An Post to offer mortgages 1% below current rates

[Brendan Burgess]

Reminds me a bit about the noise and discussion from "Frank Mortgages". They made some announcements as well which went exactly nowhere.

Hi man

I don't think that this is fair.

They invested their own money in setting up the operation.
They got commitments from overseas funders.
It took a year to get outline approval from the Central Bank.
And at the last minute, one of their key funders pulled out.
To the best of my knowledge, they made no announcements at all.

Brendan

 

[newirishman]

Hi man

I don't think that this is fair.

They invested their own money in setting up the operation.
They got commitments from overseas funders.
It took a year to get outline approval from the Central Bank.
And at the last minute, one of their key funders pulled out.
To the best of my knowledge, they made no announcements at all.

Brendan

I wasn't trying to slag them off - just trying to highlight how challenging it can or will be to get this going. I have no doubt that the team behind Frank Mortgages was serious about market entrance - but making it viable and worth the investment is a different story.

 

[Brendan Burgess]

Ah, I see.

It will be very challenging whether it's Frank or An Post. However, it seems to me that An Post has very little idea of what they are talking about. I would be delighted to be proven wrong and would welcome An Post offering mortgages at 1.3% fixed for 20 years.

Brendan

 

[Brendan Burgess]

18 months is a long time in the mortgage market

An Post mortgage plans delayed by Covid-19 crisis

State postal service had planned to offer lower home-loan rates than banks

www.irishtimes.com

The company, led by chief executive David McRedmond, is believed to be focused on securing a joint venture with an overseas lender not currently in the Irish retail market. The spokesman declined to comment on potential partners.

 

[Brendan Burgess]

It's bizarre that they were planning to launch mortgages in the first half of 2020 when they had not even lined up a partner bank!

This is not going to happen.

If a foreign bank does want to enter the Irish market, why would they choose An Post as a partner?

Why don't An Post just announce straight out that they investigated the market but could not interest anyone in it?

Brendan

 

[RedOnion]

Absolutely. If they were serious about it, there's never been a better time to enter, and cherry pick the best parts of the market.

 

[NoRegretsCoyote]

I dont see what advantage it will be for An Post to have its "network" to provide a mortgage business. Its not as if people will pick up a mortgage off the shelf when they go to buy a stamp.

I'm a bit sceptical too. The last post office I was in had 25sqm of floor space. Most of them don't have (and never will have) the space to carry out consultations with potential customers.

Certainly there is scope for marketing material in the branches, but I can't see much more.