A new "personalised mortgage simulation" will combine the strengths of Belgium's leading real estate agency and the country's third largest bank to make the mortgage process as seamless as possible for prospective property owners.
Belgium's largest real estate agency Immoweb and the country's third largest bank Belfius announced a "strategic partnership" on Tuesday, launching a mortgage simulator that allows property buyers to calculate and consider their options with "step by step" guidance.
Immoweb users will be redirected to the Belfius website, where they will receive advice tailored to their personal financial situation. They will also be connected with a mortgage expert who they have the opportunity to meet at one of the bank's 450 branches in Belgium.
"Together with Belfius, we want to simplify access to property finance while offering personalised support at every stage of the process," commented General Director of Immoweb Piet Derriks.
The collaboration is "perfectly in line" with Belfius' ambition to assist Belgians buyers in securing homes, said Olivier Onclin, a member of the bank's managing committee.
Mutually beneficial
The two giants in their respective fields say the launch is the beginning of a more permanent partnership. Immoweb has replaced its previous banking partner Keybridge in this collaboration. The bank was reportedly unable to cope with the traffic generated by the previous simulator. Immoweb's website lists over 160,000 properties, receives 500,000 daily visits and 100,000 monthly simulation requests.
Similarly, this is not the first time Belfius has dabbled in mortgage simulators: it entered into a similar agreement with real estate agency Immovlan in 2020 and the partnership is ongoing. For the bank, working with Immoweb spells clear advantages given the number of prospective clients driven in their direction by the scheme.
Credit: Belga
The partnership is equally advantageous for Immoweb as the simulator comes at no extra cost and will not create the same traffic problems experienced with Keytrade's model.
However, there is some speculation as to whether Belfius will be able to handle the increased traffic, given the culture of slow replies that have bothered existing clients somewhat. A Test Achats survey published in early July revealed mediocre satisfaction levels among customers of Belgium's leading banks (including Belfius), most notably for banking accessibility, internet and mobile banking and slow services. 43% of Belfius customers experienced issues in 2023.
