by Paul McBeth
Wizard Financial Services has just opened its fourth New Zealand branch office, on Auckland's North Shore, and is close to finalising other branches in Auckland and Wellington.
The Aussie-based mortgage originator opened for business here last August with the aim of becoming a niche player and targetting market segments ignored by the main banks. It launched a couple of aggressive lending products late last year, which Executive Chairman Mark Bouris said had been very successful in attracting new business.
"Both the Rate Breaker and Essentials loan did well for us, but we've been equally pleased with the demand for our premium product which has been as - if not more - popular."
Bouris said that Wizard would continue to drive down rates wherever possible in New Zealand, just as it had moved ahead of Reserve Bank cuts in Australia to lower rates and set industry benchmarks.
Wizard posted its six-month profit in Australia last week with a 102 per cent increase in the number of loans issued. The company saw a 67 per cent increase in the number of online loan applications received, which reportedly put it on track to write 30 per cent of new business online by the end of the year.