Online Mortgage Broker Platform Launches in Philippines

MANILA, Philippines — Mortgage broker Nook yesterday launched its online platform, which seeks to provide a seamless loan application process for Filipinos looking to purchase housing units.

"After more than a year of preparation and development, Nook is officially launching today and we're bringing mortgage brokering services to the Philippines' housing loan market," Nook chief executive officer Chris Elder said.

With the use of Nook's platform, Elder said borrowers would be able to compare loans from different banks, and evaluate which is the best deal for them. The platform also guides users through the application process — from pre-qualification all the way to bank approval — free of charge.

A new way to apply for a home loan

Before Nook, Filipinos applying for a housing loan typically dealt with each bank one at a time: gathering documents, queueing at branches and following up for weeks, with little visibility into whether another lender might have approved them faster or at a sharper rate. Nook set out to change that by acting as a mortgage broker — a single point of contact that works across many banks on the borrower's behalf.

Through Nook, a borrower answers a few questions to get pre-qualified, and a dedicated loan consultant then matches them to the bank most likely to approve their application. Nook handles the paperwork, the bank follow-ups and the back-and-forth, so the borrower never has to deal with a bank directly. Because the partner banks pay Nook a commission once a loan is released, the service is 100% free to the borrower.

Why it matters for Filipino home buyers

At launch, Nook's goal was simple: make home loans simple. Rather than asking borrowers to learn the lending criteria of every bank, Nook does the comparison for them and runs the whole application end to end. The platform was built to serve Filipinos here and abroad — including overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) who want to buy property at home but can't visit a branch in person.

• Compare home loans across the country's major banks in one place.
• Get pre-qualified quickly, then have a dedicated consultant run the application.
• No cost to the borrower — banks pay the broker, not the home buyer.
• Built for Filipinos both in the Philippines and overseas.

The start of a long mission

The January 2020 launch was the beginning of Nook's mission to help 1,000,000 Filipino families buy their own home. In the years since, Nook has grown into the Philippines' original and award-winning mortgage broker, working with 20+ banks and going on to be Awarded Best Mortgage Broker Philippines by the Pan Finance Business Awards.

This article summarises Nook's January 2020 platform launch, which was also covered by the press. Read more from philstar.com.