As the non-majors take the market lead, Suncorp is positioning itself to offer a superior experience for brokers and their customers. Executive GM of lending Glenn Haslam reveals the strategy to Australian Broker
In the last financial year, growth in all its forms has taken a hit, and loan books have not escaped unscathed.
At Suncorp, full-year financial results were released in August, confirming loan portfolio growth of 0.4%, which spurred then-acting CEO Steve Johnston to implement a plan to tackle the trend.
Johnson found his solution in the third party channel, and in a pledge to brokers he said the bank would be focusing on “the way we service, deal with, and make commitments to our very trusted and supportive partners in the broker community”.
Now officially the group CEO, Johnston is bringing the vision to life with his team.
As the executive GM of lending, Glenn Haslam has a vital role to play in this work, but crucially, there is one market factor already in his favour: when it comes to loan volumes, the non-majors have consistently outperformed their major rivals over the last six months.
The trend was first confirmed by APRA’s April banking statistics, which showed that investor mortgage volumes across the 10 top-performing non-majors had climbed by $0.36bn, while declining $0.5bn at the majors. The same data showed the non-majors’ owner-occupier loan book had increased by $1bn when compared to the previous month.
Specifically, Suncorp was the second highest performing non-major lender for owner-occupier loan volumes over the month and third for investor loan volumes.
In July, the AFG Index confirmed that in the fourth quarter of the last financial year the non-majors received a record-high 42% of all mortgage lodgements. For the first time, the non-majors also accounted for more than a third of first home buyer mortgages.
“I believe the strength of the product and overall sophistication of the non-majors’ service propositions are driving a truly differentiated proposition for brokers and their customers,” says Haslam.
“Technology is enabling a change in landscape, and the program of work we are undertaking at Suncorp to deliver a reliable, seamless and efficient experience will drive growth into the future.”
Suncorp’s commitment to digitisation was initiated by former CEO and MD Michael Cameron, who stepped down in August. During his four years in the role – and seven years as a board member – he was credited with kick-starting a “significant digital transformation”, creating the foundations for Suncorp’s next-generation approach to banking. Today, Haslam reports that technology and digitisation of services will take priority over the coming 12 to 18 months.
There are three main ways in which this will happen. Firstly, tech will be leveraged to enhance customer interactions, with self-service and branchless banking being a major focus to date. The new Suncorp App includes features such as fast payments and digital wallets, and savings products are now digitally enabled, too.
Secondly, taking a longer-term view, Suncorp is supporting innovation with its Brisbane-based Digital Incubator Program. The first 90-day program commenced in June and saw fintech start-ups provided with much-needed resources, from business mentors to designers and data experts, to support them in creating new digital banking solutions.
Thirdly, the digital drive will extend to broker channel activities.
“Our focus is to use technology and increased automation to deliver a consistent and reliable service for our broker partners and customers,” Haslam says.
“We recognise over recent times this has been a challenge for us, and we are absolutely committed to improving how brokers experience Suncorp. In addition, our market-leading retail banking digital platforms will help underpin our overall banking relationship with customers. Make no mistake – we are committed to a market-leading broker and customer experience.”
Behind the scenes
Possessing all the bells and whistles of a digitally enabled bank is one thing, but the impact is limited if back-of-house systems and processes aren’t watertight.
A major bugbear for brokers in any lending environment, turnaround times and serviceability requirements make or break a client relationship – especially when that client has become accustomed to instant, personalised and automated service as a result of the digital age.
Taking direct accountability for Suncorp’s operations team and the origination systems that support broker partners, Haslam says he is “acutely aware” of these challenges.
Having completed a “comprehensive end-to-end review” of the bank’s processes and systems, Haslam has identified key opportunities for automation and improved efficiencies to make those processes more reliable and decisions more consistent.
“We now have this investment well underway with our key technology partners on board, supporting us with significant upgrades to our origination processes, speeding up our document preparation, and automation of expense verification, to name a few,” he says.
“The work is progressing quickly, and we’re pleased to see our broker partners are starting to experience the difference already. We are committed to ensuring Suncorp’s loan processing turnaround times continue to sustainably improve.”
Suncorp’s broker school
Another area of significant focus will be education. Following the rollout of the Banking Code of Practice, Suncorp has devised an extensive support program for financially vulnerable customers, which uses the code as a springboard rather than a rulebook.
Taking this a level higher, the Suncorp Learning Campus now offers more than 1,000 courses to help brokers build a diverse range of skills and capabilities. The idea is to provide comprehensive yet affordable learning programs to support staff retention in broker businesses, as well as new industry entrants in their professional development.
“Professional standards are increasing, and we see this program as a meaningful way to support brokers with their professional development,” Haslam says.
The next piece of the puzzle is diversification. Doing its part to coax brokers out of their credit comfort zones, an SME Education program has been created to build “skills, knowledge and capability” in SME and commercial lending. More than simply providing another ‘business lending for beginners’ course, the program includes content suitable for experienced commercial brokers, too.
“Our SME Education program was driven by the desire for aggregator partners and their broker networks to expand the services and solutions they offer to customers,” says Haslam.
“We have developed a comprehensive program designed to help a broker take their business to the next level, so no matter where they are in their journey with diversification we can cater for those brokers."
Suncorp has been a vocal advocate for choice and competition in financial services, especially throughout the Productivity Commission and royal commission, and Haslam reports that work to lobby for greater choice is ongoing.
His stance is that greater choice and access “will deliver better customer outcomes and drive innovation and professionalism”.
However, more choice can often mean a higher rate of confusion among consumers, sharpening the demand for brokers as well as the need for those brokers to be professional, transparent and trustworthy in an increasingly complex marketplace. Sensing an opportunity, Haslam says there is a chance to “tell a better story” about what brokers do in their daily work.
“If you ask most brokers why they are in business, they will say it’s about helping people get ahead. What we do as an industry is help Australians with the biggest financial investments and decisions they will ever make,” he explains.
“It’s our combined responsibility to do this professionally, with integrity and by working together to achieve the best outcomes for our customers.”
