Speaking to this publication, Justus Brown (pictured), founder and chief executive of Acre, said the platform was “growing quickly” and as its business model was “aligned with brokers, we only win when they win”.
“That means making sure our platform can help home buyers get the best outcome the first time, in the right way,” he added.
Acre started its life as a startup in 2018 at the Founders Factory, a startup accelerator, with Brown initially working with the firm as chief product officer for the accelerator.
The company recently completed a £6.5m investment with McPike Global Family Office and returning investors Aviva and Founders Factory, which it said would be used to invest in its platform, continue its rapid customer growth and digitise the homebuying journey.
He continued that Acre wanted to be the “one and only system brokers need to get their job done”, and the way to do that was to continue to listen to brokers, understand how they work and develop technology to support them.
“In terms of market share goals, again since our model is based on usage, we aim not only to win new brokers and brokerages, but also to grow those that already use us. You will see us doing more in that space to help our existing customers themselves take more market share.
“We already have brought conveyancing, home insurance and protection into our Acre advice journey in order to help brokers sell more and deliver holistic advice for their clients,” Brown noted.
He added that while the UK mortgage market was “unique in many ways” Acre could work in other markets across the world.
“The use of technology to streamline the mortgage process – a process which is fundamentally based upon the buyer’s ability to repay and the value of the house – is just as relevant in other markets.
“While we currently have our hands full growing quickly and supporting our UK operation, I could certainly see a day where we operate internationally. From a talent perspective alone, there is huge potential there,” Brown said.
Pandemic led to ‘major shifts’ in attitudes to innovation
Brown said the pandemic had led to “major shifts in the industry’s openness to innovation”, with video calling, electronic identity verification, remote liveness and identity verification, becoming “prominent in the advice process, and the rate of technology change by lenders has been exponential”.
However, he noted that one of the biggest sticking points in the mortgage journey was more tools adding “complexity” and increasing the “risk of things getting out of sync”.
“The risk of ‘human error’ when transferring customer data from one system to another means that the accuracy of the end result can come into question – something that is not ideal with Consumer Duty coming into force,” Brown noted.
Another sticking point is the time to get a decision in principle, with Brown saying that brokers were “fighting against a tough market where lender’s products are appearing as fast as they disappear, and affordability parameters are challenging brokers and their clients”.
“Lenders need to be able to move quickly, and brokers need to be able to secure those products for clients quickly. Ultimately, it comes down to the smart use of data which will ultimately secure better client outcomes in the quickest and smoothest way,” he said.
Brown said: “I think brokers are savvy and are less resistant to change than many people think – as proven by the drive to overcome the last few turbulent years. But I do think there is a large amount of skepticism by brokers of technology in general – broking after all is a people business.”
He continued that in order to overcome this technology suppliers would need to go the “extra mile to convince them that change is worth it”.
“They are reasonably skeptical of new technologies – with mainstream headlines shouting of the concerns of intelligent AI and crypto – from the intrusion on their business to the flash-in-a-pan new tech. The adoption of new technologies is an issue affecting the entire ecosystem, for example we have seen lenders continue to struggle with the investment they need in technology,” Brown said.
He said technology should “never be another barrier for brokers to overcome”.
Consumer Duty will help brokers ‘think more clearly’ about existing client duties
Brown said Consumer Duty was an “evolution in governance” that should help the industry “think more clearly about their existing duty to clients”.
“It is not a massive shift from what has come before but will really help sharpen brokers’ focus on some of the things they should already be doing,” he added.
Brown said brokers were at the “forefront of readiness” with over half of Acre’s clients already having a comprehensive plan in place and a further 40 per cent starting to plan.
However, he said there was an “air of complacency” among some in the industry who felt they were “doing enough already and don’t need to do much in the run up to the 31 July deadline”.
“The umbrella goal of good customer outcomes is driving this and leading some to a common misconception that they are already doing enough – as they take it as a given that they are doing the best for a client.
“Unfortunately, this is generally an emotional response, rather than a considered analysis of their business. This is an area where technology that helps both ensure good outcomes as well as facilitate better analysis through both data capture and reporting can significantly help clients,” Brown added.
