Atom’s Maria Harris points finger at mortgage industry

Speaking at the bank’s ‘digital mortgages’ launch event in Hackney House in London with intermediary and technology partners, Harris was outspoken about how the market needs to up its game.

Atom’s Maria Harris points finger at mortgage industry

The mortgage industry is lagging behind in technology, how it treats customers and engages with people, Atom Bank’s director of retail mortgages Maria Harris told brokers yesterday.

Speaking at the bank’s ‘digital mortgages’ launch event in Hackney House in London with intermediary and technology partners, Harris was outspoken about how the market needs to up its game.

She said: “I’ve worked in mortgages for about 10 years and I love mortgages and intermediaries but we are so far behind other industries with our technology, with the way we treat our customers, with the way we engage with people and we are absolutely ready to have a revolution.

“I can’t do it on my own. I need every single person in this room to help me – we’ve got a lot of people to convince, a lot of technology to change but I believe it’s the right thing to do and I believe you can help us do it.

“What we have delivered will transform our industry and this is only the first step.”

Harris admitted her role as the key member of Atom’s mortgage team is “the best thing I could have done”, having left Lloyds Banking Group as head of national accounts in 2011 feeling disillusioned about the industry.

Atom offers residential lending for the self-employed, contractors, lending into retirement, purchase, remortgage, shared ownership, first-time-buyers and new-build properties, while this week it expanded its product range with 80% and 85% loan-to-value options.

Mark Mullen, chief executive of Atom, said: “We believe in advice; we believe in independence of advice.

“And that means sometimes it isn’t our mortgage that customers are going to buy and that’s actually the right answer.

“And ultimately if technology has a role to play over the next five to 10 years it should be helping customers make the right choice for them and not necessarily ensuring that they buy the product that the bank manufactured.

“We designed our business occasionally to lose.”

Atom currently employs 250 people in Durham in the North East, as Mullen joked: “It's even darker and colder at this time of year.

“We are the only financial services company based in Durham – long may that continue.”