Mortgage and finance brokers have listed commissions at the bottom of their list of criteria used when choosing lenders for customers, a new survey has found.
The Mortgage & Finance Association of Australia (MFAA) chief executive Phil Naylor said a survey of MFAA's loan writer members found less than four per cent of brokers said commission was a major influence in choosing a lender.
The findings, Naylor said were in direct contrast to other reported assertions that brokers are driven by commissions, rather than the interests of their customers.
The survey showed that in order of importance, suitability of product, flexibility to do deals, processing speed, ability to cope with complexity, and support by the lender to both the loan writer and to the customer after settlement were the main criteria brokers use to select a lender.
"Professional brokers who rely on contented customers for referrals do not risk their business for the small difference in commission paid on one product versus another," he said.
Naylor said the survey also revealed that more brokers are working longer hours, with 57 per cent working more than 40 hours a week. This has increased from 37 per cent in a similar survey carried out two years ago.
