TFC launches online tool to improve product innovation

The online management tool, initially piloted with Mortgages plc, will now be available to all lenders that use TFC from next week. The system tracks every case going through TFC and breaks the data up by individual lender, allowing the provider access to product information including which of its deals are selling, which are not selling, typical loan amounts, interest rates and the volumes sold.

Wayne Smethurst, senior partner at TFC, said: “No one has done this before. The lender logs on to the system and has access to detailed data concerning its products. This will help tremendously with future product designs and innovation. The lender has instant information about what clients are looking for when it comes to mortgage deals.”

Julian Wells, head of marketing at Mortgages plc, said the packager can also use the information generated by the system to request products from lenders, including exclusive deals that fit requirements and features that customers seem to want.

He said: “This system will be a boost to product innovation. I don’t think we have been offered this type of web-based system from an intermediary or packager before. But more importantly, it will give the packager an inside look into what clients want thus allowing it to input into the design of new products.”

Wells added: “The development of the system is indicative of how some packagers are continuing to grow and are getting quite big, showing they still have a place in the market.”