AT LAST year’s roundtable, the non-banks began by talking about the increasing volume of loans coming to them from brokers. According to the MFAA’s Industry Intelligence Service survey at the time, 9.4% of brokeroriginated loans had gone to non-banks in the most recent reporting period. The picture is a little different this year: the coronavirus pandemic has meant that non-banks have pulled back from new originations to focus on supporting their existing customers. Not only that but, as refinancing activity has surged, the major banks have rolled out incentives in a big drive to take back market share. Shifting to a virtual discussion in 2020, this year’s panel featured six non-bank representatives: Aaron Milburn from Pepper, Cory Bannister from La Trobe Financial, Daniel Carde from Resimac, James Angus from
Bluestone, Joanna James from Mortgage Ezy, and John Mohnacheff from Liberty. The big topic of 2020 was of course how COVID-19 had changed the industry. The panellists delved into the changes they had had to make, highlighting how strong the non-bank proposition continued to be for borrowers and the work their teams were doing to prepare for the ‘new normal’. Although this year’s format was different as panellists were not in the room together, we still encouraged brokers to send in questions throughout the discussion. Brokers also submitted questions when registering for the livestream. The topic brokers were most interested in asking about was the best interests duty, which is due to come into play in January. While it seems there is still some concern about how brokers will prove they are
working in their customers’ best interests, the panellists were adamant that it would not be a big change and encouraged brokers to read the guidance and reach out if they had any questions. Brokers were also keen to know how the non-banks would be embracing the future, asking about the innovations they were bringing in and how they were working on building their brands to increase consumer awareness and confidence. The panellists tackled these questions with their usual rigour, occasionally breaking into conversation with each other as they discussed the non-banks’ role in the industry. Read the full report to see what they had to say about what the non-banks have been doing and their plans for the future. If you would like to watch the full discussion, the video is available at www.mpa.com.au/tv.
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