While much attention is being consumed by other events within Australia’s financial services industry, and the world at large, the head of a digital mortgage marketplace has highlighted that the implementation of open banking is under three months away - and he's calling on brokers to make sure they're adequately prepared.
HashChing CEO Arun Maharaj explained, “Finance, and in particular banking, has been notorious for relying on customer inertia to squeeze out value - not passing on the full interest rate cuts asjust one example of this practice.
"We know that open banking has created a positive outlook for both consumers and brokers. With [the new system] coming into effect this year, there’s an unprecedented opportunity to redefine how financial services are consumed."
Maharaj expects open banking to have a “significant impact” on brokers, and he’s urging the industry to start preparing for the shift now.
“With better access to customer data and information, comes greater opportunities for streamlining and efficiencies. Open banking will drastically change the way brokers fill out forms and paperwork for their clients - where they previously had to fill these in manually, much of this will now be automatically available. This will save brokers time on admin tasks, and allow them to focus more on work that really moves the needle,” he explained.
“Basically, once a customer has authorised access to their data, the broker can straightaway develop a comprehensive credit profile upfront without having to ask numerous questions.
“Not only will brokers have an influx of data coming their way, they’ll need to have a system in place which properly stores and categorises that data. Customers will and should expect brokers to have a secure, up-to-date system of storing this personal data.
“Brokers must ensure they’re digitally savvy and ready - open banking will certainly see the end of the traditional ‘pen and paper’ aspect to their business.
“I’d strongly encourage brokers to do their due diligence in researching all things open banking and how it will affect them specifically.”
