A South Australian fintech claims to have reduced the home loan approval process from 22 days to 22 minutes, thanks to an online platform launched today.
The firm – Tic:Toc – has been backed by the SA state government and Bendigo and Adelaide Bank, and claims to have removed the need for a human credit assessor by fully digitising the loan process.
The lending platform approves online applications in real-time, the company said, to “radically improve turnaround times” and take online banking “to a new level”.
“By delivering the first genuinely online and fully automated home loan, Tic:Toc hopes to redefine the way customers secure home finance, and disrupt the home finance landscape on a world stage,” the company said in a statement.
The government backed Tic:Toc with a $900,000 grant from its Investment Attraction Agency’s Economic Investment Fund. Bendigo and Adelaide Bank underwrites the loans Tic:Toc offers and supports the application’s development.
The fintech, which has its head office on North Terrace, Adelaide, is expected to create 200 full-time positions over the next five years as it expands.
Fully digitised
“The beauty of being a digital business is we can base ourselves anywhere in Australia, and deliver the same great service to all our Australian customers. Fintech is a major growth sector, both internationally and within Australia. As a proud South Australian, I find it satisfying to launch and grow a major national fintech company from Adelaide,” said Tic:Toc founder and CEO, Anthony Baum.
“The on-demand economy has shifted customer expectations when it comes to personal finance, but home loans have been left behind. Other ‘online’ home loan providers digitise only part of the process, so while their application may begin online, it ends in the exact same way every other traditional home loan process does,” Baum added.
The government’s investment will result in a $209million contribution to GSP by 2025-26, the SA government said.
“When this was put to me in November last year I could see it was a great opportunity to grow the financial services sector in Adelaide," said SA Minister for Investment and Trade Martin Hamilton-Smith.
"This is 200 new jobs coming to Adelaide in the fintech sector backed by Bendigo and Adelaide Bank, which disproves claims by the big four banks that Adelaide is not a red hot investment destination of choice,”
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