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BOQ has responded to concerns over the future of the broker channel for its retail brand after a pause from August 2024 with no update.
Speaking to Broker Daily, BOQ’s general manager, broker and strategic partnerships, Johnny Lockwood, said the lender “values” brokers but is continuing the pause as it implements digital transformation.
Over 70 per cent of all home loans are written through its broker channel, said Lockwood. Now, ME Bank is becoming BOQ Group’s dedicated retail broker brand, with updates on the future of ME Bank and BOQ retail to come.
“BOQ’s broker brand remains paused, and we’ll continue supporting existing customers with their lending needs,” said Lockwood.
“We will continue to evaluate internal and external conditions to determine which additional brands such as Virgin Money will be made available to new customers in the retail broker channel.”
BOQ said it could not give a timeline at this stage for a return but plans on announcing improvements that should provide greater transparency for brokers.
BOQ Business, BOQ Finance, and BOQ Specialist still remain available to brokers. The group said it is still very much committed to brokers and is not exiting the channel.
“To accommodate the pause in our other retail brands, we have expanded the lending composition and policy for the ME brand, which is currently aligning with the bank’s growth targets,” Lockwood said.
“As we deliver against our digital transformation strategy, BOQ Group looks forward to providing a superior experience for brokers and customers, with further improvements on the horizon.”
The future of third party at BOQ has been up in the air since it placed the pause on the channel from 31 August 2024.
Brokers were understandably annoyed by the decision and the lack of transparency that followed only made the issue worse.
BOQ said it is working to provide greater understanding and minimise confusion for its broker partners in the future.
Back in August 2024, when the pause was announced, managing partner of FirstPoint Mortgage Brokers, Troy Phillips, said he was “not surprised” that the bank was weighing up its options.
“They’ve bought ME Bank, and ME Bank has a big brand in the broker space. I don’t think there’s any point in replicating it,” Phillips said.
“BOQ’s strengths were probably in business banking in any case, and it’s probably got a strong retail footprint in Queensland. And BOQ has bought a lot of brands … they’ve got Virgin Money [too].
“Running brands is really hard, and banks don’t particularly run more than one brand really well. So economically, it’s probably a bottom-line focus. It’s probably a smart move, I don’t see the reason they need to be there.”
With BOQ saying there are announcements to come, some may be hoping for a retail broker channel return.
Broker Daily will continue to cover any announcements.
