Having established itself as one of the main mortgage rate comparison service provider in Singapore, Smartloans.sg has decided to expand its customer base by moving into the Malaysian market with Smartloans.my. The expansion allows buyers in Malaysia to be able to enjoy the same services as their Singapore counterparts. By comparing home loan rates from 10 major banks such as RHB, Maybank, Hong Leong Bank, Alliance Bank, Eon Bank, HSBC, OCBC, Standard Chartered Bank, UOB and CIMB, Malaysian home buyers will be able to calculate and enquire about home loan packages within minutes, minus the hassle.
Smartloans.my will also employ the SmartWizard tool, available in Singapore, to guide users and explain complex loan jargons, helping buyers understand the technical world of finance. The Wizard ushers users through a series of short questions and filters loans accordingly to what is applicable to the buyers. It also calculates monthly payments and sorts results by ranking them according to cumulative interest payment. Smartloans.my is tailored for the Malaysian market as it provides options of Islamic vs. conventional loan types and separates the packages available for Malaysian property buyers from the Non-Malaysian property buyers. The whole process typically takes about 2-3 minutes and users can then opt to be connected directly with their bank of choice to find out more.
Smartloans.my will allow Malaysian home buyers the flexibility of going through the process on their own while providing them with the unbiased information they need to help them make the right choice. Smartloans.my closely monitors the local property market and feeds home buyers the most current and up-to-date home loan rates from participating banks in Malaysia.
With Malaysia seeing a RM25 billion worth of property transactions in Q1 this year alone, Smartloans will be a useful platform for the local property market as it is expected to continue booming due to the economic and tourism revival and foreign property investments. The property market has also been eyed by foreign investors with CapitaLand already involved in joint-ventures with Malaysian property developers.
Smartloans.my entrance into the Malaysian market is however, not without some challenges. The current local mortgage comparison platform is Fiscal-Wise, ranked 13,882 highest traffic among Malaysian sites by Alexa, the local financial services and advisory company offers similar services as Smartloans.my with their own Home Loan Calculator and follow-up services. However, Fiscal-Wise’s user interface seems to be developed more for the business sector and would seem less user-friendly to individual home buyers. Furthermore, their advertisement-cluttered site does not help in elevating the confusion that buyers seek to avoid when comparing delicate details that may dictate their future financial standings. Smartloans, with years of experience in the tough Singaporean property market, appears to have a better understanding of how a conducive user experience in home loan comparison should be. With Smartloans offering their services in Malaysia, the local home buyers will have more options in selecting their preferred online mortgage rate comparison services and will be able to make smarter decisions in taking up their next property loan.
Having established itself as one of the main mortgage rate comparison service providers in Singapore, Smartloans.sg has decided to expand its customer base by moving into the Malaysian market with Smartloans.my. The expansion allows buyers in Malaysia to be able to enjoy the same services as their Singapore counterparts. By comparing home loan rates from 10 major banks such as RHB, Maybank, Hong Leong Bank, Alliance Bank, Eon Bank, HSBC, OCBC, Standard Chartered Bank, UOB and CIMB, Malaysian home buyers will be able to calculate and enquire about home loan packages within minutes, minus the hassle.
Customized Features and Tools
Smartloans.my will also employ the SmartWizard tool, available in Singapore, to guide users and explain complex loan jargons, helping buyers understand the technical world of finance. The Wizard ushers users through a series of short questions and filters loans accordingly to what is applicable to the buyers. It also calculates monthly payments and sorts results by ranking them according to cumulative interest payment. Smartloans.my is tailored for the Malaysian market as it provides options of Islamic vs. conventional loan types and separates the packages available for Malaysian property buyers from the Non-Malaysian property buyers. The whole process typically takes about 2-3 minutes and users can then opt to be connected directly with their bank of choice to find out more.
With Malaysia seeing a RM25 billion worth of property transactions in Q1 this year alone, Smartloans will be a useful platform for the local property market as it is expected to continue booming due to the economic and tourism revival and foreign property investments. The property market has also been eyed by foreign investors with CapitaLand already involved in joint-ventures with Malaysian property developers.
Challenges
Smartloans.my entrance into the Malaysian market is however, not without some challenges. The current local mortgage comparison platform is WISE, ranked 13,882 highest traffic among Malaysian sites by Alexa, the local financial services and advisory company offers similar services as Smartloans.my with their own Home Loan Calculator and follow-up services. However, WISE’s user interface seems to be developed more for the business sector and would appear less user-friendly to individual home buyers. Furthermore, their advertisement-cluttered site does not help in elevating the confusion that buyers seek to avoid when comparing delicate details that may dictate their future financial standings. Smartloans, with years of experience in the tough Singaporean property market, appears to have a better understanding of how a conducive user experience in home loan comparison should be. With Smartloans offering their services in Malaysia, the local home buyers will have more options in selecting their preferred online mortgage rate comparison services and will be able to make smarter decisions in taking up their next property loan.
