My MoneyFit has launched a digital platform that centralises offers from lenders in one online spot.
Founder Paul Newton said it would list available mortgage rates as advisers would see them in real time, as well as details of cashback offers and special mortgage rates that were not advertised.
He said many New Zealanders were missing out on better mortgage deals because they did not know what was available to them.
“My MoneyFit aims to assist financially conscious Kiwis who want to weigh up their options and look for the best deal, but aren’t sure how. By creating a link between consumers and lenders, we enable consumers to take control of their financial decisions and identify a home loan that best suits them, via an easy online process,” he said.
At the moment it works as a type of lead generator for the team of RFAs it feeds information to.
Newton said they would receive an inquiry from the site indicating that a client wanted to take out a loan with Westpac, for example, based on the data the site had given them. The adviser would then facilitate the loan.
The platform is not accredited by the major banks.
Newton said he expected digital offerings to be a bigger part of the mortgage market than brokers within three years.
But he said his model should empower brokers rather than push them out of business.
A big problem for many brokers was lead generation. But when My MoneyFit had sufficient volumes, it would need advisers across the country to help place the business, he said.
“We want to increase the third-party channel in New Zealand.”
The FMA did not regard it as a roboadvice offer, he said.
But Squirrel mortgages founder John Bolton was sceptical.
He said brokers working with a platform such as this were in breach of their agreement with banks and could put their accreditation at risk.
He said they were probably not meeting or talking to individual clients, in most cases, to determine their needs, and the focus on price was detrimental. They were also contravening banks' expectation that brokers would behave in the same way as other channels, he said.
"The brokers behind that deserve what they get. I want them out of the industry."
Bolton said My MoneyFit's promise to share information about available cashback offers and rates that were not advertised would also upset the banks..
