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In a fast-moving property market, brokers know speed to finance matters more than ever – and removing effort delivers a much better customer experience. Pepper Money General Manager Mortgages and Commercial Lending Barry Saoud explains the Pepper Money tools and technology that underpin its market-leading services.
Pepper Money is committed to creating platforms that are designed with broker and customer needs in mind. We want to create an experience that is as effortless and frictionless as possible.
Our broker partners are a crucial part of our business, representing 95% of what comes through the door. Because of this, we regularly consult our brokers about their current pain points. What we’ve found is that it always comes down to confidence. They want to be confident in the process. They don’t want lenders moving the goalposts on credit policies every time.
And while there may be increasing numbers of fintechs offering discounted rates and a fast online experience, customers are often let down once they discover they don’t fit into very narrow lender requirements.
That’s why we invest in removing roadblocks and providing more certainty. We are the premier lender in the country that can offer a digital service with the fastest turnaround times for a significant market segment – prime, near prime and non-conforming borrowers, including self-employed customers.
The current environment has shown us that ‘real life’ can happen to anyone. Unexpected events occur that can have a major impact on a family’s financial situation.
At Pepper Money, we believe that borrowers should never be in a position where they do not understand their financing options, regardless of their circumstances. That’s why Pepper Money’s Product Selector was created – to help brokers source the best-fit home loan solution for their customers, the first time.
The entire process, from initial borrower assessment through to indicative approval, takes less than five minutes – with no future rate or fee surprises. Within minutes, the tool does a comprehensive credit check, an electronic valuation, and puts all the information through our algorithm decision engine.
It follows our Credit Cascading Model, which provides three Pepper Money solutions (Prime, Near Prime, or Specialist) with a high probability of conversion – removing the majority of the showstoppers experienced in a standard submission. It’s like having a BDM sitting right beside you, making sure you know our solutions.
Additionally, it allows brokers to harness the power of comprehensive credit reporting (CCR). With the customer’s written consent, using Pepper Product Selector will give brokers access to a customer’s credit score and other bureau data, including repayment history information – empowering them to have deeper discussions with their clients about their situation and roadmap to success.
Ultimately, it gives brokers an opportunity to demonstrate their value as trusted advisers. The broker will be able to provide transparency to the customer on the rate available to them, the maximum LVR, fees, and loan amount on offer against the security, without impacting their credit report. And if the customer is happy with the indicative approval, the broker can proceed to application with confidence.
Since its launch we’ve optimised Pepper Product Selector and consulted with brokers who regularly use the tool to meet their expectations. We will continue to do this, as well as invest in more ways to improve the broker and customer experience through technology.
We have also recently integrated digital identity verification into our application process and are aiming to automate valuations, deploy system enhancements like e-signing and provide real-time application status updates in the very near future.
We will continue to evolve and listen to the market and understand the pain points that a broker faces in their interactions. We know the most valuable asset our brokers have is their customers – and our most valuable asset is our people. This continued investment in technology will give everyone a seamless, effortless experience, and it will help set our brokers up for the future.
To find out more about Pepper Money loan solutions and tools, visit the Pepper Money Broker Portal today: www.pepper.com.au/broker; or phone 1800 737 737.
