Enabled by Open Banking, Tandem plans to offer mortgages to first-time buyers and property ladder hopefuls based on a range of financial touch points.
It plans to feed this input into the design phase of the mortgage, ensuring that the new product caters to consumer needs. This will then be tested with a small group of customers by the end of 2019 before a full UK launch in 2020.
Whether this will be one single mortgage product or multiple will depend on the responses received over the course of the consultation which is expected to last at least two months. The bank will then examine patterns in the answers and use them to develop a product suitable for “the majority of people”.
The mortgage product will be only available directly though the bank when it launches.
Ricky Knox (pictured), Tandem Bank CEO, said: “We’re once again turning to our community to shape a new financial product, this time a crowd-designed mortgage. Many people feel like they’re priced out of the housing market or don’t have the credit record to get a favourable mortgage. We plan to address that.”
Nick Bennett, COO at Tandem Bank, added: “Tandem is building a mortgage proposition that reflects the changes that are happening in the sector while challenging some of the established ways of doing things.
“We’re looking at new and intelligent ways of assessing whether a potential customer is creditworthy, as well as ensuring our mortgage offering meets the needs of today’s consumers rather than taking a traditional approach. This is why we’re keen to have as much input as possible from the public on ways in which we can improve the current market offering.”
Tandem is also looking to offer a range of different solutions to assist consumers – such as those who work freelance or have previously been rejected for a mortgage – wanting to get on the property ladder, including Help to Buy and shared ownership.
Knox said: “The mortgage sector in the UK is primed for a shake-up. It’s hard for most people to get on the property ladder and we want to help them embark on that journey with new tech and a customer-first approach to design.”
