Translated material
Credit informants
A system of mortgage brokers is developing in Russia
Recently, such connections have become increasingly widespread in the Russian market. Experts believe that this type of cooperation may be promising and that soon lenders and intermediaries will begin to work closely, as is the case in the West.Loan brokers help people decide on the ideal lender based on various parameters. Borrowers note that their services sometimes really help, but they charge a fairly significant percentage for this. However, some brokers provide the client with a database for free. Banks are now not always ready to resort to the services of a credit broker. Sometimes it’s easier for them to find a client on their own than to pay an intermediary. But recently the trend is starting to change.
In principle, bankers are interested in any sales channels that have a positive effect. The question is how to achieve maximum efficiency. Market participants note that there is now a trend towards large car dealers and real estate agencies creating their own brokerage companies that sell various products and services of partners, including banks and insurance companies. Some bankers hope this will speed up the lending process. “We don’t work with credit brokers yet,” says Alexey Aksenov, head of the department of retail products and services at the International Moscow Bank. - But we plan to organize such work in the future. We are confident that with well-established interaction patterns between the bank and the broker, such joint activities will be quite effective and will reduce the time for a transaction.”
Maria Serova, head of the department for the development of credit products and partnership programs of the mortgage lending department of VTB-24 (as you know, in March this bank and the Fosborne Home company also signed a cooperation agreement), believes that the need to work with brokers is determined by the conditions of such cooperation. “Our bank regularly selects and accredits brokerage and real estate companies to participate in the mortgage lending program, but we in no way insist on attracting this or that realtor: the borrower must decide for himself how necessary these services are for him.”
“Most likely, Fosborne Home wants to enter into agreements with a large number of players in order to provide clients with a wide selection of mortgage programs,” believes Mikhail Busygin, head of the business development department of the City Mortgage Bank. He notes that in November 2005, it was the State Budgetary Inspectorate for the first time in Russia that introduced a systematic program of interaction with mortgage brokers in order to simplify the procedure for borrowers in collecting and preparing documents for a mortgage transaction. “In our bank, a quarter of transactions are concluded with the active participation of certified mortgage brokers,” Mr. Busygin told Vremya Novostey. The bank is going to develop this system and attract mortgage brokers to cooperate. The credit institution, he says, essentially delegates to mortgage brokers part of its functions for pre-qualifying client applications, selecting the bank’s mortgage product that is most suitable for the client, and assisting in the formation of a package of basic application documents. As a result, the bank optimizes the process of initial processing of applications and improves customer service.
The development of the system of mortgage brokers in Russia, obviously, depends entirely on the commission they expect for services. After all, now quite wealthy citizens can use mortgages. If mortgages are widely distributed, as the state wants, then the participation of less wealthy people a priori assumes a low commission or no commission at all. And it’s not a fact that banks are interested in such a clientele, because the increase in the number of overdue consumer loans can spread to mortgage loans.