MaxFinance: Credit Intermediation Specialists

Founded in 2008, the MaxFinance Credit Intermediaries Network is a consolidated company in the credit intermediation sector. As the largest in Portugal, this market leader has a network of more than 1,000 professionals. These professionals are distributed among more than 356 Franchisees, with 131 of them having spaces open to the public. Having recently received our award for Portugals’ Mortgage Loan Provider of the Year, Max Finance’s CEO, Beatriz Rubio, tells us more about the journey of this outstanding company.

To create the next market leader, whether that is a product or service, one core competence any firm must have is the ability to innovate. But it seems presenting this innovation in a client-centric, marketable manner is a whole different ‘science’. Could you tell us a bit about that and how MaxFinance is navigating that?

Balancing innovation with efficient branding marketing is a complex situation. And untangling this has been one of our responsibilities as a market leader. We provide MaxFinance’s Credit Intermediaries network with the best tools in the market, allowing them to offer increasingly better services to their clients.

As part of this effort, we launched a new and improved version of the Maxfinance website, with nine different simulators and calculators that aim to help Portuguese citizens make informed and thoughtful decisions based on the information they can obtain from the simulators. We also launched the Shuttle Product. This product, explained simply, creates a direct connection between our systems (CRM) and the internal systems of the main Banking partners, in the Housing Credit sector.

With this API connection (Application Programming Interface) provided by the excellent partnership between Maxfinance and Banking partners, it is now possible on a single platform. Thus, from the initial analysis of the process, it is possible to analyse the feasibility of the operation with partners, obtaining the respective response quickly and with a reduction in bureaucracy. It allows obtaining the approval conditions of the proposed operation and giving due follow-up to the process, simplifying the work of the Credit Intermediary and the Banking Partner, with the aim of improving service and customer experience.

We have also created customisable websites for the Maxfinance Credit Intermediaries network. With the aim of increasing the digital notoriety of each one, with its own tools, dissemination of its own content, and much more… A future possibility may be to launch a mobile app for MaxFinance Portugal. Many more novelties will come in the future, stay tuned!

More important than being innovative is having a branded product with a good perception of innovation? What is ultimately the key attribute in marketing a product?

After the launch of the new website, the Shuttle complements a brand proximity strategy and reinforces the online presence, present in 131 stores in many municipalities of Continental Portugal and the Autonomous Regions.

We seek, on a daily basis, to better understand the needs and preferences of our clients and, by analysing market trends and their behaviour, we identify new business development opportunities. With the expansion of online services, development of simulation tools, and new calculators, MaxFinance Portugal aims to help Portuguese citizens better understand credit intermediation services and make informed decisions taking into account their income, expenses, financial commitments, and variable expenses.

The new website also allows a personalised digital experience, giving each customer the possibility to save their simulations and articles with financial literacy tips, finance, and savings. By knowing and understanding what their effort and solvency rate is, they can become aware of how much they can save and/or invest. We want customers to fulfil their dreams and if necessary, we take care of the financing. Whether financing for the acquisition of a house, a trip, education, or many other purposes, the Credit Intermediaries of Maxfinance will always be available to help.

What is the value proposition brought by your product? In what way does it reinforce your portfolio? How does it differ from other similar products that exist/may exist in the market?

We have a long-lasting and close partnership with the main banks in Portugal. Many create tools to help franchisees, however, our Shuttle, an API connection with banks, being customisable to our network with a space for all Banking Partners, makes our Credit Intermediary Network stand out. For Maxfinance’s Credit Intermediaries network, it saves time in the initial phase with the client, understanding the client’s profile to understand which bank can fit.

In the future, the goal is to remove the bureaucratic part of the process, documentation, opening bank accounts online – parts that for the end customer are a headache. Without ever removing the human factor, which helps the end customer and the partnership with the bank branch and Credit Intermediary, the aim is to improve process times and improve customer service.

One of the values of Maxfinance’s network is that we are a network that works from people to people and with that, we also intend to increase the satisfaction of employees, customers, suppliers, and partners, creating a win-win virtuous circle, just like the philosophy of the Group in which we are inserted. The Everybody Wins Group.

With the growing demand for new housing credit solutions, resorting to a credit intermediary has become an almost obligatory consultancy service along with a guarantee of impartiality in choosing the best credit solution and financial institution. It is up to each of our professionals to help their clients find the best financing options, according to their expectations and adjusting them to the current economic reality. The challenge of credit intermediation is to be able to make a difference with its clients, who seek to renegotiate or consolidate their credits, facilitating and simplifying the financing process.