by Paul McBeth
Visitors to the E-Loan New Zealand website can now compare and apply for credit cards as well as home loans following the launch of a new service this week.
A first for E-Loan globally (other E-Loan outlets internationally only offer a single credit card), the service gives consumers the chance to compare 19 cards from eight different issuers including three banks, Diners Club and The Warehouse. ANZ Banking Group will join shortly, boosting the number of cards offered to 23.
Untangling the various loyalty programmes and associated benefits to try and make some meaningful comparison is a tall order. However, E-Loan has come up with clear comparative data on the different cards that goes well beyond the simple tables of interest rates and fees provided by some other sites, and has added in the ability to apply for cards directly online.
E-Loan New Zealand Marketing Manager Kath Dewar said the service went live at 10pm Tuesday night and there were a number of card applications in by the following morning, even though it hadn't yet been publicised.
Meanwhile, E-Loan is plugging on with its online mortgage comparison and application service. Dewar won't say how many loans have actually been settled since the company set up here in June, but maintains that the settlement rate is "absolutely on track" for its business projections.
She says that by October 11, E-Loan had received 360 applications for loans worth a total $54.7 million. The trend so far is that a third of all applications are for loans from the four main trading banks, a third for what she terms the newer direct banks such as AMP Banking and the remaining third for the smaller loan providers.
"Interestingly, about 70 per cent of all applications are from outside Auckland, which is very different from my experience at Ergo when about 60 to 70 per cent were from Auckland."
Dewar says there are probably a couple of reasons for that: people in the provinces are increasing Internet-savvy, and consumers are also gaining a much wider choice of lenders than they've had before.