HSBC ends tie with John Charcol
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HSBC’s whole of market Mortgage Matcher trial with John Charcol is coming to an end on December 18 2009 and the bank says it will not continue the proposition and instead focus on its direct offering.
HSBC says the trial has been popular with the customers who used the service and a success for HSBC.
But it says for the immediate future it will focus on and continue to strengthen its direct mortgage proposition.
The bank says future options for the development of a whole of market mortgage proposition are being considered and learnings from the project are to be developed.
HSBC launched the trial in March 2009.
Borrowers were given the choice of seeing a HSBC adviser for free or paying £150 to speak to a whole of market adviser.
A spokesman for HSBC says: “This was only a trial and was never going to be an ongoing arrangement.
“We’ve had some good learnings from this but at the moment our direct mortgage proposition is strong.
“We only have a finite amount of resources to fund mortgages and so the decision has been taken to concentrate on our direct proposition after December 18.”
The Mortgage Matcher service will close to new business across the 20 branches taking part in the trial on December 18 and all loan applications will be managed until drawdown in 2010.
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Readers' comments (6)
Anonymous | 3 Dec 2009 11:05 am
Oh dear - Charcol will be hit by this news and more importantly, they will have to work hard like the rest of us brokers. Let's see how they fare with dual pricing, direct only deals and clients offered rates directly. There are very few skilled brokers who can manage that.
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Roy in South Cheshire | 3 Dec 2009 11:13 am
What a surprise a bank not wanting to give it's customers whole of the market choice, are you whatching Mr Brown. There is a demand for independants in the market so lets have a level playing field and no more double pricing.
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Tom Cleary | 3 Dec 2009 11:34 am
If it was "popular with customers", why have they stopped offering the Whole of Market proposition? And what has their funding issues got to do with mortgages arranged with other lenders? None of it makes any sense...
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Anonymous | 3 Dec 2009 12:25 pm
HSBC is a bank and therefore free of regulation or obligation to treat customers fairly.
Having friends in high places appears to be a licence do do as you wish.
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Danny Lovey | 3 Dec 2009 12:40 pm
I spoke out against this Charcol move and suggested that they were going to bed with the devil. Well if they now have egg on their faces, as they have obviously been cast aside by HSBC-then serves them right. I was always very much of the view that the way it was arranged was wrong. You cannot have it both ways -HSBC are a direct offerer and to have an 'independent' in the branch where you are offered both services is completly different to a direct not being able to assist a customer and then recommending a whole of market practitioner for that customer to see, with which I see no problem
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Doug | 3 Dec 2009 1:48 pm
No surprise , I think HSBC were just using Charcoal so they can justify trying to allow whole of market.
Are we really meant to believe their actions have been serious, or perhaps they feel brokers are just stupid and by taking action as a token gesture,with a probable decision already made,will show themselves as an honourable bank, I think not.
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