Vancity plans to reach out to more mortgage brokers

The director of mobile sales and brokerage at Canada's largest credit union, Vancity, says the company hopes to build its network of mortgage brokers in 2010 and has plans to introduce a loyalty program in the next three to six months.

The director of mobile sales and brokerage at Canada's largest credit union, Vancity, says the company hopes to build its network of mortgage brokers in 2010 and plans to introduce a loyalty program in the next three to six months.

"Our broker division is not as big as it used to be and the goal is to ramp it up," said John Derose, in an interview with CMP. "I think we need to be in all the channels - the branches, our mobile team, and the broker channel."

Vancity sold the retail mortgage and loan business of its subsidiary, Citizens Bank, to TD Bank last August, which has meant several changes for the company. Derose said he is focusing on building up service levels before taking on more volume, and adding a loyalty program for mortgage brokers is also in the works.

"We want to work with mortgage brokers, but we want to work with them beyond just that one deal or beyond just being an approval," he said. "We also want to put an emphasis on efficiency ratios because when closing ratios are low, it hurts our service."

Vancity lends in the lower mainland and interior B.C. as well as Vancouver Island.