ING Direct has reported strong growth in branded mortgages, with broker originated loans outgrowing the direct channel by 1.5 times.
In its full year results to December 2014, ING Direct announced a $2.5 billion, or 7.8%, increase in its branded mortgages.
ING Direct chief executive Vaughn Richtor said the bank has been delivering on its strategy of becoming the main bank for its customers, by focussing on growing its branded mortgages under management and heading away from white label products.
“To be the main bank for our customers we need to be close to the customer and therefore ING DIRECT branded mortgages are becoming increasingly important. That’s why we have been actively growing our branded mortgages while slowly reducing the significance of white label mortgages,” he said.
While the non-major’s total mortgage portfolio for the year remained steady at $38.8 billion, broker originated loans grew at 1.5 times the direct channel, increasing by 21% from2013 to 2014.
“The strong growth and success of our mortgage business has in large part been down to the continued support we have had from mortgage brokers,” Richtor said.
“We look forward to continuing to work with mortgage brokers to further grow our branded mortgage business and to help more Australians get head.”
ING Direct’s net profit after tax was $297 million for the 12 months to 31 December 2014, an increase of 9.4% on the previous year.
