In the last year, intermediaries have continued to be the major player in the mortgage market and market share is estimated to grow to 70% in 2016. Competition for intermediary business is not limited to the best percentage point deal; it is also influenced by how easy it is for an intermediary to do business with a lender and what facilities they provide to enable intermediaries to offer a superior service to their clients.

In my second annual Intermediary Mortgage Survey I have analysed the systems and processes of lenders, representing an approximate 80% market share of the intermediary mortgage market, and the experiences of 223 intermediaries in dealing with those lenders. Compared to the 2015 survey the survey  found a number of improvements to services.

The most important, as ranked by intermediaries, being the facility to scan and attach proof documents, which is now offered by three quarters (75%) of lenders, compared with just 43% last year. In addition, following the Mortgage Market Review (MMR), half of lenders now support product and rate switch transactions for intermediaries. Many lenders are also responding to the growing demand for mobile solutions. In addition, 69% are now providing system generated automated email updates, compared to just 33% last year.

However, significant gaps remain in the services provided by lenders, with the number offering an online single status view of all the intermediary’s cases, ranked the second most important service by intermediaries, falling from 52% in 2015 to 44% in 2016. In addition, less than half (44%) of lenders provide a view of tracking events for open cases, while a quarter (25%) of lenders do not provide any case tracking at all.

While many examples of best practice from specific lenders were cited, there is inconsistency in the level of services being provided across the industry and overall half of intermediaries (53%) rank lenders systems as average to very poor for ease of use.

So online quotations and applications are not enough to compete effectively in the Intermediary Mortgage market.  Lenders need to up their game and provide systems that are:

• truly intuitive,
• easier to navigate, with intelligent questioning - ask once and answer once,
• providing real-time case updates for both the intermediary and applicants.

Intermediaries recognise the benefits that smart lending systems can provide and now the Mortgage Credit Directive (MCD) is in place, they expect lenders to invest in innovative technology and reduce application processing times over the next 12 months.