Meet Ranin Mendis from LoanDolphin
Aussie startup, LoanDolphin, is making waves in the mortgage industry by empowering consumers through a unique free online platform where lenders and mortgage brokers compete for your home loan with their best offers tailored to you.
We caught up with Ranin Mendis, CEO & Co-Founder of LoanDolphin, to chat about how it all began and what the Australian property market looks like today. He says that he met Rod Dutra, Co-Founder and CTO of LoanDolphin, whilst working at one of the Big 4 banks and gained great insight into how borrowers were doing business.
LoanDolphin: Your friend in a sea of sharks
Ranin explains, “We had a vantage point where we saw how the borrowers were going about their business and that process was neither customer centric nor got them the best result.”
So, Ranin and Rod created a transparent, open marketplace where a customer spends 5 minutes putting together a risk profile and this allows banks and brokers to essentially bid for their home loan.
Today, the secure online platform simulates an auction, but where the customer holds the hammer in ultimately deciding when they are happy with the offered rate and product. Over three years, LoanDolphin has been able to tailor its user experience to allow the customer to be in control of their home loan.
Ranin describes the approach, “It’s more productive, and we’ve proven that many times. 80% of our clients would get a discretionary pricing that is not published anywhere else in the market which means a more affordable home loan with over 150 banks and brokers competing to get your business.
“If you look at our approach, the individual is the person who’s in charge of the whole process,” he explains.
A different kettle of fish
Ranin says that nowadays, there’s more than one way to build wealth especially with different pathways available through Investment apps like Raiz (previously called Acorns), Stockspot or even through Crypto investments.
Although, the Australian property market is competitive, Aussies still value owning their own home or investment property which can be highlighted in the Deloitte Australian Mortgage Report 2018. The report found Australians hold 52% of their wealth in housing with almost 74% of household debt dedicated to housing assets.*
What is changing, Ranin says, is the shift towards more regulation especially within the finance industry.
“Regulation is good, it keeps people honest and keeps the economy going, but also, I think that over-regulation will curve demand and supply.”
Talking about the best way to approach buying property, Ranin says, “There’s no secret as such, it’s all about your appetite and outlook on things. At the end of the day, it’s all betting. Betting on the suburb on the property that you’ve bought.”
LoanDolphin is based out of Stone & Chalk, Ranin says, “We love it! I think the collaboration, the contacts, everything we get in terms of support in the environment. We love the fintech environment that Stone & Chalk is building.”
LoanDolphin is growing and now has a team in Sydney and Lisbon. If you’d like to find out more about how LoanDolphin gets banks and brokers to bid for your home loan, click here.
*Deloitte Australian Mortgage Report 2018, p. 28.
*22 August 2018 *
