The leading Portuguese banks view mortgage brokers as partners in attracting customers, not as competitors, stated the executives from BPI, CGD, Novo Banco, BCP, and Santander today.
At the conference “The Future of Mortgage Credit,” held today at Impresa’s headquarters (SIC and ‘Expresso’), in Oeiras, bank representatives agreed that credit intermediation serves as a positive partnership for financial institutions, as these professionals enhance the credit approval process and assist clients in understanding financial information.
“We went through the financial crisis around 2010-2012 and were among the few who never abandoned credit intermediaries or agents. Therefore, we see this as an integral part of our strategy to reach more customers (…) If [intermediaries] were only commission-driven or if the interest was purely transactional, we might not have maintained this partnership,” said BPI’s CEO, João Pedro Oliveira e Costa.
Understanding Mortgage Intermediaries
Mortgage intermediaries present clients with offers from various competing banks and are paid by the banks rather than the individuals seeking a mortgage.
BCP’s executive Rui Teixeira noted that intermediaries improve financial literacy by helping clients understand the information provided by banks.
“They only add value to the system,” he commented, noting that BCP has “always” utilized a significant amount of intermediation.
CGD’s administrator Luís Pereira Coutinho emphasized that intermediaries “are very close to the client” during a home purchase, understanding both challenges and interests, thus playing “a crucial role” between both parties.
According to data shared at the conference, over 50% of mortgage loans involve credit intermediation.
BCP’s administrator agreed that the sector’s growth “is not a threat to banks,” highlighting that “there has been no paradigm shift.”
The notable change is that the sector “has become regulated and supervised, which was previously lacking,” he countered.
Santander’s executive Miguel Carvalho also asserted that “there is no paradigm shift.” The relationship with intermediaries is “a natural and healthy way to attract customers.”
“The loan approval process is very fast, so fast that clients sometimes wish it were slower,” he joked, noting that customers sometimes need time to contemplate or calculate taxes.
Novo Banco’s executive Rui Fontes mentioned that banks, “generally,” are responding swiftly. Credit intermediaries enable the management of more complex cases, he noted.
BPI’s CEO highlighted that granting bank credit represents a “medium-long-term” partnership where clients take out insurance, open checking accounts, acquire credit cards, and seek banks that are reliable.
For banks, they are a business opportunity “beyond housing credit,” he noted, stressing that buying a house is not the only “current topic.”
