Morning Briefing: Major bank announces major changes to its broker offering

A major bank has overhauled its broker offering  to strengthen customer service and reduce channel conflict... Westpac highlights trust divide between banks and consumers...

Major bank announces major changes to its broker offering
A major bank has overhauled its broker offering  to strengthen customer service and reduce channel conflict.

NAB has updated its broker offering, allowing NAB borrowers introduced via the third party the same access to NAB services and products as any other customer.

Brokers also have access to four more home loans; NAB Choice Package, NAB FlexiPlus Mortgage, NAB Tailored Home Loan and NAB Base Variable Rate Home Loan, as well as 10-year interest only periods for investment loans.

The expanded selection of loan products will include upfront and trail commission, while brokers also have access to a wider range of credit card offerings.

NAB broker offering general manager Steve Kane, said “We had the Homeside brand that didn’t really resonate and put a hurdle in front of brokers when they were talking to their customers. We made a decision to move to NAB Broker and remove the Homeside brand, but the operation stayed the same,” Kane told Australian Broker. 

“This is the final stage of that journey, which is really about using the full power of the NAB brand, all the process and services of NAB and all the channels of NAB to support brokers. This is really as much a statement about launching NAB back into the broker market,” he said.

Westpac highlights trust divide between banks and consumers 
Westpac chief executive officer Brian Hartzer said in a speech last week that the industry needs to pay attention to the looming trust issue consumers have with banks. 

He said Australia’s banking industry is not meeting the standards the Australian public expects it to.

“We need to recognise, that as an industry, we have a trust gap. We need to recognise that we have not met the expectations of the community,” Hartzer said.

“People are saying things need to change. Things do need to change. The good news is they are changing,” he said.

From October, Westpac will remove all product related incentives across all 2,000 tellers in its branch network and replace it with an incentive system based on customer feedback about their in-branch customer service experience.