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Following its announcement of plans to triple the size of its business banking portfolio over the next three years, a non-major bank has stressed that the new strategy will not change its “absolute commitment” to the home loan sector.
Heritage Bank’s decision to expand this division is “great news for brokers”, potentially opening up a whole new option for SME business clients, according to CEO Peter Lock.
“We’re definitely not looking to reduce our presence in the home loan market. In fact, we’re targeting growth in our loan volumes, through both the broker market and our branches,” he said.
“We want to continue growing in size and strength, so we can offer even greater competition in the banking sector.”
According to Lock, Heritage has not only identified an opportunity to build its business banking presence, but also its traditional mortgage lending book.
“There is great potential here for Heritage to expand the customer-centric approach that our home loan customers value so much to the SME business sector in a bigger way than we have in the past,” he said.
“A key way we believe we can do that is through the commercial broker market. We can build on the existing relationships we have with our broker partners to add in a commercial lending option and provide them with another alternative for business clients.
“This is great news for the broker market. Not only will Heritage be seeking growth in mortgages, but we’ll be looking to offer an attractive alternative for business clients as well.”
Heritage is still finalising its business banking review and has not yet set a date for its entry into the commercial broking market.
