Unlike many industry professionals, Australian mortgage brokers do not have to fear the rise of fintech, said a senior figure.

Fintechs with the ability to offer mortgage, personal, and commercial loans to consumers are not to be feared by traditional mortgage brokers, because they do not have the developed trust base that their forerunners do, a senior finance industry figure said.

MoneyQuest managing director, Michael Russell, said that mortgage brokers across Australia had consumer awareness, trust, and scale that fintechs had not achieved.

“Fintechs by their nature are disruptive to the status quo,” he said,

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“Fintechs operate on a significantly lower cost structure than traditional bank and non-bank mortgage providers — and in the longer term, this is the concern.”

Russell pointed out that many new fintech ventures did not make it off the ground, but that mortgage brokers needed to remain ahead of their game, so as not to be usurped by digital disrupters.

“Over the past decade, almost all new fintechs have failed,” he said.

“Mortgage brokers must not get complacent. Instead, we need to continue to capitalise on our competitive advantage by improving customer experience and working with lenders to accelerate the timing of customer outcomes.”