The Cumberland Building Society was recently added to Mortgage Brain’s Sourcing and Criteria Brain platforms, seeing its range of home mover, first-time buyer and remortgage residential products made available to brokers across the building society’s core operating area.
The latest development, which follows a move onto Twenty7tec’s sourcing platform in November last year, demonstrates our desire to provide mortgage advisers with a broad range of products, delivered with ease, which will allow them to give a comprehensive mortgage service to their customers.
The latest move, just two years after The Cumberland’s intermediary division was formed, marks a significant milestone that will see our business practices modernised.
While a drive to modernisation is underway, we are committed to maintaining our company-wide ethos of ‘kinder banking’, which applies not only to the brokers we work with, but their clients too.
Personal service
In today’s fast-paced and demanding economic landscape, digitalisation of services has become a staple for how customers manage their finances, with many in the banking sector looking to improve their operations to provide the best service possible.
However, any efforts to modernise operations without considering how the customer will be affected risks failing to have the intended impact.
Indeed, while digital banking services offer convenience, some customers may feel disenfranchised by the lack of personal interaction and in-person support available. Automated systems can lead to a sense of alienation, while technological barriers can add another layer of frustration.
Simply put, people want personal assistance. We understand this is particularly important to brokers, who operate in a fast-paced environment where rates are frequently changing; in this context, we know that being able to pick up the phone to a real person is invaluable.
While the introduction of the Mortgage Brain and Twenty7tec significantly improves the process for brokers, The Cumberland will continue to support its customers throughout their mortgage journey with its dedicated intermediary support team, who will look at their applications manually and consider each case on its own merit, rather than relying on a computer to make decisions.
Crucially, our strategy is to enhance our offering rather than put in place a digital barrier; people, including brokers and their customers, will remain at the centre of our innovations, and this is where The Cumberland’s team of relationship managers will play a vital role.
Relationship managers in our intermediary team deliver a hands-on approach for each case, analysing and understanding requests in a bid to forge and deliver relationships which will see applications come to fruition. Taking a holistic approach to the underwriting process, The Cumberland will make a decision based on all factors for each case.
Additionally, for brokers, having a direct point of contact allows them to drive forward applications and work proactively to solve any issues during a time where stress and worry can be at an all-time high for their clients. In turn, the personal, efficient service which The Cumberland strives to deliver is complemented by new technology such as sourcing systems to ensure its approach is in-keeping with its core values.
Modernisation, and the implementation of digital services, have a key role to play across the banking sector moving forward, but only by placing an onus on people can organisations deliver an environment which truly supports brokers and their clients. By focusing on people as its core driver, The Cumberland aims to set a benchmark which combines technology and in-person support to empower brokers to build strong, long-lasting relationships with lenders.
Anne Hodgson is intermediary business development manager at The Cumberland
