Tic:Toc strikes funding deal with Bendigo Bank

Bendigo Bank initially partnered with Tic:Toc in 2018, to power its own instant home loan offering, Bendigo Bank Express.

The new extension of the two lenders’ existing partnership will reportedly give Tic:Toc the capacity to increase its monthly volumes by more than 300 per cent.

The distribution agreement has also signalled Bendigo Bank’s confidence in the partnership with Tic:Toc and its operating model, based on an AI-driven platform.

Anthony Baum, founder and chief executive of the fintech, commented the deal extension highlights the competitive advantage of the lender's asset-light model, "with Tic:Toc not bearing credit or interest rate risk”.

“Our valued partnership with Bendigo and Adelaide Bank enables us to operate as a platform company, not an ADI or finance company,” Mr Baum said.

“This means we achieve a greater return on capital as we’re investing our shareholders’ funds into our technology, not using it to fund loans.”

Darren Kasehagen, head of third party banking at Bendigo and Adelaide Bank, added the partnership is key to the bank’s mortgage strategy.

“We have seen significant growth in our residential lending activity via third-party channels, and Tic:Toc is an important strategic partner for us to grow our market share,” Mr Kasehagen said.

Earlier this year, Mr Baum suggested that software-as-a-service (SaaS) offerings could help relieve larger lenders of the turnaround delays that they are facing.

He also told Mortgage Business that he believed more lenders would be looking to harness SaaS platforms, as a means of plugging in tech without needing to build proprietary and costly technology.

[Related: Thinktank hits $1bn loan mark for 2020-21]