Beyond the Hype: Real Results from one of Australia’s Largest Broker Networks Using Open Banking

The mortgage broking industry is experiencing a fundamental transformation, and at Frollo, we’re witnessing it firsthand with leading brokerages. In a recent conversation with Chin Hui Yeo, CTO at Connective, and Daniel Oh, Group Legal Counsel at Connective, we explored how Open Banking is moving from promise to practice – and the results are remarkable.

As one of Australia’s largest mortgage broking networks with over 4,000 brokers, Connective’s experience provides valuable insights into how Open Banking is reshaping the industry. Their journey from cautious pilot to full-scale adoption mirrors what we’re seeing across the market, and their insights reveal why this technology isn’t just changing how brokers work – it’s fundamentally improving outcomes for brokers and their clients.

The reality check: Open Banking delivers on its promise

When Open Banking first emerged, there was understandable excitement mixed with healthy scepticism. Would it really live up to the hype? According to Daniel, the answer is a resounding yes: “From a broker channel perspective, we were so excited when we first heard about Open Banking several years ago. It was going to open the whole world of information and the flow of financial information. Now that we’ve actually seen it in reality, it has delivered in a lot of those parts.”

The technology is delivering on three key fronts that matter most to brokers: accuracy, efficiency, and security. As Chin explains, “Open Banking plays an important part in terms of the accuracy and speed of obtaining financial information about brokers’ customers. It saves a lot of time. And for me, it’s a very secure way of obtaining data. It’s legislated as well.”

This legislative backing isn’t just about compliance – it’s about creating a foundation of trust that brokers can build upon with their clients.

From scepticism to exponential growth

The adoption journey hasn’t been without its challenges. Like many technology transformations, broker adoption started slowly, with natural resistance to change. “There’s a bit of a mix to be very honest,” admits Chin. “Brokers who have tried it and used it, most of them will like it a lot because it saves time and they get really good information back and insights as well. The hesitation is still there for some brokers, particularly those who haven’t tried it, mainly because of the unknown.”

However, once brokers experience the benefits firsthand, the transformation is dramatic. Daniel shares their success story: “At the start of this year, we opened it up to our entire broker base, and we promoted it heavily over our professional development days. What we’ve seen is there’s been a massive uptake. The uptake has been exponential since we started really talking about it to our brokers – we’ve seen double the usage just over the course of the start of the year.”

This exponential growth pattern is something we’re seeing across our broker network. The key is getting brokers to take that first step and experience the technology for themselves.

From hours to minutes

One of the most compelling aspects of Open Banking is the sheer speed of data collection. The traditional back-and-forth between brokers and customers – the endless requests for documents, the delays, the incomplete information – is being replaced by something remarkable.

“By integrating it into their processes, brokers have found it to be really frictionless,” says Daniel. “Once customers understand they’re in control of their data — who sees it and how much is shared — the process runs smoothly. On average, it takes clients about seven minutes to complete. The data is then typically available to the broker within another two to ten minutes, depending on the number of accounts linked and the volume of transactions. This isn’t just about speed — it’s about creating a fundamentally better experience for customers while giving brokers richer, more accurate data to work with.”

The efficiency gains extend beyond just data collection. As Chin notes, “For those who have been on the Open Banking journey, it saves them an enormous amount of time. If you think about loan processing time from start to finish, the amount of time they have to spend with the customer querying information, obtaining information from customers, and the back and forth – ‘I’ve seen this in your statement, I didn’t see this in your statement’ – all of those can be streamlined through Open Banking.”

Tackling the complex cases

Where Open Banking really shines is in handling complex financial situations that traditionally create headaches for brokers. Self-employed clients, casual workers, and those with irregular income patterns have always presented challenges in the traditional documentation process.

“If you think about self-employment and those with casual jobs, it’s pretty difficult to obtain accurate information,” explains Chin. “The back and forth that brokers will have to wait on the customer, get the information, match it – ‘you earn $2,000 per week? Was it $2,500 per week?’ – it’s a very different nature of conversations with those employment types.”

Open Banking cuts through this complexity by providing direct, real-time access to financial data. The result is more accurate assessments and faster processing times, even for the most complex cases.

Rich data, better decisions

The quality of data available through Open Banking represents a significant leap forward from traditional documentation. Daniel highlights this transformation: “The rich data that comes in and the financial insights that it provides means the broker doesn’t necessarily have to go line by line through every living expense. Open Banking provides them with a nice summary of those living expenses.”

