It was only a matter of time before
ANZ’s flourishing partnership in its home loan space with Australia’s principal technology provider,
NextGen.Net, expanded into its commercial division.
NextGen.Net’s renowned system ‘ApplyOnline’ and ‘Supporting Documents’ service, appreciably the mortgage industry’s pre-eminent choice for electronic lodgement, are currently in development for ANZ’s asset finance arm.
The instigator of this game-changing move is Cosi DeAngelis, General Manager of Commercial Origination at ANZ. The winners will be ANZ’s commercial broker channel.
“I’ve been aware for some time that we need to make submitting transactions to ANZ easier and more streamlined for our commercial brokers,” DeAngelis said.
“Brokers hate double and triple-keying transactions; and they don’t like the fact that lenders have their own unique systems, given they have to deal with so many different lenders.
“I thought, it has to be a simple process to use data they’ve submitted in a home loan, data they already have in their own CRM systems, in a commercial or an asset finance application.”
Conscious that taking the deal off the market quickly is critical for a commercial broker, DeAngelis’ focus was on achieving a faster turnaround time.
“Brokers have to deliver a value proposition to their customer, and if I can help them do that by having a seamless process that gets them an approval in market-leading speed, that will sit well with the broker space,” he said.
A conversation between DeAngelis and NextGen.Net at an
MFAA conference a couple of years ago started the ball rolling.
Traditionally, car leasing has been a paper-based operation. ANZ Commercial’s commitment to provide a best-in-class solution for its broker channel through ApplyOnline, will provide a sophistication and efficiency to the application lodgement process, which will work both ways.
It will expedite application processing, which will reduce the lender’s operational costs, facilitate sales volumes and leverage technology to attain a competitive advantage for brokers.
The same principals in ApplyOnline apply across multiple broking channels, and while NextGen.Net is now an established name in the commercial, insurance and credit card space, it is most well-known in the residential mortgage sector.
“We’re widely acknowledged as the industry standard for electronic lodgement in residential and third-party distribution through the broker channel,” said NextGen.Net Sales Executive Greg Phillips.
“And while we’ve been in this (commercial) space for some time, the fact ApplyOnline is being taken-up by a key player such as ANZ will, I’m sure, elevate our profile in this sector.”
Phillips notes that a big plus for brokers will be that through ApplyOnline they will be able to connect via their aggregator’s platform. Previously, they had to go directly to ANZ.
For ANZ, the plus is that ApplyOnline will unlock a broader network of brokers from whom they can receive applications.
“The basic ApplyOnline functionality is electronic lodgement,” explained Phillips. “But ANZ will also be implementing the Supporting Documents service and building in a ‘Serviceability (Quote) Calculator’.
“So it’s a comprehensive service which will give brokers a richer and more satisfying experience, and enable them to efficiently fast-track their work and avoid previously time wasting processes.”
Importantly for DeAngelis this will build on ANZ’s ‘whole of wallet’ focus.
“If the application is done by a car dealer it’s never long before that dealer is talking to the customer about other financial needs,” he said.
“ApplyOnline will ensure that brokers have a ‘whole of wallet’ relationship with their client and in turn, that it’s with ANZ.”
