H&F
Redefining the Mortgage industry, with AI
Client Overview
RateFinder, a traditional Australian mortgage brokerage, recognised a critical flaw in the market: the "loyalty tax." This practice resulted in existing home loan customers paying significantly higher interest rates than new ones. To address this, RateFinder envisioned a digital platform that would empower consumers with real-time, unbiased mortgage comparisons.
Yasir Mahmood, a Partner at H&F Advisers, was engaged as the principal consultant to lead this ambitious digital transformation. His mandate was to provide the strategic governance, structure, and execution excellence required to turn this vision into a reality.
Addressable market
The addressable market for AI-driven loan and mortgage solutions in Australia represents a rapidly expanding segment within the nation’s AUD 2.3 trillion home-loan portfolio and approximately AUD 350 billion in new annual originations. As digital transformation accelerates across the lending ecosystem, financial institutions are investing in AI to automate credit underwriting, enhance borrower assessment, streamline origination, and improve post-settlement servicing.
By 2025, this technology spend translates into an estimated AUD 0.8 billion to 3.3 billion in addressable market value for AI mortgage solutions—spanning banks, non-banks, and broker-led channels. Within this, the origination segment alone could account for up to AUD 1 billion in annual opportunity as lenders modernize decisioning and compliance processes.
Driven by tightening regulation, cost pressures, and competition from digital lenders, Australian financial institutions are rapidly adopting AI for document verification, fraud detection, customer scoring, and portfolio analytics. With the broader digital-mortgage market already valued near AUD 99 billion, AI-enabled platforms stand positioned to capture a meaningful share of spend over the coming five years.
This convergence of regulatory trust, efficiency demand, and data-driven risk management firmly establishes the Australian AI mortgage segment as one of the most actionable and scalable addressable markets in Asia-Pacific for 2025 and beyond.
The Challenge
The Australian mortgage landscape was ripe for disruption. The traditional broking process was manual, opaque, and time-consuming, leaving consumers in the dark about whether they were getting the best deal. RateFinder faced the challenge of not just building a new product but transforming its entire business model from a service-based brokerage to a technology-driven platform. This required a complete overhaul of their processes, a deep understanding of the regulatory landscape, and the technical expertise to build a scalable and secure AI-powered solution.
The Solution
Yasir Mahmood spearheaded the transformation, guiding RateFinder through every stage of its journey to becoming a fintech innovator. He established a robust governance framework to ensure the project stayed on track and aligned with business objectives. Under his leadership, the team developed and launched RateFinder.com.au, an AI-powered platform that analyzes thousands of loan products from over 80 lenders in real-time. By leveraging Australia's Consumer Data Right (CDR) and direct API integrations with lenders, the platform delivers personalized, accurate, and up-to-the-minute loan recommendations in a matter of seconds. Yasir's focus on execution excellence ensured the seamless integration of this cutting-edge technology with RateFinder's core business operations.
The Impact
The launch of RateFinder.com.au marked a significant milestone in the Australian mortgage industry. The platform has saved Australian consumers millions of dollars by providing them with the tools to combat the loyalty tax and secure the best possible interest rates. RateFinder is now positioned as Australia's #1 AI-powered rate finder, offering interest rates from as low as 4.75% compared to the traditional average of 6.25%. This successful transformation has not only empowered consumers but has also solidified RateFinder's position as a market leader and a true disruptor in the fintech landscape.
Deliverables
Principal Head of Product
Empowering executive product leadership Provided executive leadership to drive the digital transformation, aligning the vision, technology, and business strategy to deliver a market-leading platform.
Designing AI-Powered Platform
AI Principal Product Design
Oversaw the end-to-end delivery of the RateFinder.com.au platform, from initial concept to successful launch, ensuring a scalable, secure, and user-friendly solution.
Technology Delivery
Building the impossible
Partnered with a team of engineer to transform the concept for the founding team into a lovable product, loved by Aussies today. Established a comprehensive project governance framework, ensuring regulatory compliance, effective risk management, and the successful execution of the digital modernization program.