Brokers are playing an increasingly critical role in Australia's housing market. While industry data shows brokers write more than 76% of home loans, at Macquarie Bank that figure soars to nearly 95%. It's little surprise, then, that Macquarie took home the Mortgage and Finance Association of Australia's (MFAA) coveted "Major Lender" Award at the July national broking conference and gala in Melbourne.
Australian Broker caught up with Wendy Brown, Macquarie’s head of broker (pictured above), who was on hand at the awards ceremony, to get her take on why the bank stood out, the strategies behind its success and her insights on what’s ahead for Australia’s lending landscape in the second half of the year and beyond.
WB: I'm really honoured. Because brokers actually vote for this one. It's not a marketing campaign or anything. It's actually brokers, actually voting, and this is the sixth year we've won it. So it's pretty exciting again.
WB: Ninety-five percent of all our volumes come from brokers. And we've actually just launched a new campaign called 'Built for Broker.' And that's all about how our whole business is based around brokers and their businesses. And over the last few years, all the innovation we've done is based on broker feedback. So it's really exciting.
WB: I think that one of the things we've really seen is taking the journey that brokers experience and actually improving it. Instead of telling them how they have to run their business, actually adapting our processes to make it easier for them and their customers has a huge impact.
WB: I think by asking lots of great questions and looking after your customers and helping them through the journey. I think a lot of our brokers do a great job of really focusing on the customer's outcome and their specific needs, versus getting distracted by a lot of that. And I think in Australia, a lot of our customers are actually doing really well, and our brokers have helped them on that journey.
WB: We're super excited. We're seeing lots of healthy outcomes for customers and brokers. We're seeing the industry grow, and also the announcement of professional certification is super exciting, because that really is the next step for our industry. And the regard out there in the market that it's really a profession that our brokers support their customers.
It will be more busy. Australian customers are choosing brokers more and more. And so we're really seeing that brokers are the ones who stay with the customer for their whole journey. And they've really replaced what the bank branch used to be. And so there's this great continuity of care they're giving customers. And we're seeing brokers get busier and busier, and actually continue to look for efficiencies, and that's where we've really focused on helping them get those efficiencies.
