'Challenger' brand will offer home loans at 9.99% and revolutionise customer service through its unique neighbourhood branch model
Hyderabad, India --- After taking the Delhi market by storm, Wizard Home Loans today made a foray into the exciting Hyderabad market.
Wizard Home Loans, a joint venture between GE Money, a leading global consumer financial services business, and Wizard Home Loans, an international mortgage major, launched its Hyderabad operations with an aggressive interest rate of 9.99 per cent for consumers, backed up by a successful owner-operator business model. Wizard plans to invest USD 200 million in equity and set up 250 branches in India by 2011.
Since its launch in New Delhi in September 2007, Wizard Home Loans has received an overwhelming response. The competitive interest rate, which challenged existing market norms, forcing major industry players to bring down interest rates, is now available to Hyderabad's consumers.
Announcing the launch of the service in Hyderabad, Wizard Home Loans CEO Egisto Franceschi said: "We are pleased to launch Wizard in Hyderabad, a city which presents very attractive opportunities given its vibrant growth. The aggressive interest rate is just one of the ways Wizard Home Loans will challenge conformity and provide a superior mortgage solution to customers. Professional and personalised service through our easy-to-access neighbourhood branches will provide customers with a new experience. The owner-operator model ensures that the loan provider will be available to service customers throughout the life of the loan, not just at the beginning."
With the rapid growth in the number of companies setting shop in Hyderabad and the exponential growth in its urban population, Wizard hopes to contribute significantly to the growing housing needs of the city with world class home financing options. Hyderabad, one of the fastest growing Indian cities, is expected to witness investment worth Rs 70,000 crore in real estate projects over the next decade. According to industry reports, residential real estate prices increased by over 40 per cent in 2005-06 while demand for commercial property rose by more than 20 per cent this year itself. These factors made Wizard select Hyderabad as the second city for launching its operations, after Delhi. "We expect our innovative business model to be a success in Hyderabad, just as we have experienced in Delhi," said Franceschi.
Wizard's innovative strategy is based on a wealth-sharing model, pioneering owner-operator branches, competitive pricing policy and customer-focused transparent mortgage solutions. The pillars of this strategy are based on putting the customer first, in which the neighbourhood branches play a key role.
To ensure that the branches provide the quality of service that Wizard is known for, it will pay a monthly trail commission to the owner-operators for as long as the customer has a loan with Wizard. The first-of-its kind-model will ensure owner-operators provide service to customers throughout the life of the loan, and are duly rewarded for the same.
"Wizard will continue to challenge conformity and provide superior home loan solutions to it's customers. The training we provide our owner-operators on an ongoing basis will be one of the key success factors for achieving this," said Franceschi, "the better trained the owner-operators are, the more superior will be the customer experience."
Wizard's unique owner-operator model is also designed to take mortgage retailing to a new level ¾ creating wealth for its stakeholders. 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 consumers and their home loan needs. The result is a 'challenger' brand that will set new benchmarks in the rate of interest, transparency, and service standards. The owner-operators investing in these neighbourhood branches will 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.
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 needs and the appropriate home loan, following rigorous investigation of the applicant's credit history.
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 revolutionise the mortgage market in India through its unique neighbourhood-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.
All loans are booked by and credit at the sole discretion of GE Money Housing finance (A Public company with unlimiited Liability). The Wizard brand is being used by GE Money Housing finance (A Public Company with unlimited Liability)
More information can be found at http://www.wizard.com.au/ and http://www.wizard.co.in
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 is one of the leading providers of financial services to consumers and retailers in India, offering a range of innovative financial products to suit its customers' needs. It has a strong retail distribution network in over 100 cities and over 160 branches and is a leader in a wide range of products including personal loans, home loans and loan against property.
More information can be found at http://www.gemoney.com.
For more information, please contact:
Amrita Chatterjee (IPAN)
Phone: 011-4249 2112
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Cristy Williams
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678.518.2596