Podium (MS Mortgages) 🏠

MoneySupermarket have just announced their plans to launch a new mortgage fintech called Podium, possibly in an effort to challenge Habito? Pretty vague on details so one to keep an eye on maybe.

“The goal is an easy-to-use comparison service which at the touch of a button on a mobile phone will empower consumers with the information and knowledge they need to do a fairer comparison of mortgages. Those buying their first home may continue to seek personal advice. Others, who may be completing their second, third or even sixth remortgage may simply need help finding the deal that suits them from the thousands available on the market.”

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Trussle is another one. Mortgages are very profitable, most people don’t understand how profitable they are or how they actually work until they get one. The first annual statement can be a sobering moment.

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I really rated the Google mortgage comparison site. As is the Google way, they canned it.

In the end, I found comparing on the spreadsheet from Locoblades Mortgage Spreadsheet to be the best. Haven’t found a better tool to compare. The only downside is you have to do all the searching yourself.

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Business Insider’s been able to get hold of a few more details here -

the key comment for me is this -

“It really is the final area no one has been able to digitise,” Hancock said. "This is one of the most complex and one of the most significant financial transactions we make in our lives.

emphasis mine

I really hope that they have bigger ambitions that digitisation, it’s an important step but there’s so much more potential!

On that note, I was listening to an interview with Habito’s CEO on the Rebank podcast the other day.

He shared some really interesting info saying (at about 11:22) that their research with the University of Manchester found that 55% of people were overpaying on their mortgage, by an average of £294 per month. That amounts to 15bn of interest being overpaid per year. I expect a few people here have some experience with that :grimacing: so there’s clearly a very big opportunity to go after here.

He also mentioned (13:05) that there’s a close correlation between education level & the level of overpayment. The reading age required to understand a mortgage contract is undergraduate level & about 50% of the population doesn’t have that. So he said that it seems likely that it’s those people who are overpaying on their mortgage. And it’s that sort of thing that, if I’m cynical, I doubt a company like MoneySupermarket will be paying attention to.

So add that to the fact that Habito has the tech / FinTech elements like actually having an API, which will enable them to deliver much better user experience for users of the challenger banks, like Starling & other services and I’m hoping that this doesn’t impact challengers like Habito too much.

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Just had a look at moneysupermarket share price after reading this post, could be a wee purchase when I get my Freetrade account up and running.