(8 February 2010 – Australia) National Australia Bank’s online subsidiary UBank has delayed its home loan offering until the end of March.The Australian Financial Review reported that the bank’s UHomeloan product launch was delayed due to technology glitches and transaction processing delays late last year.
The direct-marketed product is rumoured to be launched with a discounted variable rate below 7 percent.
In the past NAB’s big four rivals, CBA and ANZ, have attempted online home loan offerings and subsequently cancelled them.
However, Lisa Gray National Australia Bank’s group executive of personal bank told the Financial Review that the bank had studied online strategy for the product’s launch.
‘We’ve learnt a lot from overseas about what works and what doesn’t in online mortgages,’ Ms Gray said.
Tony Crossley told Australian Broker News that online channels could be difficult for larger banks to adapt to.
‘It’s very difficult for a bank to create an entirely new channel internally. There’s also fear in the consumer’s mind about what’s different in any new channel. It would appear, however, that some borrowers and some lenders are getting much smarter about how they interact.”