The Finance Brokers Association of Australia (FBAA) did not mince its words while publicly calling on the country's banks to get with the times, saying it is “farcical” any lenders are insisting on sending loan documents by mail in 2020.
FBAA managing director Peter White AM highlighted how mailing time-sensitive loan documents often extends settlement times by weeks, while the method of delivery also introduces the risk of the paperwork being lost in the mail.
The association's statement came in response to the recent social media outcry from a signficant group of finance and mortgage brokers who want not some, but all of the banks to transition to exclusively digital documents.
It was Blank Financial CEO Bernard Desmond who initially posted on the matter after waiting an entire week for documents to arrive from just a few suburbs away, only to find the package had somehow ended up in Adelaide.
With the client’s settlement due in two weeks, Desmond took to LinkedIn to vent his frustration.
“Australian Banks, please move towards digital documents. It will save everyone time and it will improve customer experience, reduce errors and get deals moving quickly,” he wrote.
Unfortunately, Desmond’s experience is not atypical as was evidenced by the dozens of other brokers who weighed in on his post, sharing similar experiences of their own; many commenters suggested that banks making billions of dollars in profits could surely invest in digitising the loan process to improve customer service without comprising their margins.
The FBAA head warned the banks not to assume brokers will remain patient in dealing with such outdated systems.
“Electronic signatures are used and accepted legally across the world, and those banks that don’t embrace this will start to lose business as the broker channel looks to a more streamlined system for their clients,” said White.
Following the “social media outcry” gaining momentum, White reported he has been contacted by several lenders who have committed to making the change.
