The lender told Mortgage Solutions it is already planning the technology and process which will go live next year.
Sainsbury’s Bank head of banking David Buxton said he understood where the market was moving on the issue.
“We need a very simple, user-friendly process for brokers to go in ahead of time, make it easy for them to apply the change for their client and then remunerate them,” he said.
“It would be really hard for us to build a business around brokers and not do that.
“We expect to be in the market by Q2 next year when we start seeing our first mortgages mature,” he added.
Buxton also noted that while the lender would service those customers who approached direct, it would not seek to target customers who had arrived through a broker.
He added: “We expect 95% of business to be through brokers and it’s how we are setting ourselves up.
“We’re making sure we can compete in the broker market because we need to be in competition for broker business.”
Buxton added that the lender saw technology as a key development area and was having discussions with distributors about fitting systems together to speed up the mortgage process, although none were ready to be launched yet.
Big ambitions
Sainsbury’s Bank has had a busy first year back in the mortgage market, including introducing 95% loan to value products and last month announcing its entry into buy to let.
It currenlty covers 40% of the broker market and expects to continue rolling out its distribution during the year.
Buxton said it had been a “really successful year from a standing start” and the lender had big ambitions.
“We have very clear targets but I can’t disclose them because we are a listed company,” he said.
“But we are very ambitious in our mortgage plans. As an example you can look at our path in the credit card and personal loans markets.”
Lending policy evolution
Similarities with other supermarket-branded lenders such as Tesco and the incoming Marks & Spencer are easy to draw, but Buxton sees Sainsbury’s as part of a wider group of lenders trying to gain market share from the incumbent big six firms.
He also added that as the lender settles down it may well look to widen its target audience slightly, although remaining a prime lender.
“We recognise that no two cases are the same and that policy is a key part of what we need to do well,” he said.
“There are areas that we will need to look at as we grow, whether that’s self-employed or contractors for example.
“So our policy will evolve over time but we will continue to fit a prime risk appetite,” he added.
