SocietyOne hits $600M in loans after record holiday season
Australia’s leading marketplace lender, SocietyOne, has sped past $600 million in loan originations after a record holiday period, with $64.9 million in total originations over the past three months, compared to $39.5 million over the same three months last year.
The milestone comes just six months after the appointment of Mark Jones as CEO, who oversaw the launch of a broker channel in June, an improved credit assessment process in July, a marketing campaign beginning September, and an improved online customer quote and application experience from October.
“We are thrilled to be growing so strongly as it’s a sure sign that Australians are increasingly turning away from one-size-fits-all options and instead using our easy, transparent, individually tailored and often far cheaper online loans than can be accessed from a bank,’’ said Mr. Jones.
“Over the past 12 months, we’ve undergone a continuous transformation process to make enquiring about and applying for a new loan easy and simple for our customers.
“As a result, we’re now seeing real momentum in the business that we fully expect to continue, and which should see us achieve our goals of breaking even in the coming months and reach $1 billion in loan originations by the first half of 2020.”
SocietyOne’s loan growth began picking up after a new credit scorecard was introduced in June 2018 which resulted in a greater focus on homeowners, and accelerated in September 2018 with the introduction of a new marketing campaign followed by a new origination process in October 2018 that dramatically improved the customer experience.
The June 2018 launch of the broker channel also added in excess of $4 million new monthly originations, with broker feedback being “extremely positive for our competitive and transparent pricing, no ongoing or early repayment fees, availability of a quote which doesn’t affect the customer credit score, and excellent service” according to Chief Operating Officer, Jonathan Chan.
The strong growth follows a two-year transformation period transitioning SocietyOne from start-up to scale-up led by former CEO, Jason Yetton, and with the ongoing support of shareholders and media partners.
Average annual growth of total originations over the past 4 years has been 164 per cent, and the past seven months have also been record months for lending, recording $26.7M in February.
In December 2018, total loan originations were $15.3M ($12.8M in 2017), $22.9M in January 2019 ($15.2 million in 2018), and $26.7M in February 2019 ($11.6M in 2018).
“The acceleration in loan take-up, especially in the last 6 to 12 months, reflects the improved customer experience, increased use of broker channels, and the return of existing customers,” Mr. Jones continued.
“We’re delighted to have reached this significant milestone as we continue to deliver on our promise to provide an even better deal for our borrowers and investor funders.”
