Under a third, or twenty-nine per cent of those who took part in the poll, which was commissioned by Dashly and canvassed 4,000 adults, 1,100 of whom were mortgage owners, said they would let an online platform automatically switch their mortgage to a better deal.
However, half, would prefer to let tech switch them if they received advice from an independent mortgage broker first.
Millennials were most comfortable with signing responsibility over to tech, with 41 per cent of 25 to 34-year-olds saying they would let an online platform to automatically switch them, as long as it was to an ‘improved deal.’
The research showed that, the older the borrower, the less likely they would be to surrender control of their mortgage to an online platform.
Among 35 to 44-year-olds the figure was 29 per cent. It was 28 per cent among 45 to 54-year-olds while the over-55s were, predictably, the least willing, with only 21 per cent saying they’d let tech switch them.
Brokers have expressed concern about the advent of online mortgage platforms and their potential to cut out advisers. The YouGov survey, however, showed that human advice remains key to borrowers and indicated that brokers have a vital role to play as mortgage application increasingly migrate online.
The survey also revealed that 30 per cent of borrowers would be happy to continuously share their anonymised, real-time personal financial data with an intelligent mortgage platform if, in doing so, it saved them money.
‘Advice remains crucial’
Ross Boyd, founder of Dashly, said: “That almost a third of people would be happy to be automatically switched to a better deal by an online mortgage platform shows the trust that is emerging in new technologies.
“But our firm view is that, while automatic switching is perfectly reasonable for, say, a utility bill, advice on something as big and important as a mortgage remains crucial.
“The ideal scenario is one where new technology platforms, powered by AI, machine learning and open banking, do the hard yards and identify savings in a way no human could, while independent mortgage brokers are on hand to reassure borrowers that the advice is suitable.
“It’s certainly encouraging for brokers that far more people would be likely to switch on the basis of a recommendation received by a tech platform once they have received independent advice.”
