The specialist mortgage lender said this was one of a number of new initiatives it will be rolling out in the coming months, as it continues to innovate and provide brokers and their clients with solutions to complex mortgage needs.

Indeed, it said product transfers had been a real lifeline for brokers over the past 15 months and remained on the increase, with more and more brokers getting involved, rather than clients just dealing directly with the lender.

Vida said, the challenge for brokers had always been that legacy systems weren’t built for broker-led product transfers and so could be clunky, with a great deal of manual intervention required – something which would ultimately eat into the broker’s time.

Richard Tugwell, director of mortgage distribution at Vida, said: “As a market-leading lending specialist, we are committed to making our processes as easy as possible, providing a great range of options for our broker’s clients.

“The increase in product transfers is set to continue, so launching our best of breed product switch portal means brokers will be able to complete the product transfer journey in less than 15 minutes with everything completed online.

“We have worked very closely with our intermediary partners to design a bespoke process based on the insight and experience they have gained from using existing lender systems and therefore we have been able to create a simple process that gives them exactly what they need.”

Vida said the intermediary product switch portal was a fully digital solution which provided tailored product solutions and could be arranged in 15 simple clicks and taking less than 15 minutes to complete.

With client needs becoming more complex, specialist lending is becoming more mainstream, and Vida recognises the need for these product transfers to be easily transacted by brokers and fully understood by the customer.

After receiving incredibly positive feedback from both brokers and customers during its pilot programme, Vida is now able to offer the intermediary product switch portal to all brokers.

In acknowledgement of the time and effort intermediaries put into maintaining their client relationships, Vida will pay a procuration fee of 0.30% on every product switch completed.

Peter Busby at PFB Financial Planning said: “I have been a supporter of Vida for quite some time and when they discussed the opportunity to become involved in the testing of the portal, I jumped at the chance.

“This is one of the simplest and easiest systems to use, making the product switch process very quick and straightforward to execute. Vida are always looking to develop their products and services, delivering what I need for my clients and to help me grow my business.”

The intermediary product switch portal uses state of the art technology which is accessible on a desktop, tablet or mobile phone.

There is a simple, one-time only registration process and then the broker is able to input their client details, before the portal completes a real time eligibility check, and displays the product transfer options available.

Throughout the acceptance process, the system also emails the client a copy of the offer and other supporting documents for their records.  Fees can be added to the loan, or they can be paid by the client on a secure system.

With the product switch portal being the first of a number of new initiatives to be launched, Vida will continue to work closely with their intermediary partners to constantly improve its proposition, and by doing so, help intermediaries to build longer lasting relationships with their clients.