Mortgage Choice

In 2016, after a competitive tender process, the Mortgage Choice Group engaged Loanworks to provide full-time, dedicated outsource staff members to Mortgage Choice franchises for loan admin work. They selected us because of our long-term track record in providing outsource services for the Australian lending industry, our experience in sourcing and training staff, and our data security and privacy safeguards (for example, ISO 270001 accreditation).

As part of their solution, Loanworks handles all recruitment, training, mentoring and development, IT infrastructure, systems and support, quality assurance and reporting.

Most Mortgage Choice Group franchises now have one outsourced staff member, based in Manila, who works during Australian business hours, 40 hours per week and are available through phone, email or skype. (In 2019, the scope of the partnership was extended to include a part-time dedicated outsource offering (20 hours per week). This additional offering was tailored for the smaller mortgage brokers with lower volumes.)

The tasks that brokers allocate their full-time or part-time outsourced staff member can include:

• Loan packaging
• Receipt of loan information from credit support staff
• Entry of deal information data into CRM and ApplyOnline
• Generating lenders’ application forms/lodgement documents for signing
• Generating required compliance documents
• Compiling and uploading supporting documents
• Requesting upfront valuations and special pricing requests
• Preparing FHOG and Discharge Authority forms
• Completing checklists and ApplyOnline verification ready for lodgement
• Loan Tracking:
  • Confirming lodgement pack has been received by lender and record reference number
  • Calling lenders and review lender portals for loan updates
  • Reviewing lender credit conditions and work with credit support to resolve
  • Following up on conditional and formal approvals
  • Confirming that valuation has been ordered and completed
  • Following up on FHOG and discharge authority forms
  • Following up on mortgage documents
  • Updating the CRM workflow and notes
  • Completing settlement checklists
• Completing file review checklist

To take the onus off the brokers and free them to do what they do best, the Loanworks Service Delivery team works daily with the offshore staff to monitor the quality of work and sets (and reviews, along with HR) quarterly KPIs for the offshore staff.

The recruitment process for Loanworks’ offshore loan admin staff is rigorous: once candidates are deemed to have the right experience, they participate in a face-to-face interview. If they pass the interview, they then undertake a skills test in English and maths, as well as personality assessments. Shortlisted candidates then move into the training pool for four weeks where they are specially trained in-house in all the above tasks.

Once the new hire has completed this training, the client is given three candidates to interview and select from, along with all relevant documents (including test results).

Since 2016, Loanworks has helped Mortgage Choice Group cut their costs associated with loan processing by an average of 60%.

Mortgage Choice was also pleasantly surprised to find that their loan admin staff are continually driving the process. This proactive relationship means the broker gets deals done faster, while meeting all of their compliance obligations.

The partnership has helped free Mortgage Choice Group franchises from unnecessary admin work so they can focus on creating stronger client relationships and grow their business.