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New Delhi, Delhi, India
Wizard Home Loans, a joint venture between GE Money, a leading global consumer financial services business with a presence in 55 countries, and Wizard, an international mortgage major, today announced its plans for India. The strategic partnership unveiled plans that expect to transform the landscape of the home loan industry in the country. With its initial offering of an aggressive interest rate of 9.99% to consumers, backed up by a successful business model that focuses on customers and superior service, Wizard is clearly looking to get home loan buyers in India back in control.
At the brand launch event, TP Chopra, CEO, GE India, and Mark Bouris, Chairman, Wizard, said that the joint venture will invest USD 200 million in equity in India, and aims to set up over 250 branches across the country by 2011.
"GE has a long standing presence in India and I am confident our deep understanding of the market would go a long way in enabling Wizard Home Loans to position itself as a preferred Home Loan provider in the country," commented Chopra.
Set to revolutionise India's mortgage sector, the Wizard innovative strategy is based on a wealth-sharing model, pioneering owner-operator branches, competitive pricing policy and a customer-focused transparent mortgage solutions. The pillars of this strategy are based on putting the customer first.
The Wizard business model is geared towards providing superior service to the customer in which the neighbourhood branches will play a key role. The owner-operators will invest in these neighbourhood branches to offer the Wizard services locally, with familiarity paving the way to easy access, identity and confidence. These will be specialist branches focused on home loans solutions, with the branch principals undergoing expert training in various processes benchmarked to the Wizard standard of customer excellence. This unique approach positions Wizard Home Loans as a true 'challenger' brand in the home loan sector.
"In order to ensure the branches provide the highest levels of service we believe is required for our customers, we will do something no one else has done before in the mortgage industry in India," said Mark Bouris, Chairman, Wizard. "We will pay a monthly trail commission to the owner operators for as long as the customer has a loan with us. This ensures owner-operators provide service for customers throughout the life of the loan, and rewards them for it," he added.
Its unique owner-operator model is also designed to take mortgage retailing to a new level creating wealth for its stakeholders. Said Bouris: "With this lucrative business proposition, Wizard Home Loans will allow an army of entrepreneurs to share in the profits of a booming housing sector, spreading the gains across many small businesses."
Wizard Home Loans has conducted extensive market research to understand the Indian consumer and his home loan needs. The result is a 'challenger' brand that will set new benchmarks in the rate of interest, transparency, and service standards.
"The aggressive interest rate is just the tip of the iceberg of how Wizard Home Loans will challenge conformity and provide a superior home loan solution to customers," commented Egisto Franceschi, CEO, Wizard Home Loans. "Professional and personalized service through our easy to access neighbourhood branches will provide customers with a new experience. The owner operator will be there to service customers throughout the life of their loan, not just at the beginning."
Wizard prides itself on its transparent processes. Diligent credit rating and checks of owner-operators providing the loans are the norm. Branch principals offer painstaking counselling to establish client need and the appropriate home loan following rigorous investigation of the applicant's credit history.
"The training we provide to owner operators on an ongoing basis will be a key to our success," commented Franceschi, "the better trained the owner-operators are, the more the customers get a great experience. As we continue to challenge conformity and provide superior home loan solutions to customers, we can only be successful with highly trained and branch operators. "
The JV will be directly leveraging the experience and presence of GE Money in India to develop the home loan market. Said Vishal Pandit, President and CEO, GE Money India, "Our strong operational processes, sophisticated risk management and analytics, as well as a world-class legal, regulatory and IT infrastructure are the backbone of the JV. The Wizard business model gives us a strategic edge to provide differentiated service and products to more customers. Wizard is a great addition to our current presence in India, positioning us for long-term growth and market leadership."
India's home loans segment has been growing at a compounded annual growth rate of 30 per cent since 2001. The current shortage of housing stands at 30 million units across the country, according to the National Housing Bank.
About GE
GE (NYSE: GE) is Imagination at Work -- a diversified technology, media and financial services company focused on solving some of the world's toughest problems. With products and services ranging from aircraft engines, power generation, water processing and security technology to medical imaging, business and consumer financing, media content and advanced materials, GE serves customers in more than 100 countries and employs more than 300,000 people worldwide. For more information, visit the company's Web site at www.ge.com.
About GE Money
With more than $190 billion in assets, GE Money, the consumer financial services unit of GE, is a leading provider of credit services to consumers, retailers, and auto dealers in 55 countries around the world. GE Money, based in Stamford, Connecticut (USA), offers a range of financial products, including private label credit cards, personal loans, bank cards, auto loans and leases, mortgages, corporate travel and purchasing cards, debt consolidation and home equity loans, and credit insurance.
GE Money India offers a vast range of consumer lending products, including personal loans, auto loans, credit cards, mortgages, insurance and promotional retail finance. It currently has $1.3 billion in consumer finance assets and over 1.2 million customers across India with a distribution network of 183+ branches in over 100 cities.
More information can be found at http://global.gemoney.com.
About Wizard Home Loans
Wizard Home Loans, a joint venture between GE Money and Wizard International, aims at building a strong customer focused mortgage business in India. The company is set to revolutionize the mortgage market in India through its unique neighborhood-based branch model, competitive pricing, flexible loan products and superior service offerings setting benchmarks in services and transparency.
Wizard will provide a range of home loan and loan against property products to the Indian customers to best address their needs through friendly branch managers available for continuous advice throughout the loan tenor.
Wizard Home Loans plans to invest USD 200 million in equity and set up 250 branches in India by 2011.
Wizard is a registered trademark of GE Money Australia-New Zealand, and is currently providing products in India through GE Money Housing Finance Limited. GE Money Wizard Housing Finance (a private company with unlimited liability) has applied for a license with the NHB, and is awaiting regulatory approval.
More information can be found at http://www.wizard.com.au/
To view the photograph, please click on the link given below:
Egisto Franceschi, Wizard India and Mark Bouris, Wizard with Tejpreet S.Chopra
Source: Wizard Home Loans (Business Wire India)
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