s really not a surprise that it’s been a success. But it’s been fantastic to be part of that journey.

Nathan Walsh (NW): We founded Athena with a mission to improve fairness in home loans. And we love working with a like-minded partner in Mortgage Choice to bring fair value to more customers.

Home lending is an industry that needs to change. Too often lenders keep their sexy rates for new customers and overcharge their loyal customers. They’re preying on inertia, preying on lack of transparency, and that can cost borrowers tens of thousands of dollars.

Brokers are asking for this change. They’ve given Mortgage Choice Freedom an outstanding NPS score of +55. That’s a combination of excellent support by BDMs, exceptional turnaround times, credit decisions delivered in a few hours, and a strong value proposition.

Q. What is the unique value of white label offerings like Mortgage Choice Freedom?

NW: We see white label products as an opportunity to understand the critical role of brokers, the value and expertise they bring to the table – and that’s expertise around product, around process, all those other components – and then actively partner with them … It’s that close alignment with a partner who’s so clearly centred on a consumer’s best interest[s] that is super exciting to us.

We believe that by listening to the network, we can deliver exceptional broker and borrower experiences at each stage of the journey and create powerful proof points for their franchise brand.

AW: Having your own brand of [home loan] is powerful and customers come to that brand, particularly when it’s a strong brand like Mortgage Choice’s. We spend a lot of money on our brand and making sure people understand what we stand for.

With white label products, we don’t get the channel conflict that you get with other lenders, which allows the broker to truly own that relationship, which is important.

Plus, the ability to get close to the lender, give feedback, and make change is important. It really has been a story about listening to brokers at every stage of that journey. And that honest feedback has been such a beautiful part of how we get better day by day, week by week.

Service levels have also been absolutely outstanding … We’re talking about hours, not days.

Q. What types of clients have been using Mortgage Choice Freedom?

AW: We see Freedom being used more by investors and existing owners looking to refi and leverage equity. We think that’s where the product has been set up to be most successful and it’s also where product development is occurring.

NW: We’ve been focusing on areas like investors, the self-employed, [and] existing owners seeking borrowing power or dealing with what they feel has been an unfairness in pricing.

It’s a really broad set of segments, but I think what unites them all has been that these are areas that are being called out by brokers [as having] unmet needs.

Q. Are there any client success stories you’d like to call out?

NW: Just a couple of days before Christmas we got a call from one of our brokers saying their client had been let down; one of the big four banks had fallen through. Settlement was in three days’ time. It was a single mum buying a house and, of course, she was distraught. But with exceptional teamwork, the broker mobilised to get the documents to us, worked closely with the BDM and credit team, and we had final approval that same day. A phone call on the Tuesday translated to settlement on the Friday.

The mum and daughter were drinking champagne at Christmas in their new home rather than thinking: “Wow, I’ve just lost my deposit.”

These are real examples when the ability to get these things done very efficiently can make a huge difference to a broker and their customer.

Q. What can brokers expect from the partnership’s second year?

AW: There’s a lot of product development occurring. We’re launching a new suite of tailored products in the second half of this year and extending our offer for investors and for self-employed. We see these as segments where there are great borrowers who need flexibility but are often being unfairly penalised in terms of rates and charges. So I think a real opportunity is to help broaden out the set of solutions for those segments.

NW: We’re going to continue to invest in platforms and processes so we can keep delivering that consistency in terms of turnaround times; everything from the broker portal, our credit processes, and the consumer app.