The company has followed its growth in the direct channel by doubling the sales and underwriting teams and by adding new buy-to-let products to its portfolio.
GE Money has also added two more partners – M2000 and Personal Touch Financial Services - to its growing distribution network. These additions mean GE Money Home Lending has now signed a total of nine partners in less than six months, giving almost 17,000 brokers access to First National’s Direct 2 U range.
In addition, GE Money Home Lending is introducing a new range of Buy-to-Let products, which will also be available to all FN Direct 2 U partners from 15 June 2007. The new First National Buy to Let products include two and five year trackers, a new tracker rate and a low completion fee option. Features include an initial rate rental calculation, no higher lending charge and 100 per cent rental income up to 85 per cent loan to value.
Dev Malle, sales director at Personal Touch Financial Services, said: "GE Money Home Lending have continued to bring innovation to the mortgage market and despite a number of our packaging partners offering their products, we started to get more and more demand for these products through direct distribution. A critical part of our proposition is giving members choice, so to be able to offer a solid set of products with criteria and price advantages through GE Money, adds value to that proposition.”
Duncan Berry, director of mortgage sales at GE Money Home Lending, said: “Our direct channel offering continues to go from strength-to-strength with the doubling of our sales and underwriting teams, as well as the addition of new partners and some very compelling new Buy-to-Let products. Since launch in January this year we have added nine new partners, allowing some 17,000 brokers access to our suite of First National Direct 2 U products. We believe our latest Buy-to-Let range will be very popular and will help to continue the impressive growth in this channel.
“Today’s announcement is great news for GE Money Home Lending and consistent with our multi-channel strategy of developing new distribution growth streams, whilst maintaining our commitment to existing packager relationships. Our entry into the Buy-to-Let market is evolving and we are confident that our new products will prove to be popular with brokers and packagers alike.”
