The business of lending money on property is about as basic a feature of banking as it gets, and there's been plenty of noise about how fintech "disrupters" are tying to get into the act. So how can more traditional players use technology to protect and grow business? We talk to a firm in the space.

If there is a part of the high net worth banking sector that can be overlooked because the area seems so ordinary, it is mortgage lending. And yet, as this publication has noted over the years, even the wealthiest clients can struggle to get lending on bricks-and-mortar assets in certain market conditions. And providing efficient lending for property is also a great way for firms to forge loyal clients.

The business of helping banks and other sources of credit to provide mortgages and other debt instruments is also one that continues to see technology solutions arise to make it easier to source deals, compare prices and speed up the process. A firm operating in this space is PriceHubble. It helps users generate leads for new business, helps to value and analyse clients’ properties, and provides data so that users can update clients with information about their properties. 

And perhaps one way that firms such as PriceHubble make a difference is providing incumbent banks with the tools they need to ward off challenges from fintechs and other tech-driven upstarts trying to invade banks’ traditional terrain. The business, operating in 10 countries, was launched in the UK last September.

“An existing bank might show you a mortgage but have nothing about the actual property. PriceHubble does that…it gives bankers a 360-degree view of the wealth and brings the properties into the relationship,” Tony Prestedge, a UK-based advisor at the firm, told this news service. He is a former deputy CEO of Santander and Nationwide. Speaking alongside him was Stefan Heitmann, PriceHubble’s co-founder and executive chairman.

As well as clients' homes, PriceHubble covers properties bought as assets, such as rentals. (It doesn’t do commercial real estate.)

Without top-notch data on property, investment firms and banks cannot easily operate their business, he said. With the kind of information PriceHubble provides, it puts firms in the driving seat. “It helps incumbents become more relevant and successful,” Prestedge said. 

PriceHubble, based in Zurich, works with clients around the world. At present, 200 specialists work for PriceHubble, which has offices in Zürich, Paris, Berlin, Vienna, Amsterdam, Tokyo and Prague – and now London. In the UK, the business focuses on partnering with UK banks, wealth managers, estate agents, mortgage brokers, IFAs and fintechs. In October, PriceHubble launched one of its products – Property Adviser – a visual dashboard which includes multiple data sets, including property valuation and local amenities.

The business of lending to high net worth and ultra-HNW clients in the UK is complex. Clients' assets can cause headaches when it comes to pricing the collateral. Among businesses in the space is Butterfield Mortgages, the business spun out of the old UK part of Butterfield. (See an interview here.) The ability to provide bespoke mortgages for such persons where there are complex issues in play is provided by a relatively limited number of banks, such as UK-based Arbuthnot Latham and Coutts, UBS and Brown Shipley. 

Labels and models
Operating a business-to-business model, PriceHubble has clients such as Credit Suisse, BNP Paribas and AXA. The offering can be white-labelled by clients, although in the case of Credit Suisse, the brand is visible in its offerings.

Heitmann, who has a background in banking at consultancy McKinsey, working in countries such as Germany and Switzerland, argues that his business can be a force-multiplier for banks and other firms.

“PriceHubble helps mortgage banks and brokers to sell more mortgages and gives managers more share of wallet…it opens up more potential,” he said. “You can also have a much more intelligent conversation [with clients].”

One of the benefits of the firm’s systems is that it captures developments and news that might affect a property’s value – something that banks and others need to know about, Heitmann said. It uses machine learning and other modern tech to sort through masses of potentially relevant data about properties.