Ekulus Consulting helping AFG with Oracle CX transformation

The Australian Finance Group (AFG) is looking to revolutionise user experience (UX) in the mortgage brokering sector by bringing together the complex world of brokerage information onto a single, application-based platform, while injecting artificial intelligence into the mix.

AFG is an aggregator platform for brokers, providing its users with information on the market for mortgages and all kinds of professional development offerings. At present, AFG gives brokers information on approximately 4,000 mortgage-related products offered by some 50 lenders. Brokers use this information to best meet the specific demands of their customers.

At a time when an increasing share of the residential real estate market is being digitalised, AFG is looking to make this process smoother and more effective for the 3,000 brokers in its partner network. According to Matt Faries, the Chief Information Officer (CIO) of The Australian Finance Group, the company’s new solution reflects the “app-like” experience that is thriving in many other sectors.

“We've spent quite a bit of time over the last 12 months really getting really getting to understand what the opportunities are for us to look at how most brokers currently do business, and then how they might be able to engage more digitally with their customers going forward, and how we might be able to use technology to help improve the quality of the outcomes,” he said in discussion with Computerworld.

Using a design-thinking-based approach, comprising among others customer surveys and interviews, the project team developed new and improved processes. A prototype was then build by IT professionals, after which the prototype tried and tested by a user group of key users, enabling the team to in cycles further improve the product.

Oracle in the cloud

The new portal is built on Oracle technology and is hosted in the cloud. Most exciting feature of the portal is according to Faries the in-built artificial intelligence (AI). “The engine helps brokers collect the right information and ask the right questions, but also operates as a recommendation engine.” While AFG has around 4,000 products on offer, brokers typically only compare 100 or so products per customer, with AI making this drill-down process much quicker, and arguably more accurate too.

The AI engine also helps brokers consider changes in the banking and finance sector across Australia, at a time when new financing models and changing lending behavior is transitioning the face of the mortgage market. “At the end of the day, brokers should spend more time connecting with their customers and providing value and advice rather than just facilitating the process of making sure all the documents are done,” said Faries.

The customer experience transformation at Australian Finance Group is being supported by a number of external service providers, including Ekulus Consulting, a Melbourne-based IT consultancy specialised in customer experience and Oracle CX Cloud implementation services.