This rich data ecosystem includes insights that simply weren’t available before. “The financial insights will provide you with information on ‘I see that this customer receives this amount regularly on a fortnightly basis. It sometimes changes by a little bit, but generally we see it come in from this bank account every fortnight,'” explains Daniel.

These insights aren’t about catching customers out – they’re about enabling better, more informed conversations. As Daniel puts it, “It’s there to drive really good, educated conversations. That allows the broker and the customer to get from A to B a lot faster.”

A compliance game-changer

From a risk management perspective, Open Banking has been transformative. The technology addresses one of the industry’s biggest challenges: document fraud and data integrity.

“Open Banking has been a fantastic advantage for my compliance team,” states Daniel. “One of the biggest issues we see across the board is related to non-genuine documentation around bank accounts, payslips, etc. So what better than to get the information straight from the source?”

This direct-from-source approach eliminates the risk of altered or fraudulent documents while ensuring brokers have access to complete, accurate information. The result is better risk assessment and more confident lending decisions.

The human element remains critical

Despite the technological sophistication, the human element remains crucial to Open Banking’s success. The broker-client relationship is key to overcoming the primary challenge: customer trust and security concerns.

“The biggest challenge is always around security, at least from the perception of a customer,” acknowledges Chin. “The relationship with the broker has become a key component. They may not trust certain technologies, but their rapport with the broker is something the broker can use as a bridge to help with that level of trust.”

The most successful brokers are those who take the time to educate their customers about the process. As Daniel explains, “The ones that really have adopted it well, send some pre-information to their customer: ‘Hey, you’re going to receive this request. It’s going to look like this. Why does it look like this? Because it’s a regulated process. I’m putting consent back in your hands.”

Seamless integration, maximum Impact

At Frollo, in partnership with our parent company NextGen, we understand that technology is only as valuable as its ability to integrate seamlessly into existing workflows. Connective’s implementation is a great example of this principle in action.

As Chin explains, “In Mercury Nexus, our CRM, we’ve integrated Open Banking in a way that allows the broker to obtain consent from their client. Once consent is received, we allow the broker to pull insights, account summaries, and transactions directly into the CRM.”

But the integration goes beyond simple data collection. “Recently, we’ve also enabled functionality to pull information on liabilities and expenses directly into the opportunity, so brokers no longer need to manually enter data into those sections,” adds Chin.

The Open Banking solution was developed by NextGen in direct response to broker feedback. Led by NextGen, the Frollo integration for Connective delivers a seamless experience that eliminates double handling, reduces the risk of manual errors, and ultimately results in significant time savings and improved accuracy.

The path forward

For Open Banking to reach its full potential, broader industry participation is essential. As Chin notes, “For me, it’s about the number of financial institutions, no matter who they are, and their participation in this. Non-bank lenders and Buy Now, Pay Later will be coming in 2026-2027. As a customer, it’s about achieving that level of completeness that allows you to picture what your financial circumstances really are.”

Daniel echoes this sentiment: “The product and the offering is only as good as the input, which is obviously from our partners, the lenders. So we need everyone participating, making sure that the piping into the Open Banking machine is strong and always turned on and stable and consistent.”

Why this matters for every broker

The experience at Connective demonstrates that Open Banking isn’t just a nice-to-have technology – it’s becoming essential for competitive advantage. The brokers who are embracing this technology early are seeing significant benefits:

• Faster processing times: A few minutes for data collection vs. days of back-and-forth
• Higher data quality: Direct from source vs. potentially altered documents
• Better client relationships: More time for advice, less time on administration
• Reduced compliance risk: Eliminated document fraud concerns
• Improved customer satisfaction: Streamlined, secure processes

Getting Started: The Open Banking advantage

At Frollo, we’ve built our platform specifically to address the real-world challenges brokers face. Our integration through NextGen and also into NextGen’s ApplyOnline^® with major CRM systems like Mercury Nexus ensures that Open Banking data flows seamlessly into existing workflows. More importantly, our financial insights capability transforms raw banking data into actionable intelligence that helps brokers have better conversations with their clients.

The future of mortgage broking is here, and it’s powered by Open Banking. The question isn’t whether to adopt this technology, but how quickly you can get started. As Daniel concludes, “Open Banking has been a perfect tool to not only deliver great results for my compliance department, but also deliver really good customer outcomes for our brokers.”

The transformation is real, the benefits are measurable, and the competitive advantage is clear. For brokers ready to embrace the future, the technology is here, the guardrails are in place, and the results speak for themselves.