Thankfully a decade brings plenty of change and after a massive contraction in the market we once again have very healthy competition in the marketplace. That has seen more new lenders entering the market and a step change in the appetite of incumbents.
Now we have a lender launching that is completely unfettered by legacy systems or a ‘because that’s how we’ve always done it’ approach. Only 10 years since Apple introduced the concept of the smartphone, Digital Mortgages from Atom Bank is launching, offering customers the ability to manage all their banking through a mobile app.
L&C has had the privilege of helping a number of lenders test their systems in pre-launch pilots in recent years. This approach is typical of how important lenders take their service offering to brokers and their customers.
While Atom Bank is seeking to rip up the rule book when it comes to its technology based customer interface, it has put intermediaries at the heart of its mortgage distribution. Although the app will be the primary tool for ongoing customer use, Digital Mortgages has a team of business development managers that our advisers could call on for help with criteria and application questions. It’s clear that they don’t intend to make the mistake of failing to back the use of technology with good people to ensure that brokers have the information they need.
Feedback on criteria is good even if it’s not setting itself up as a lender that will be a home for niche cases that don’t fit elsewhere. The deals are extremely competitively priced, starting from 1.19% on two-year and 1.89% for a five-year fix. So there’s no sense of a soft launch and advisers and borrowers will undoubtedly be attracted to the rates on offer.
There was also praise for the website, which was more than just a pretty face and allowed easy access to criteria, KFI generation and the affordability calculator. The all important application process also went well and received good feedback from advisers and administrators as being easy to understand and quick to complete.
Customers must download the mobile app in order for the mortgage process to run to offer but no one encountered any issues with customers, who were typically keen to embrace the technology. The broader launch will uncover whether there are any less technology-savvy borrowers that may find the product unsuited to them, despite competitive pricing.
Although it’s still early days, there was a lot of positive comment, and any teething issues that were uncovered were dealt with as quickly as possible. I fully expect that brokers will embrace and welcome another new brand that promises a new approach but equally has recognised the importance of the intermediary.
