The agreement between Bank of Ireland UK and the Intrinsic Group forms the latest part of the business’ roll-out strategy, following its LSL pilot with three estate agency brands and initial launch with First Complete and most lately Openwork in March.
Last month Bank of Ireland UK unveiled a multi-million pound online application system, Rome, which offers a front-end app alongside underwriter access and a case tracking facility.
Alison Pallett, director of sales at Bank of Ireland UK, said “There is great excitement surrounding this partnership. This roll out is the next phase, which sees our distribution widening”.
Emma Hollingworth from Intrinsic said: “We work tirelessly to provide the best possible proposition for our network of advisers, and the ability to work with one of the very best UK lenders really strengthens that offering. From today, our organisations can work together as a combined team to ensure the best deals for our customers.”
In an exclusive interview with Mortgage Solutions, Iain Smith the bank’s head of corporate accounts, said the cautious roll out is achieving the service standard the lender wants with call-waiting times of eight seconds and an average application time to offer of ten days.
Keen to make its service a key differential the lender continues to recruit, with 160 new staff in the last 12 months, with 100 of those in the underwriting department. Its two new regional managers include well-known faces Ed Payne and Joan Roberts, signifying the importance of personal relationships in this industry, said Smith.
On service, BOI is setting out its stall on the foundations of technology and recruitment.
Smith said: “This is about harnessing technology to keep things straightforward. We wanted to elevate ourselves above our competitors. We engaged a number of our adviser partners to understand what’s out there from other lenders, where the gaps are and the potential enhancements. Some even came in to do some testing to give us that final reassurance.
“Rome offers advisers the ability to send messages back and forth to underwriters. Scan and upload capacity will be added to the system in a month or two,” he added.
“I think we’re in a golden age for the broker market. It’s clear the adviser share of business is on the rise. In a competitive environment, lenders want to move into that space. What that competitiveness does is sharpen everyone’s service up.”
Smith added: “There must be some direct lenders who must be nervous the pendulum has swung as far as it has done and continues to do so.”
