Fundraising has proved challenging for broker-tailored specialist lender, but next stage in journey nears
Does Co.Credit have what it takes to upend the trail book market? Co-founder and director Jack Talbot certainly thinks so.
True, the market isn’t exactly saturated with specialist trail book lenders, especially given how rapidly the broking industry is growing, but nor is Co.Credit isn’t the only one looking for a slice of the action.
While the big banks typically only finance jumbo trail book deals well out of Co.Credit’s intended wheelhouse of between $50,000 and $1 million, it will still be competing with established players like TrailBlazer Finance and Trail Homes, and other newcomers, like Broker Capital, which founder Simon Lewis recently established after leaving TrailBlazer.
Still, “there is demand for this sort of product”, says Co.Credit co-founder and director Jack Talbot (pictured, left) in a chat with MPA. “And the fact that (other trail book lenders) are popping up, I would say, validates the need.”
The journey so far
The genesis of Co.Credit can be found at Westpac subsidiary Bank of Melbourne, where Talbot worked on products similar to what Co.Credit now offers.
Talbot saw first‑hand that getting deals done in a major bank could take up to six months due to heavy due diligence on both the transaction and borrowers’ personal finances, so he saw the potential for a more automated system to enter the market.
Following his time at Bank of Melbourne, Talbot spent a couple of years at non-bank lender Liberty before starting a broking business focused on cash flow and SME finance.
Talbot says this diversity of experience “has really given us the ability to intimately understand” what all stakeholders need from a specialist trail book lender.
In terms of total addressable market, while there is no definitive monetary figure, trail book finance is undoubtedly an expanding market.
There are over 22,000 brokers in Australia, writing more than two third of all residential loans. This number continues to increase year over year.
With a media valuation nearing $350,000 per trail book according to some sources, the enormity of the opportunity starts to become apparent. Not that that guarantees success.
Media trail book valuation continues to rise – Credit: The Finance Broking Intelligence Report, TrailBlazer Finance
Yet Talbot draws attention to Co.Credit’s tech-focused USP, saying: “Being tech‑led gives us the ability to assess risk better at a much more granular level and gives us the ability to reach outcomes quicker, and with less people involved, to be able to get to the end.
“That means it allows us to do it quicker and cheaper. And if it's cheaper for us, ultimately it's cheaper for the borrower.”
He speaks a lot of Co.Credit’s tech and automation processes, which were designed by Talbot’s business partner and Co.Credit co-founder Aron Bury (pictured, right), who also acts as the group’s chief technology officer.
Bury was previously the tech lead at cryptocurrency exchange CoinJar and his extensive startup experience across multiple sectors, including finance, was essential to Co.Credit’s creation.
“Every broker knows that rate is one thing, but with their own customers they know that process is super important – the ability to get through, understanding where you sit in the process, the ability to get there, how long it takes. So I'd say tech is definitely the differentiator here,” says Talbot.
With this snazzy tech stack in place, Co-Credit’s objective is to turn deals around in 24 hours and have them funded within three days.
The group has secured multiple funding lines and began funding acquisition transactions early in 2025, although the task has proved challenging. Coming onto the scene as a former banker, Talbot knew it was going to be a tough ride, "but the enormity of the task only started to dawn on us as we were halfway through the process of getting all the funding lines place".
“That might be one of the most naive thoughts I've ever had in my entire life,” he admits. “Raising funding in a business is bloody hard work. It's taken about three years to get to this point. We're still early in the journey, admittedly, but we've moved quickly.
“Every time you think that the finish line is here, it's actually not here, it's actually here. And you go, ‘there are all these other bits that we've missed over here. We probably need to get that in order as well’.”
The issues were compounded by the fact that private funders, which are typically used to cutting fully secured transactions, haven’t always understood what Co.Credit is trying to achieve.
“A lot of people don't understand particularly the value of the security in our space,” Talbot says. “It's because you're dealing with annuities. They're changing in real time... it's not like property lending where it's assumed that the value will stay the same or increase.”
Valuing and funding mortgage trail books requires a deep understanding on runoff rates, clawbacks and other sector-specific challenges. Nonetheless, “I would say they're an unbelievable asset class”, says Talbot. “They're traditionally really overlooked.”
Despite these hurdles, Co.Credit has now managed to secure a private funding deal that will take the group to the next level.
Far from a walk in the park
Coming onto the scene as an experienced broker himself, Talbot is passionate about helping others like him grow their businesses.
“We wanted a genuine way for brokers to build bigger businesses… That's the premise of every single thing we do”, he says.
Talbot has a few guiding questions in every decision he makes: “How do we align all of the goals of all of the stakeholders, which is us, the broker and the aggregator? How do we get everybody in the same boat at the same time, so that we're all going in the same direction?”
Right now, he is laser focused on building robust credit processes and improving performance before chasing scale.
It’s a measured approach that Talbot hopes will pay off in the long run. While chasing scale is the sexy part of building a business, building processes, understanding the data and building the tech is admittedly far less fun.
“You do not get the dopamine rush of selling stuff or feeling good because stuff's happening,” he says. “The score is going up on the scoreboard, but the scoreboard's invisible at that point, so it's not fun. That bit sucks, if I'm totally honest with you.”
It hasn’t, to put it simply, been a walk in the park in getting Co.Credit off the ground, but like any venture, there is no payoff without hard work.
