The bank has begun offering four to five hour training seminars to brokers in different centres around the country with the aim of both improving its own image with the broker community and as its contribution towards lifting industry standards.
It is also about to launch a broker-dedicated training web site that will include an online training manual.
ANZ head of broker distribution Brian Robb says that while some product specific information is covered, other areas such as sales skills, how to package a customer’s loan better and the wider duties and responsibilities of brokers will be covered.
Areas such as legislation relevant to brokers and what they should disclose to customers are also part of the program, he says.
While many of the broker franchises provide initial training for brokers, there’s little available in the way of ongoing training, Robb says.
Mortgage brokers are "a key business channel for us," says Robb, who is also on the board of the New Zealand Mortgage Brokers Association. "It’s obviously going to be a win/win situation for everybody."
The initiative to provide broker training grew out of the bank’s efforts to train its own staff, he says.
Some of the areas covered can be as basic as the broker putting his or her identification number clearly on the loan application form but the results should speed up the process for everybody, he says.
ANZ Bank is aiming to conduct such seminars at least monthly and so far has held them in Auckland, Wellington and Napier.
