The second-tier bank that wants to be bigger – with mortgage brokers' help
Coming fresh off the back of a big profit announcement, Bendigo and Adelaide Bank’s chief executive Marnie Baker has said that the lender is in a position to keep taking market share from other lenders.
The bank saw its mortgage book grow by 14% in the last half, and a growth in cash profit to nearly $220 million.
Speaking to the Sydney Morning Herald, Baker said that she thought the bank would continue to grow its loan book faster than its competitors, having worked to improve loan processing speeds and the close relationship it had cultivated with mortgage brokers. “We believe it is sustainable,” Ms Baker told the SMH. “We think we’ve got the ingredients right.”
Bendigo sourced around 48% of its $3.1 billion in residential loans through the mortgage broker channel during the last half of 2020.
Baker also has high hopes for the planned changes to the responsible lending rules, and isn’t concerned about an overheating market. “This is people taking advantage of a low-rate environment, government stimulus... to actually either upgrade their house or buy a house,” she told the paper.
Bendigo has seen customer numbers rise by over 4%, and has said that it intends to target residential lending, small business, agribusiness and to reduce costs.
