Western Australian lenders are gearing up to turn off ‘old school’ paper property transactions and enter the digital era ahead of the state’s deadline for all property transactions to be completed online.
In fact, all authorised deposit-taking institutions operating in Western Australia have established a capability to complete property transactions online through Property Exchange Australia (PEXA) – the majority of which have already gone on to complete their first transaction electronically.
Bankwest Executive Manager Digital Operations Strategy, David Morrissey is spearheading the drive to bring property buying and selling consumers a better experience.
“Operationally, any new process can be difficult and is often slower than your existing process, particularly while you’re building capability. We’re fortunate to have amazing people that put their heart and soul into everything they do and place the customer at the heart of everything,” he said.
“Notably Western Australia was the first state to commit to the goal of achieving 100% digital transactions consistent with the COAG micro economic reform.
“Manual property exchange can result in errors, delays and frustration for consumers who want a seamless property buying and selling experience. PEXA is helping lenders and conveyancers to innovate together in the best interests of their end customers.”
“We have taken the opportunity to start with a blank slate rather than just mirror the paper process in the digital world. Digitising a poor paper process does not immediately make it better, it just makes it a poor digital process.”
“Australian consumers embraced online banking, digital share trading and other ecommerce applications decades ago. It’s now time to digitise property exchange. After all, Australia’s $6.7 trillion property market is the nation’s largest asset class. It’s critical that it’s part of the digital economy. Our goal is to transact online whenever possible with the lawyers and conveyancers who have made the switch online to bring property consumers a seamless digital experience through the PEXA platform.”
“My advice for the industry in preparing their business for this industry transformation is not to be afraid to ask questions. The PEXA online community pages are very active, full of experienced users and is a great place to get advice or just share your success stories.
The push to take property transactions online is now gaining traction with 115 lenders and more than 3,900 legal and conveyancing firms joining PEXA’s national network. PEXA was born out of a successfully implemented Council of Australian Governments’ (COAG) reform to bring property exchange into the digital economy. Property transactions are one of the last major financial dealings to be transformed by technology.
For more information on state-based timelines to phase-out paper please see this article.
