Knowledge Bank’s Notify, a platform designed to facilitate the interaction between mortgage brokers and lenders, has expanded its offerings with the addition of seven new lenders since the beginning of the year.
The service, which was launched in September 2023, aims to streamline the process of case placement, providing greater transparency and efficiency in the market.
The new participants – Stafford Railway Building Society, Buckinghamshire Building Society, Newbury Building Society, Earl Shilton Building Society, Leek Building Society, Gatehouse Bank, and NatWest – augment the platform’s existing network of 26 lenders.
This expansion is part of Knowledge Bank’s ongoing effort to provide its broker community, which numbers over 4,000, with a wider range of options for their clients.
Since its introduction, Notify has facilitated over £100m in new business referrals from brokers to lenders, with NatWest achieving a notable milestone by processing a case and extending a decision in principle invitation in under nine minutes.
Shane Chawatama, sales director at Knowledge Bank, highlighted the careful selection of the new lenders to ensure they align with the most sought-after criteria by brokers. “With the latest lenders to join Notify, we know this will make it even faster for our 4,000-plus broker community to place their cases with confidence,” Chawatama said. He emphasised the platform’s use of search insights to match brokers with lenders most likely to accept their cases, thereby streamlining the placement process.
Notify is accessible to all brokers who are either subscribed to Knowledge Bank or are part of a free 30-day trial, with no additional charges for using the service. In 2023 alone, brokers performed over 1.5 million searches on the system, a figure that doubles when accounting for searches conducted on integrated platforms such as Iress’ XPlan Mortgage, OMS, and Air Sourcing.
Chawatama, who has over a decade of experience as a broker, lauded Notify for its time-saving capabilities and its role in reducing the risk of case rejection due to lender criteria technicalities. “For brokers, we understand that their time is so precious, even getting a quick no to case allows them to move on and use the time working on other opportunities,” he explained, adding that the detailed record of conversations about cases significantly lowers the likelihood of issues arising later in the process.
The response from lenders to Notify has been positive. Emma Parker, business development manager, shared her enthusiasm for Stafford Railway Building Society’s partnership with Knowledge Bank on Notify. “Notify is simple and easy to use, and we highly recommend users of knowledge bank to get on board with this feature,” Parker said, noting the platform’s effectiveness in attracting cases that were previously challenging to place.
The service has also received acclaim from the broker community, with many expressing their satisfaction through social media. David Tasker, a mortgage and protection adviser from London Money, praised Notify for its efficiency in identifying lenders for complex cases. “The most complex case I have been involved in since I started moved to offer yesterday. A unique set of circumstances left only two lenders standing. Dudley Building Society issued an offer yesterday [sic] to my client. I found them via Notify,” Tasker shared.
