Innovation in the home loan industry is seeing the emergence of fintech companies offering a completely mobile experience in the mortgage lending process.

Clickloans in Australia and Streamloan in the US are just two of the companies claiming to take the pain out of the home loan application process – effectively by cutting out the middle man.

So what does this mean for the branch, and the broker?

One thing is for sure – there will be less traffic through branches as online channels become more accessible mechanisms for everyday banking. Consumers will no longer visit branches for simple services or transactions – and many will not visit them for transactions typically considered more complex (like a home loan application).

Our research shows the opening or modification of accounts is the single behaviour in which branch access is most preferred over other channels – such as the website, smartphone, tablet, email, phone, video conference and social media.

But more interesting is the fact that when asked how likely they would be to use a service that is 100% digital when applying for a new home loan, nearly half (48.7%) of Generation Y respondents said they were likely to do so.

If you were to apply for a new home loan, how likely would you be to use a service that is 100% digital (i.e. the entire application process is online)?

And it’s not just Gen Y showing demand for this service. More than a third of Generation Y (36.5%), more than a quarter of Baby Boomers (27.7%) and more than one in five (21.1%) Pre-Boomers said they were likely to do so.

That’s right… one in five of those born before 1945 would be likely to use a home loan application process that was completely online. Silver surfers, anyone?

Change is coming and it’s coming fast. Digital disruption will continue to shape the future of banking and intermediaries need to understand what that means and adapt their business models to avoid being rendered redundant.