OREANDA-NEWS. Postbank customers will now get an immediate decision on access to KfW funding for their real estate financing during their consultation. Customers will therefore be able to benefit from early planning certainty, a more streamlined application process and faster decisions on promotional loans. As before, the signing of a promotional loan is contingent on the regular bank's willingness, as the customer's contracting partner, to assume the credit risk.

Postbank is the first pilot partner to implement the new KfW service. Starting from now, 1,100 Postbank financial centres, more than 3,000 Postbank Finanzberatung advisors and brokers and the partners at DSL Bank, which belongs to Postbank, are connected to the KfW online platform. Sparkasse, Volksbank, Raffeisenbank, Deutsche Bank and other banks will to join the new automated system as KfW sales partners during this year and the next. The existing distribution channels for KfW promotional products will be retained alongside the new ones.

The joint pilot project for the establishment of a fully online-based application and approval process for promotional loans was set up by KfW, the leading banks of the Sparkassen Finanzgruppe, Genossenschaftliche Finanzgruppe, Deutsche Bank and Postbank at the end of 2012 under the name of “On-lending online 2.0”. Since then, extensive technical and structural adjustments have been and are still being implemented at both KfW and its financing partners. A first new function - the option of seeking advice on KfW products at the regular bank via KfW's internet sites - was successfully launched by all pilot partners in September 2013.

During the expansion stage of the project, which Postbank is the first to introduce, the eligibility for funding for KfW residential real estate promotional products that are particularly sought after (“KfW Home Ownership Programme”, “Energy Efficient Construction”, “Energy Efficient Renovation”) can be checked automatically. The other KfW housing promotional products are due to be connected from 2015 onwards. Looking ahead, products for start-ups and SMEs in which KfW does not assume any risk are expected to be included during the course of 2016. From autumn 2014 onwards, the new online promotional platform will also be open to banks outside the pilot partner group.

Dr Ingrid Hengster, Member of the Executive Board at KfW responsible for domestic promotion, said: “We are delighted that with Postbank the frequently referred-to “cappuccino effect” is going live for the first time. What this means is that the customer and bank advisor are able to receive electronic confirmation of the eligibility for KfW funding during the consultation, perhaps while drinking a cappuccino. Further financing partners will follow soon. The automated and online-based processes make the path to a KfW promotional loan simpler and faster - both for the regular banks and the customers. Together, we will make the promotional loan business fit for the future.”

Susanne Kloss, General Manager of Postbank, confirmed this: “For many people, home financing is the most important financial decision they will ever make in their lives. They expect a prompt, reliable and transparent statement from their bank that will enable them to plan ahead. It is precisely this service which we are now able to provide to our customers thanks to KfW's immediate confirmation. All parties can find out quickly where they stand. The combination of personal advice and innovative technology makes it possible for us to turn our customers' housing wishes into a reality even more promptly than before.”