Norton Broker Services Team Up with Lending Works in a “versatile and agile” personal loan market
13 November 2015
Towards the end of a record Quarter 3 for the Norton Group, in house company Norton Broker Services expanded their specialist lending panel with several new lending partners, including peer-to-peer lender Lending Works.
New addition Lending Works, headed by CEO and founder Nicholas Harding, offer “low cost, flexible personal finance” to benefit the consumer, with the aim of keeping the client in control of their money.
The company is off to a flying start with Norton; within two weeks of their introduction to the panel, we completed several personal loans with them.
We spoke to Nick Harding at Lending Works for a few words on the current personal lending market and the relationship so far with Norton Finance.
Q: How do you feel the working relationship between Lending Works and Norton Finance is going so far?
“The Broker API we have developed is an ideal platform for ourselves and Norton, encouraging a low-maintenance, self-sufficient working relationship, operating in tandem with the greatest of ease and minimal man-hours. However, when we have interacted with them, all their staff have been immensely friendly and helpful.
“We have already seen a marked increase in volume of loans since we went live with Norton, and we look forward to a prosperous and mutually beneficial relationship for many years to come.”
Q: What’s your opinion on the personal lending market at the present time?
“The personal lending market is at an interesting juncture. Traditional lenders have been besieged by stricter regulations and have had to tighten up, post-recession. It’s opened the door to more versatile and agile unsecured loan providers to challenge the classic high street institutions. Diversity in the consumer credit market is unquestionably a good thing. However I would strongly recommend that anyone seeking a loan should do their homework and ensure they select the most suitable providers.”
Q: How do you think Lending Works fits in to the current personal finance market?
“As a peer-to-peer lender, one of our greatest assets is the efficient and streamlined business model with which we operate. This generates value for both the lenders and borrowers, and in the case of the latter, translates into a competitive APR. For the borrower, the process is also incredibly simple, requiring just a couple of minutes of the client’s time to apply online. If he or she is approved, the funds could be in their account within two working days of their application.
“We also empower the borrower by allowing them to borrow an amount which suits them up to £25,000 and pay it back over a suitable period of up to five years. In addition, early repayments can be made at no extra cost.
At Lending Works we believe that such dynamism has the power to ultimately transform the personal finance market into something even more competitive and consumer friendly – which is exactly how it should be.”
Monique Furniss, Norton’s Head of Specialist Lending, said of the new partnership, “We always strive to offer loans to the majority of clients and diversify what we can offer in terms of products and pricing. Lending works offer an online application and the rates are competitive with the other lenders on our specialist panel – so we know the clients will be extremely happy with the offers and service. Their addition to our panel gives us more options for our customers in this ever-growing marketplace.”
At Norton we are looking forward to building a strong working relationship with Lending Works in the coming months.
