With increasing regulation and an added focus on compliance, national aggregator
FAST has heeded the call and introduced a range of support strategies to assist member brokers stay on top of these changes.
In an interview with
Australian Broker, FAST CEO Brendan Wright discussed how the aggregator’s tech solutions and support teams help its members efficiently keep up with compliance.
While risk and compliance have always been important, the ASIC remuneration review and the Sedgwick report have placed FAST in an increasingly vital role when it comes to promoting better broker and client outcomes, Wright said.
“It just means it’s more and more important that we help our brokers understand how they can be effective in their compliance strategies in their business to ensure the consumers and business owners that they service have good outcomes.”
Podium, the business operating platform for brokers used by FAST and other
NAB-owned aggregators, plays a large role in providing greater compliance support, Wright said. FAST helps guide brokers in using Podium, providing support on a range of topics including the areas of focus for each type of client and where to record customer details.
One field where brokers can improve is remaining consistent in entering client data, especially around why certain loans are recommended, he said.
“The area for everybody to be mindful of is recording information. Everybody’s busy – the consumer, the broker, the lender – so just take the time to succinctly record the outcome for that particular client at that particular time. That’s where there is an opportunity to be consistent and disciplined in that space.”
This will help brokers show that they have met clients’ individual requirements and remained in touch to ensure that a particular product continues to meet these needs.
A team effort
To help brokers understand what to record and when through Podium, FAST provides guidance to member brokers who hold their own ACL as well as those who work through the aggregator’s licence.
“For the brokers using our licence, we have credit advice consultants that spend time with the brokers in the field or at their businesses to help them understand the right way to [record information] for particular clients. They do reviews and help them work out what worked well, what should have been included, and what could have been done differently.”
These insights are also shared with member brokers holding their own credit licences, he added.
FAST also utilises partnership managers who form a relationship with the broker and support the compliance conversation, Wright said.
“We’ve got a very robust structure around people. It’s one-on-one, meeting with the business owners, and helping them really understand what it means for them, their specific business, and their specific clients.”
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