In a big win for aggregator Finsure, its brokers will be the first in Australia to access open banking.
Market-leading technology partner for the lending sector, NextGen has announced that Finsure brokers will be able to access the Trusted Adviser model under the government-regulated Consumer Data Right (CDR). The model provides selected professions, such as mortgage brokers access to open banking data without additional accreditation.
The ability to invite applicants to share their data is being enabled by NextGen. The solution offers complete integration into the Finsure broker CRM through NextGen’s ApplyOnline, significantly reducing the time brokers spend on reconciliation and processing applications.
“We’re very proud to launch our first open banking solution to the Australian broker market with Finsure as our initial launch partner,” said NextGen chief customer officer Tony Carn (pictured above left).
“In the new year, all mortgage brokers will have access to this solution when using ApplyOnline. So as lenders start to accept open banking data, we are very excited about the opportunities ahead for transforming the lending journey.”
Carn said open banking helped NextGen to continue working towards its mission of making lending easy.
“We saw the opportunity to streamline the mortgage application process with open banking data to help brokers and lenders save time and deliver more value to their customers,” he said.
“CDR is a regulated regime where accredited data recipients can securely access customer data. Information shared through a customer consent can be relied upon as a trusted source in the home loan approval process and further enables lenders to efficiently verify applications in a robust risk framework.”
It has been a busy year for the NextGen team, following its announcement that it was partnering with Beyond Bank in June to transform the loan process.
Renee Blethyn (pictured above centre), head of broker partnerships at NextGen said open banking put brokers in the driver's seat as Trusted Advisers when it came to the opportunities presented by the CDR regime.
“It gives brokers the ability to utilise the power of open banking data to inform and enrich the home loan application process, whilst maintaining the privacy of the applicant,” Blethyn said.
Finsure CEO Simon Bednar (pictured above right) said open banking solved the problem of data inconsistency and provided transparency across the entire applicant life cycle.
“It allows Finsure to build into our CRM platform comprehensive data insight models, which will help brokers make more informed decisions,” Bednar said.
Finsure continues to grow its network and lender partnerships – in October it expanded its Myloan white label offering by offering Myloan Plus, funded by non-bank lender Pepper Money.
Broker Nicole Millard from Golden Eggs Investment Services was one of the first brokers enabled as a Trusted Adviser under the CDR regime. She said she was very excited about how much time it would save.
“Over the years, I have observed how little people know about themselves, they really don't understand their spending habits, they don't know how much they make, so this solution is like a truth serum in to how I can help a client cut away from the weeds look at their spending and help them do away with expenses they don't need,” Millard said.
“I think that has a serious amount of value because in addition to the time saving benefits, there is potential for improving client engagement and helping customers get fit for finance, which allows us as brokers to be more accurate and efficient with our service to our customers.”
