Irish altfi lender challenges big banks in mortgage market
ONE of Ireland’s largest alternative lenders has made its first foray into the residential mortgage market in a move to compete with the country’s big retail banks.
Finance Ireland has introduced its own residential mortgage products after buying the Pepper Money residential mortgage business in December, The Times reports.
Finance Ireland’s new mortgage products will see variable rates starting from 2.75 per cent for borrowers with a 50 per cent loan to value, and fixed rates from 2.55 per cent, undercutting average rates across the market. It will offer better rates to customers as their loan to value ratios drop.
Founder and chief executive Billy Kane said Finance Ireland is now a “substantial business” challenging the main banks across a number of sectors, including the residential mortgage market where he said there had been “too little competition for too long”.
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Last year the Dublin-based firm bought Pepper Money’s lending platform and €200m (£171m) portfolio made up of 900 performing home loans. It now plans to expand its range of mortgages through intermediaries, with its mortgage business funded by UK asset manager M&G, The Irish Times reports.
The chief executive said at the time of the acquisition that it would accelerate the company’s entry into the Irish residential mortgage market, allowing it to compete with the main retail banks in Ireland. The company will distribute these mortgage products exclusively through regulated mortgage intermediaries.
Finance Ireland, which Kane founded in 2002, is already active in the auto finance, SME finance, agri finance and commercial real estate finance markets.
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