The Finance Brokers Association of Australia (FBAA) has backed a call from finance and mortgage brokers who want all banks to move to digital documents.

FBAA managing director Peter White AM said that in the year 2020 there is no reason for banks to mail time-sensitive loan documents that not only blow out settlement times for weeks but can potentially be lost in the mail.

Mr White was responding to commentary on social media platforms prompted by Blank Financial CEO Bernard Desmond who waited for a week for documents to arrive from only a few suburbs away, to find the package had accidentally ended up in Adelaide.

Mr Desmond wrote, “Australian Banks, please move towards digital documents. It will save everyone time and it will improve customer experience, reduce errors and get deals moving quickly.”

He went on to explain that the client’s settlement was due in two weeks and that he was “running against the clock.”

The post attracted a multitude of comments from other brokers with similar experiences, with the consensus that banks making billions of dollars in profits can easily digitise the loan process to improve customer service.

Mr White, who has previously called out some banks for taking over 40 days to even approve a loan, said the time added by sending documents through the mail made the process farcical. However he acknowledged that since the social media outcry he has been contacted by lenders who have committed to making the change.

“Electronic signatures are used and accepted legally across the world, and those banks that don’t embrace this will start to lose business as the broker channel looks to a more streamlined system for their clients.