Argos to work with 4,000 mortgage brokers
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Argos has launched a financial services price comparison website covering mortgages which aims to put borrowers in touch with local brokers.
Argos Compare has around 4,000 mortgage brokers available to work with customers, and in addition to mortgages will also offer car, home, and travel insurance as well as pensions, credit cards and utilities.
The service compares more than 65 car insurance providers and more than 25 home insurance providers.
Customers will get £30 worth of Argos vouchers with every car insurance purchase and £15 worth of Argos vouchers on home insurance purchases when they use the service.
The Argos Compare service is a white-labelled version of the system used by BeatThatQuote.com.
The system will work so that when a visitor the Argos website completes an enquiry form the lead will then become part of the BeatThatQuote.com pool of leads.
If brokers or IFAs then want to buy these leads, they can do so through BeatThatQuote.com’s broker facing website FinanceLeadsOnline.co.uk.
Greg Ball, managing director of Argos Financial Services, says: “Argos has always been focused on providing choice, convenience and value to our customers, and the launch of Argos Compare is another example of us delivering that.
“Argos.co.uk’s popularity means we can focus on providing the best possible deals for our consumers, rather than advertising the website.
“As the pure comparison sites have to continue to advertise, this means we will always offer better value to consumers and keep true to our brand proposition of ‘helping you live for less’.”
Argoscompare.co.uk will go live today.
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Readers' comments (5)
Anonymous | 12 Nov 2009 3:53 pm
This great news for brokers. However, like all price comparison websites it provides direct only products on their best buy table, which are more attractive due to the duel pricing. Until, duel pricing is eradicated price comparison websites do not help brokers.
The interesting thing about this price comparison site is that it only gives products for 3 lenders based on the LTV. Any one sourcing a mortgage on this site will find that Abbey, Woolwich and First Direct will give employed applicants a self cert mortgage!! I think this is their way of showing clients that broker are valuable and price comparison sites can not be beat a professional.
THANK YOU ARGOS & BEAT THAT QUOTE
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Anonymous | 12 Nov 2009 5:41 pm
Abbey do not sell self cert nor do First Direct
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Anonymous | 12 Nov 2009 9:16 pm
its dual pricing not a duel, although a lot of brokers may see the lenders as in a duel with them !
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Mike Cullen | 13 Nov 2009 12:45 pm
The problem with most comparison sites is it often leads to mis-information and hightens expectations beyond achievable goals, which isn't good for anyone. The filters are usually limited and with limited knowledge, most consumers wont apprecaite the value of those filters. But with dual pricing it will often lead the high LTV borrowers straight to the highstreet.
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Avenue & Co Private Finance | 13 Nov 2009 3:30 pm
Access to information is always a good thing. The real downside with price comparison sites is that they cannot tell an applicant if they fit criteria and are simply a gateway for lead providers.
In addition, for example, we have over 30 exlusive products that simply wont be listed on these comparison websites. In addition, due to increasingly stringent criteria, many prefer to speak to a professional adviser/broker that can assess beforehand if they are likely to be successful in application. Like us, most brokers hardly ever charge fees and therefore, our clients prefer to deal with professional brokers that can arrange everything for them, with a direct line to their broker as it will not cost them a penny more then going direct.
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