CBA has suggested that it might move into the fintech space by offering a digital mortgage that could be approved in just ten minutes.
Angus Sullivan, group executive in CBA’s retailing banking services division, told media on Friday that the Big Four bank was looking to the digital home loan space, citing it as the next growth market for banking tech.
“We’ll be looking to do a 10 to 20 minute mortgage, and that will be a huge opportunity for more Australians to take advantage of locking in great rates by refinancing more easily,” said Sullivan.
Initially, they would aim the product at their most straightforward clients on a low risk basis, with lower LVRs and mortgages less than $3 million.
That would place Commonwealth Bank in the same category as the likes of Athena Home Loans, 86 400 and Nano, who have pioneered the digital mortgage in Australia.
Nano have seen great success from their play in this space, passing $100m in home lending within just a month from launch.
Speaking to Australian Broker last week, Nano’s CEO Andrew Walker said that it was the big banks such as CBA who had the most to lose from the growth of digital home loans, as the broker channel had an established reputation of customer service that would protect it from the rise of a third channel within the marketplace.
“It’s quite clear in my mind that the broker channel will continue to be a powerhouse in the Australian mortgage market,” he said. “The broker channel and their level of customer focus makes that an inevitability.”
“However, a certain amount of the flow into the digital mortgage channel with come from both brokers and branches, though I suspect the branches and the first party origination of the incumbents will be impacted more than the brokers. That’s simply because the broker channel offers a higher level of service.”
