Home loans are big business. In Australia the mortgage market revenue is estimated at $68.2 billion* per year and the major banks have a significant share of this.
Nathalie Hesse leads ANZ Mobile Lending, the franchise proposition that exists within the ASX-listed ANZ bank.
“It’s a big brand, with a global footprint, and our purpose is to help shape a world where people and communities thrive,” she says. “For us a key element of this is helping people save for, buy and own a home.”
3 things that stand out for ANZ Mobile Lending franchisees
1. Unique position in the Australian Market
The Mobile Lending business remains the only one of the big four banks operating a franchise model under its main brand. The ANZ branding can deliver a significant advantage to franchisees.
Franchisees are working exclusively with ANZ, a well-known name in financial services. “It is an exceptionally strong brand in the market that people are familiar with,” says Nat.
“What I love about this business is that a really important segment of our customer base are small business owners. This is an opportunity to help that industry, as well as homeowners, as you become a small business owner yourself.”
Australian consumers are looking for trusted advisors with experience, that are easy to do business with. Franchisees are encouraged to build strong ties with the local community and as a result, can provide home loans for generations of devoted customers.
“They’ve built fantastic relationships, so when clients’ children are ready to get a home loan, the franchisee already knows them.”
The ANZ name delivers the confidence and business support that back up the personal approach.
2. An accessible financial model
A franchisee buys a franchise territory, which provides marketing rights to a geographic area. There are limited establishment costs.
“It is relatively affordable as a starting point to go into business,” says Nat. Ambitious franchisees can leverage the opportunities in their territory and build successful businesses.
“We’ve got some franchisees who have up to 12 staff. Growth and financial success largely depend on the investment you want to make, coupled with the requisite drive,” she says.
The ANZ Mobile Lending model lends itself well to scale, so there is potential to grow your business as a franchisee.
Growth is built on developing deeper relationships with customers, and partnering them with all their financial needs, says Nat.
As you would expect from a trusted financial brand, there are parameters for growth. When entrepreneurial franchisees are ready to expand, they need to demonstrate an alignment with the expectations and brand culture at ANZ.
“We have a performance framework that includes a balanced scorecard centred on customer feedback, financial performance, responsible lending, and living our values that include integrity and collaboration,” Nat explains.
3. Organisational investment will help propel growth
In business for almost 20 years, ANZ Mobile Lending has accumulated extensive knowledge and experience that franchisees can leverage. The established home loans business is also now ready to ramp up its digital assets and franchise support.
“We’re at the point where ANZ needs to invest in technology and tooling,” reveals Nat. The franchisor is investing significantly in the tech area to bring franchisees a single operating environment, more automation, more efficiency, and a very modern customer relationship management system.
“So franchisees will be able to check in on customers regarding their financial needs armed with the latest digital tools”.
Nat says there is ongoing demand for customer care, and that could be upsizing, downsizing or fixing home loan rates.
“In the current environment with rising interest rates, customer solutions are more important than ever,” she says.
“This is a buoyant market opportunity and at ANZ the Mobile Lending franchisees have the highest level of engagement with customers, the highest net promoter score.”
ANZ Mobile Lending franchisee footprint set to grow
And it’s that level of engagement that confirms the need for personal communication, even when things can be done online.
“For complex, emotional transactions, people do still want to talk to someone.” says Nat.
The standout elements of an ANZ Mobile Lending franchise are trust, branding, systems, investment and relationship management.
“In addition, we’ve got a very large head office team supporting franchisees – managers for relationships, capabilities and home loans.”
And the business is scaled to expand substantially around the country.
“We have ambitious aims to grow this business and have a larger contribution to ANZ as a whole, with a view to exponentially increasing the number of customers,” says Nat.
It’s an affordable business opportunity that suits ambitious, growth-minded individuals looking for independence and the ability to dictate their financial future.
ANZ Mobile Lending delivers the brand, support and tools – franchisees bring their ambition and relationship building skills.
*Mortgages in Australia, IbisWorld.