Abbey National claims mortgage advisers are starting to treat online application channels as standard practice.
The lender has reported that, in the three months to the end of March, its intermediary site, Introducer Internet, accounted for over half of all intermediary mortgage business within Abbey National. Ambrose McGinn, director at Abbey National for Intermediaries, said: ‘The numbers speak for themselves, Introducer Internet is clearly one of the most successful e-commerce solutions for mortgage trading in the marketplace.’
The announcement confirms findings from Bristol & West (B&W) and Alliance & Leicester (A&L). B&W said that it too is receiving around 50% of its broker applications via the internet. B&W is expecting to increase this figure in May when it launches a shortened, one-page application form.
Matt Grayson, PR manager at BM Solutions, said: ‘The quarterly BM Solutions Online Index, which tracks brokers attitudes towards information technology, has revealed that nearly seven out of 10 respondents (68%) submit, track and progress through to completion at least some of their mortgage cases, with 16% saying they do so with more than a quarter of their cases.’
A&L’s latest moving improving index found that brokers are not alone, as 12% of borrowers said the internet or telephone is their perferred method of applying for a mortgage.
