Better Choice Home Loans is strengthening its market presence with a renewed focus on the broker experience, highlighted by the recent appointment of Cath Ryan as head of sales and strategic partnerships. Ryan reports directly to Joe Mittiga, chief operating officer at parent company BNK Group.
In her Sydney-based role at Better Choice, the non-bank lending arm of BNK, Ryan is responsible for leading the national sales strategy, expanding strategic partnerships and growing distribution networks. Her mandate is to support the business’s continued scale within the third-party lending market, with a particular focus on self-managed super funds (SMSF), self-employed, residential and commercial lending.
"What's attractive about BNK Group is that it's a smaller bank with a huge amount of opportunity and upside," Ryan told Australian Broker. "They're really building a fantastic new team, and they're genuinely focused on the broker experience. So while we're a small player, we have a lot to offer."
BNK Chief Executive Officer Allan Savins added that Ryan's addition to the team: "brings a unique combination of lender, broker and aggregation experience, along with a clear understanding of how technology, data and strong relationships can deliver better outcomes for brokers and their [small-to-medium enterprise] clients. As BNK continues to grow, Cath will play a critical role in strengthening our broker relationships and expanding our strategic partnerships across the industry."
Ryan comes with roughly 25 years of experience in Australia's financial services, broking and lending sectors. Most recently, she served as general manager of commercial at Viking Aggregation. Her resume also includes stints at National Australia Bank (NAB), the Westpac Group's St. George Bank and Thinktank Commercial Property Finance.
The industry veteran said boosting Better Choice's market awareness is a key priority in her first three months in the role.
"For me, it's about really getting the brand out there," Ryan said. "It's about reengaging with our aggregators and the broker market, really getting to know those brokers who we haven't engaged with yet, and getting them to see what we can offer them in that small business, self-employed lending space. And we've got a lot of exciting stuff coming in terms of product. We've been active in expanding our commercial and SMSF product range, as well as residential."
Ryan — who will be working closely with Jelena Babanour, head of product — noted that self-employed lending is also an area the company is focused on growing.
"The self-employed borrower has largely been overlooked by the major banks," Ryan said. "And all brokers are looking for ways to support their self-employed clients. So there's an opportunity there to really, genuinely look after that customer for the brokers. And having the opportunity to access that suite of products that really is directed to them is helpful for brokers, to be able to help them to look after their customers.
"We're also very focused on making sure that there's a smooth broker experience behind the scenes too. So working with our credit [team]," she continued. "What's really exciting for me is working with a business that has direct access to credit for brokers on both residential and commercial deals. That's something that's already in place [at Better Choice], and that's very positive in terms of the broker experience."
BNK Banking Corporation was founded in 1982. Better Choice, which operates exclusively through the broker channel, was launched in early 2001. Ryan said the broker-only lending model is particularly well suited to the needs of today’s market.
"From a consumer perspective, the broker model is absolutely paramount, because the consumer can only do so much in terms of the legwork of comparing one institution to another," she explained. "Whereas a broker has at their fingertips, not just rates, but also all the policy, and they know intimately what the best outcome is for that customer. If a customer goes directly to a bank, [they wonder], is the bank going to give them other options from what is available at that bank? Whereas, with a broker, they can look at the entire market and really give that customer a genuine suite of options.
"It's kind of a no-brainer in terms of looking after the consumer by having somebody that's trusted and very-highly regulated, as well," Ryan said.
