US fintech eyes Australian mortgage space

From Australian Broker.

US financial technology company SoFi has hinted at its plans to launch an Australian branch that offers mortgages and changes the banking world.

The firm, which is based in San Francisco, has recently put out a LinkedIn job advertisement for a manager of mortgage operations in Sydney. It is also looking to hire a marketing manager and an operations manager.

This would be the fintech’s first office outside of the US where it has funded more than US$7 billion in student loan refinancing, personal loans and mortgages, reported the Australian Financial Review.

The job ad says the new hire would preferably have non-bank lending experience and would “be responsible for building out an in-house mortgage customer service and underwriting operation to serve SoFi’s new mortgage business line”.

This will include developing the operations, processing and underwriting functions as well as supervising mortgage originations at or ahead of target.

SoFi recently raised US$1 billion of funding and has grown its staff from 150 to more than 600 over the past year. It offers a range of its own mortgage products which can be applied for directly via smartphone, reported The Economist in an article last year.

Borrowers – or ‘members’ as the fintech refers to them – are also showered with a range of other services. This includes being invited to parties to network, using SoFi’s offices for investor meetings and even tapping into the firm’s network to find employment.

When contacted by Australian Broker, a SoFi spokesperson declined to comment about the company’s future plans for Australia and its expansion into the local mortgage market.

Author: Martin North

Martin North is the Principal of Digital Finance Analytics

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