His team are on a mission to remove any roadblocks that inhibit access to loans for those who have fallen through the cracks
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Being an avid promoter of innovative and non-traditional lenders, Lending Mate founder Peter Ellis provides alternative avenues for many Australians who need financial assistance, but were turned down by other lenders for a variety of reasons, such as debt, employment history, property type and location, or age.
On a mission to remove any roadblocks that inhibit access to loans, Ellis and his team provide people who have fallen through the cracks with other loan options so they can achieve their goals and improve their overall wellbeing.
Ellis believes in the proverbial expression, “variety is the spice of life,” and so his team works with lenders who offer various policies to service “non-vanilla” customers. Ellis’ team takes the time to know the individual lending appetites of these lenders and the demographics they serve. His team also re-examines lending options that clients may have already tried.
Years of refining questions and compliance requirements also helps Ellis’s team get ahead in the non- prime sector. According to Ellis, they “know what to look for in a deal down to a fine art.”
Stick to a niche
In an interview, Ellis told MPA that brokers who want to penetrate the “non-vanilla” market should hone their craft and live it every day. He finds that sticking to a niche is like being a specialist surgeon who, compared to a general practitioner, can provide help on a more specific health concern.
According to Ellis, brokers who want to start writing non-prime loans should have a real interest in that side of lending. “It’s not for everyone,” he said. “It’s very involved, time-consuming, and it requires many extra questions and points to consider over and above prime lending. It’s an area which is increasingly expanding in the new credit environment.”
Lending Mate is looking to launch an accredited training program that teaches brokers how to include non-prime loans into their service offering.
Customer types are as diverse as life itself, Ellis said. People have their own lives, and are not a set of numbers on a spreadsheet. He added that a person’s past should not dictate whether he or she can obtain financial help. Brokers need to understand that since everyone faces hiccups in life, not all customers can be vanilla prime.
“Life can definitely throw some curve balls. There are people who have had a rough past, suffered from health and money issues that have now been resolved, but credit needs to move with the times,” Ellis said. “There are some brilliant people out there doing their best with what they have.”
