Bank's glitzy new lodgement platform ticks all the boxes, now it needs to deliver a better customer experience
AMP Bank gathered a group of top brokers into its Sydney headquarters on Wednesday to dazzle them with its new custom-built broker platform, billed as the first of its kind in Australia.
Having undergone a rigorous pilot phase since May, the digital platform, which was designed in partnership with fintech partners Simpology, Fortiro, Equifax and Cotality (formerly CoreLogic), aims to completely overhaul the home loan application process.
Brokers were told how the AMP Bank Broker platform, built on Simpology’s Loanapp Version 2 software, will cut down duplication of effort, speed up time to yes and make for as seamless an experience as possible.
It certainly sounds impressive, with key features including:
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Upfront digital verification: Brokers can verify income, ID, and property details before submitting an application
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Real-time credit decisioning: The platform runs credit and policy checks instantly as data is entered, flagging any issues for brokers to address on the spot
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Streamlined application process: Data flows seamlessly from broker CRM to the platform, minimising duplication and manual entry
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Fast approvals and settlements: With features like 90-second docs, approved applications can have loan documents issued to both broker and customer almost instantly
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Personalised customer videos: Clients receive tailored video updates at key stages, such as document issue and settlement
The presentation touched on many of the common pain points and bottlenecks that brokers experience when working with lenders.
One broker, James Brett (pictured below, third from left, alongside other seminar speakers) of Truly Finance, gave his first-hand account of working with the platform.
While he didn’t universally lavish praise on it (“like anything new, it is a bit tough… it looks busy, it looks weird, it looks different”) Brett said the platform was ultimately a credit to AMP Bank and one that has improved loan processing times for his brokerage.
As part of the transition, AMP Bank will be switching off the existing NextGen platform. Melissa Christy (pictured, top centre), the bank’s head of lending operations, acknowledged that brokers currently “live in NextGen” as it is the industry-standard lodgement platform, but the transition will be of great benefit to brokers.
“The platform is intuitive, it's just they know (NextGen) like the back of their hand, they can do it with their eyes closed because they use it day in, day out,” Christy told MPA in a post-seminar chat. Nonetheless, she believes Simpology’s speed and efficiency will win brokers over.
With over 90% of AMP Bank’s loans coming through brokers, there was clear pressure to perfect the transition to Simpology (having announced the switch over a year ago, it certainly wasn’t rushed), but as automation becomes more ingrained in the application process, does the bank risk losing that human touch that brokers highly value?
MPA quizzed Paul Herbert (pictured, top left), AMP Bank’s head of lending and everyday banking distribution, on the matter.
Art of the human
Herbert emphatically ruled out the prospect of reducing the relevance and/or size of its national business development manager (BDM) and relationship manager teams.
“We can’t deliver the type of experience our brokers deserve without having a really good platform… But there's the art of the human," he said. "There's a human involved in the decision making. There's a human involved in the communication with customers. So our BDMs are really, really important to ensuring we deliver that high consistency of service experience.”
However, as AMP Bank’s next-generation broker platform starts to roll out across the country, it could change the role that those BDMs play.
While BDM’s have historically been involved in just about every aspect of the loan origination process, “the role of the BDM will become far more about supporting brokers, spending more time around training and helping them build”.
Read more: BDM in the Spotlight: Manraj Kler, AMP Bank
Herbert wants AMP Bank’s BDMs to be experts at what they do and “not just a problem solver”.
“Ultimately we want to make sure our BDMs are spending the time doing what actually delivers the best value for brokers,” he said.
On the transition from NextGen to Simpology, Herbert said “we’re delighted to be frontiering something that’s not ever been done before in the Australian market”.
The new platform incorporates lessons learned and broker feedback from the NextGen era, but adds deeper automation, real-time policy checks, and integrated digital verification.
Scaling up
Now comes the scale period.
Over 3,000 brokers under one aggregator are currently using the new AMP Bank Broker platform; from 14 August, it will be rolled out to the aggregators en masse.
“We are going to make mistakes and it’s not always going to be perfect, but we are going to respond the right way and fix those mistakes,” Michael Christofides (pictured, top right), AMP Bank’s director of everyday lending, told brokers on Wednesday.
Brokers have mixed feelings on AI, automation
As AMP Bank and its competitors ramp up their automation and AI investments, the impacts of these burgeoning technologies has become a hot talking point in the mortgage broking space.
Just this week, Commonwealth Bank reportedly culled 45 jobs specifically to replace them with AI.
Some brokers who spoke with MPA found this concerning.
Stephanie Coleman, operations manager at Sydney-based brokerage Unconditional Finance, said the closure of particular CBA call lines, and reduced access to live support, “has meant more time spent resolving issues that could have been quickly addressed with a real person”.
“This not only slows down deal flow but affects the client experience,” Coleman said. “In a service-driven industry like ours, relationships still matter, whether that’s with clients or BDMs. Without the human layer, we risk turning a relationship business into a transactional one. I believe with the right balance AI can support, not replace, the kind of service that keeps clients and brokers coming back.”
But brokers also see some clear benefits in banks adopting these technologies.
“While some are understandably concerned about the loss of human interaction, I personally do not see an issue with banks adopting AI – provided they are reinvesting in other parts of the business to enhance efficiency without compromising human support,” said Fabio de Castro, director of Sydney-based brokerage Simplicity Finance.
“The mortgage space is – and should remain – a people-first business,” de Casto said. That said, “AI absolutely has a place. If it can streamline the admin, handle repetitive tasks, and remove friction from processes, then that gives us all more time to focus on the human side of broking – advice, service, and building deeper relationships with clients, BDMs, and referral partners”.
