Published on the 21/11/2013 | Written by Newsdesk

Kiwibank has released a new app that it believes will turn searching for a new home on its head…

Available to download now on Android and iPhone, the Kiwibank Home Hunter app lets users apply for home loan pre-approval in a matter of minutes and to immediately embark on house hunting within the app itself.

Kiwibank created the app to address a need to simplify the home-buying process and solve the three major house-hunter niggles by “putting the power back in the hands of the customer”. The bank’s research showed that getting finance is a daunting process for many, particularly first home buyers. It also showed that the process of securing loan approval is currently seen as too time-consuming, frustrating and difficult. And finally the fear of the unknown is a major issue for first home buyers who realise that they don’t know what is involved in buying a house.

Kiwibank CEO, Paul Brock explained, “We have taken a radical step toward reinventing home lending and easing the pains of house hunting through the development of an app, called Home Hunter, which among other things, can show customers all the homes Kiwibank will give them pre approval for – within minutes. We think it’s pretty revolutionary actually and we believe it will change the way Kiwis look for and buy homes.

“It’s also going to fundamentally change the market. By arming consumers with more information going into the buying process they will have a clearer view of what they could expect to purchase their house for, without having to scout out information from multiple sources. We also think it will help real estate agents, as house hunters will be more sure about the suitability of a property for their budget.”

Once a user has received pre-approval for a home loan, the app will tell them which houses meet the combination of the bank’s lending criteria (it the risk of lending against a particular property) and the user’s personal home loan pre-approval. It will provide registered values, comparable house sales and estimated sale prices. The ‘around me’ feature also helps to show users what is on sale nearby using augmented reality on their smartphone camera. It will even calculate the number of sunshine hours a property gets.

“You could be sitting in a café in Parnell and Kiwibank Home Hunter will tell you which houses in the area match your pre approval,” explains Brock, adding that if users see a property they like they can then access realestate.co.nz listing details, photo spreads, agent information and open home times directly within the app.

The whole project has taken six months from inception to launch and Brock thinks this is just the start of something special, bringing the Kiwibank attitude to bear on customer problems.

“This has been a massive re-jig of our backend and we think it’s a great opportunity for us to leverage all of the learnings. We think there is benefit right across the bank, across all our different channels, but I don’t want to do that until we’ve feel like we’ve perfected it and have had plenty of customer feedback and really got this really humming. It’s about useful innovation for our customers.”

To this end Kiwibank is encouraging users to join the Kiwibank Facebook community and give their feedback, with the added bonus of plenty of incentives and rewards for users sharing stories and feedback.

You do not have to be a current Kiwibank customer to use the app. It is also available through your browser at www.homehunter.co.nz