SocietyOne launches digital broker portal

Peer-to-peer lender SocietyOne has launched a new digital channel to allow brokers to provide fast personal loan quotes to potential borrowers

The lender said the new portal will “significantly bolster” its specialist broking capabilities as it targets growth.

New ‘quick quotes’ and secured loan options will allow brokers to send personal loan estimates to clients in half the time compared to SocietyOne’s previous application form.

It also provides more product options including personal loans up to $70,000 and with seven-year terms, and discounts for secured loans.

The digital lender said it plans to focus on its broker distribution channel as it heads into the next financial year.  

SocietyOne head of consumer product Laura Phillips said the new portal was built in-house by the consumer product development team as a serverless web application.

“The portal was designed and built using collaboration tools like Miro for wireframing and scoping requirements and Figma for high-fidelity designs,” Phillips said.

Phillips added Jira, Confluence and Slack were also used to manage SocietyOne’s “agile development delivery.”

SocietyOne is already planning to offer digital banking services in the second half of this year through Westpac’s banking-as-a-service platform.

The services will include a transaction account offered to its 75,000 customers, which will be accessible via an app.

Phillips said moving forward, consumers that are granted a personal loan from their broker will, in future, be able access these Westpac BaaS products plus tools designed to reduce debt faster through SocietyOne.

More new Hires

Alongside today's launch, SocietyOne announced several new hires.

Westpac and MyState Limited general manager and broking specialist Tony MacRae has been hired as chief commercial officer while Tommy Lee has stepped into the head of broker distribution and business analyst role.

Melissa Romeo has been hired to Victorian business development manager and Mathew Chaffey was promoted to national business development & broker support manager.

The new hires join former ME Bank CEO Jamie McPhee and former senior vice president at American Express Melanie Cochrane, who started at SocietyOne in April.