Future of Mortgage Broking / Australian Broker
The gift that keeps on giving. I recently did an Australian wide, 5 city keynote tour (plus 1 virtual keynote), exploring the Future of Mortgage Brokers (yeah, very timely) and had compiled my foresight’s and list of recommendations long before the recent commission and media started their comments and am happy to say that my advice still stands: “be human, stop giving customer service and instead provide extraordinary customer experiences”.
Anyway, it must have hit a chord, because parts of my keynote ended up being quoted in this recent article in Australia Broker…
A leading aggregator has highlighted the importance of quality customer data to support brokers in building successful businesses with great customer service.
CEO of Choice Aggregation Services, Stephen Moore, said it was necessary for brokers to have strong, in-depth conversations with their clients to obtain a full picture of their needs and deliver the best possible service and outcome.
Moore, who is also the Chair of LIXI, the industry Data Standards Board, said collection of the right client data, ongoing data management and security, have never been more important.
Speaking at Choice’s annual Business Development Days, he said: “Brokers are in a unique position. Typically, they are closer to their customers than anyone else in the lending market. Not only do they know about ‘hard’ data e.g. their financial situation, but also ‘soft’ data, which can be even more important, including things like clients’ aspirations, their family situation, what is important to them and so on. This combination of hard and soft client data is invaluable. It is the new black.
“A comprehensive approach to data management can support brokers to deliver the highest quality applications, as well as build more trust with both their customers and lenders.”
On Comprehensive Credit Reporting (CCR) and Open Banking, Moore said he believes these will have an overall positive impact for customers.
He added: “A more holistic picture of a customer’s credit situation will assist to tailor credit to their individual circumstances. It also allows clients to proactively address any credit concerns and, with client permission, brokers have a key role to play here too.
“We expect Open Banking to further drive lending competition, which will be a positive for customers and brokers. Coupled with their existing knowledge of client’s circumstances, brokers will be in the box seat to provide valuable advice to clients in a more efficient way.”
Held across five major states throughout March, Choice’s Business Development Days also featured panel discussions with some of Choice’s leading brokers, in line with Choice’s ongoing focus on peer-to-peer learning.
The events also featured a presentation from Business Futurist Morris Miselowski, who said brokers are ‘Finance Futurists’, and advised them to think about their role as assessing and providing for the future with every loan they provide.
Mr Miselowski also spoke about changes in the broking sector and encouraged them to ‘future proof’ their businesses by understanding and leveraging new technologies without forgetting the importance of their human touch.
He added: “Let’s move away from thinking about the ‘rate’ of change and look at the ‘range’ of change that surrounds us. The population in Australia is growing, life expectancy is constantly rising, our financial intimacy is growing, we’re surrounded by technology, artificial intelligence and blockchain, the list goes on. But what remains constant is that we’re in a people’s business and people love getting advice from a person they can see and trust. Keep humanity at the front and centre of everything you do.”
read orginal article: HomeNews by Rebecca Pike18 Apr 2018
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: Will AI replace mortgage brokers?
The transactional part of the broker role — gathering information, matching against products, calculating repayments — is highly automatable. The advisory part — understanding a client’s actual situation, navigating complex circumstances, advocating in difficult cases — is much less so. The future is not replacement but restructuring: fewer brokers doing more complex, higher-value work.
Q: How is open banking changing mortgage broking?
Open banking allows lenders and brokers to access verified financial data directly from banks, with the customer’s permission, rather than relying on documents the customer provides. This reduces friction and improves accuracy. It also reduces the information advantage that brokers had from their experience with the application process.
Q: What should mortgage brokers do to future-proof their practice?
Invest in the relationship dimensions that technology cannot replicate: deep client knowledge, trust built over time, advocacy in complex situations, and the ability to navigate the human dimensions of major financial decisions. The HUMAND™ framework identifies these as the distinctively human capabilities worth developing.
Q: Can Morris Misel speak about financial services futures at your industry event?
Yes. For keynotes on banking, financial services, and professional disruption, visit morrismisel.com/event-organisers.
The gift that keeps on giving. I recently did an Australian wide, 5 city keynote tour (plus 1 virtual keynote), exploring the Future of Mortgage Brokers (yeah, very timely) and had compiled my foresight’s and list of recommendations long before the recent commission and media sta.
The window between a signal arriving and it demanding a response is shortening. Future of Mortgage Broking / Australian Broker is already shaping strategy conversations in forward-looking organisations. Treating it as a future concern rather than a present one builds a preparedness gap that will have to be closed under pressure.
The most important question is not whether Future of Mortgage Broking / Australian Broker will matter, but how quickly it will matter in your specific context. Leaders benefit most from mapping the ripple effects early — not just the direct impact but the second and third-order consequences that arrive later and hit harder. That is the practical work of foresight.
