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Ubank's mortgage broker platform, version 2.0, is coming.
The new, updated platform — which is currently being tested on the market and launches March 3 — helps streamline the broker lodgement experience with faster service, more flexibility and a more user-friendly interface, according to George Srbinovski (pictured), head of broker distribution at Ubank.
"We've simplified the process," Srbinovski told Australian Broker. "We wanted to make sure that brokers have an amazing experience."
Srbinovski explained that with the rising number of borrowers turning to brokers in Australia, it was important for the non-major bank lender, which is owned by the National Bank of Australia (NAB), to address broker stumbling blocks.
"So we spent months and months doing market research and [finding] ways to get better," he said.
Now, Srbinovski said, with Ubank's revised broker platform, "Brokers are able to work and do things in the way that brokers want to work. [We're] making sure that we have a great user experience for brokers and their customers, so they can launch an application quite quickly with us.
"It all goes back to broker efficiency," he continued. "Brokers and customers demand efficiencies within a digital generation. In our previous version, we were asking brokers to do things our way, and that didn't always make sense. [There are] 16,000 brokers and there are thousands of different ways brokers do things. So instead of us trying to tell the industry how brokers have to do it in this certain order, we're trying to be more flexible upon input. Brokers can do things in whichever order they want to do it at, as long as these services are completed by the end so the broker can submit the application."
In addition to brokers being able to input data in the order that best works for them, Srbinovski said there are a few other key differences, such as the broker flow tool and the decisioning engine.
The broker flow tool removes the need to input the same data more than once. Brokers input data by way of their CRM into Ubank's broker origination platform. Illion software is used as a way to securely submit borrowers' bank statements.
Srbinovski then said that Ubank does all the checks and balances in its platform.
"We send out a privacy consent verification of identity and as an email to the customer," he explained. "Our old process was that a broker would do their checks and balances. They would use their Illion code. Then they'll come into our system, and then we would ask them to do that again. We've removed that pain point. So if a broker has used Illion code, we will accept that data, and then we will move on. We'll use that for verification. And that's really something that no other banks would do.
"It's very much built for brokers around the broker channel and feedback off the broker channel," Srbinovski continued.
Likewise, the decisioning engine uses back-end smarts and automation so that Ubank can review and approve borrower application materials, oftentimes within two days.
"This means we can fast-track the time to ‘yes’, so busy brokers can feel confident about lodging deals,” the executive said.
Speed is another concern. Version 2.0 promises to be faster and easier to use, Srbinovski said.
"Our current [service level agreements], we're picking up applications in well under a day," Srbinovski said. "So our SLAs are very, very fast. What we're looking at with this new origination platform is to speed up the time it takes to submit the application. We’re removing the pain points that we had before. We've improved our design. The [user experience] is quite intuitive and quite easy to use.
"There's a lot of work that's done to speed up the whole process, because we do loans that are relatively straightforward, the PAYG subset," he continued. "Once it gets to us, we're light and quick. We're known to be very, very fast when the deal gets to us. And the problem I'm trying to solve is that gap between the aggregator CRM and when the deal gets into the lender, to Ubank. Being able to take brokers’ data [faster] means that they can work a lot quicker without having to go to and from the customer. So we spent a lot of time working on that origination process to make that as seamless and smooth as possible for the broker, and, more importantly, their customer."
