We've updated the calculations in the borrowing capacity calculator for Bankwest, NAB and Westpac. To support these improvements we've made some changes to how the borrowing capacity results are displayed.

We've split the comments out in to separate columns so that they're easier to read. And we've also added some additional columns that apply to the calculations performed by Connective.

Product Rate, Buffer Rate and Assessment Rate

For Connective performed lender calculations (Bankwest, NAB and Westpac) you will notice the Product Rate and Buffer Rate columns in your results.

• Product Rate = product base rate
• Buffer Rate = is applied when calculating serviceability as determined by ASIC

For these three lenders Connective uses the actual Product Rate + 3% (buffer) to determine the Assessment Rate which returns an accurate within $ result when compared to the lender calculators themselves.

Monthly Surplus

We've also added the monthly surplus column for Connective performed calculations:

• Monthly surplus = amount remaining after loan and expenses have been paid. (This column is hidden by default, but it can be added to the display by enabling in the column preferences)

Living Expenses vs. Total Expenses

For all lenders you will notice changes to the Living Expense column and the addition of the Total Expenses column.

Living Expenses =

• for calculations performed by Connective this column will list HEM for each lender
• for calculations performed by NextGen this column will show the NextGen returned expense value - this is no different to what is currently being displayed

Total Expenses =

• for calculations performed by Connective this column will total the basic living expenses compared against HEM and taking the higher of the two + additional living expenses + existing loan repayments
• for calculations performed by NextGen this column will total the NextGen returned expense value + additional living expenses + existing loan amount

DTI (Debt to Income ratio)

For Connective performed lender calculations you will notice the Borrower(s) DTI column. 

• Borrower(s) DTI = will list DTI % for lender calculations performed by us

We've got more coming in this space, check out the Connective wiki.

Learn more about these changes on the Connective wiki

We’ve got great news - you can now bulk assign in Mercury Nexus. More importantly we’ve expanded the functionality previously available in Mercury 5, to help save you time, so you can focus on growing your business.

Previously you could bulk assign:

People 

• Relationship Manager
• Categories
• Contact
• Digital Marketing Hub

Opportunities

• Tasks

As well as the above, we’ve now added the ability to bulk assign Opportunity Statuses, meaning you can update multiple opportunities in the one go.

Remember, you can only use Mercury 5 until 31 January 2022. After this, it will no longer be available. If you need help moving over to Mercury Nexus, reach out to your Broker Support Manager.

We understand at times you may wish to use your data outside of our platform. That's why we've made it easy for you to export it.

How to export data from a table in Mercury:

1. Run a search.
2. Right click anywhere in the search results.
3. Select the Export option.
4. An Excel file will be downloaded by your web browser. Open or Save the file.

If you're exporting data from People or Opportunities you will only get the first 100 records (the first page). We suggest you use the Export to Excel button instead as it has been designed specifically for exporting data from these sections. If you're exporting data from anywhere in the commissions app you will get all pages using the right-click export to Excel function.

How to export People and Opportunity data using the Export to Excel feature:

1. Run a search.
2. Navigate to the Export to Excel button in the top menu.
3. Choose All to download the complete search or Selected to download the highlighted section.
4. An Excel file will be downloaded by your web browser. Open or Save the file.

Visit the wiki to learn more: https://support.connective.com.au/hc/en-us/articles/360052114293

Our schedule maintenance has been successfully completed.

The Client Centre is back online and available for use. If you encounter any issues please let us know via the Mercury Helpdesk.

Regards,

The Mercury Nexus Team

We've released a fix that resolved an issue impacting access Borrowing Capacity Calculators.

We thank you for your patience as our team worked with NextGen to rectify the problem. If you have any further issues please let us know via the Mercury Helpdesk or through your BSM. 

Regards, 

The Mercury Nexus Team

If you are looking for additional funds on a refinance, you can quickly determine maximum loan amount for Connective Affinity using the Borrowing Capacity tool located in the CRM dashboard.

To do this:

1. Select +Borrowing Capacity from the top menu in the CRM app.

2. Enter the client details - keeping in mind the LVR must be no higher than 75% (as of December 2021).

3. Click Calculate to reveal lenders on the right-hand side panel.

4. Select Connective Affinity to view the maximum amount.

Many of our asset finance brokers are now experiencing the benefits of our purpose-built asset finance CRM – so what’s stopping you?

Mercury Nexus is designed to reduce repetitive administration and streamline your processes. 

The first-class quick quoting tool will save you precious time – allowing you to accurately generate and compare quotes for your clients over the phone. Use the Kanban to manage all your sales opportunities from the one page, quickly progressing deals with drag and drop functionality. Securely store and access all your data, contacts, client communications and opportunities in the one place. 

Get started with the Asset Finance CRM by logging in to your Mercury Nexus account. 

The Connective wiki has a host of articles to help you: https://support.connective.com.au/hc/en-us/articles/4405893285401-About-CAF-CRM

With all the functionality you know and love, we’re delighted to unveil our sleek new Client Centre with a look that’s sure to impress your clients. This is the first of a list of enhancements we have planned for the Client Centre that we know you’ll love as much as we do.

Built with responsive and fluid design principles, your clients will receive the same flawless experience regardless of the device they use, whether on a desktop, laptop or mobile device.

You can now also customise it to suit your brand. As well as adding your logo, you can change the primary, secondary and highlight colours to enhance your brand recognition. These have been automatically set, but you can change them via the Admin app. To learn how visit: https://support.connective.com.au/hc/en-us/articles/4411353531929-Setting-Branding-Colours-for-the-Client-Centre

You asked for it and we delivered!  We've listened to your votes (the highest ever!) via the Ideas Portal and we're thrilled to announce that as of 9 December 2021 you will be able to link single and multiple mortgage loan liabilities against a real estate asset.

How to add and link liabilities to real estate items

There will be many cases where you need to record multiple mortgage loan liabilities against your real estate asset, you will now be able to record these within the Opportunity. 

1. Open the relevant Opportunity.

2. Select Financials from the left hand sub menu.

3. Navigate to Real Estate Assets in the top menu.

4. Expand real estate entry using the arrow

5. Any existing Mortgage details will be displayed. To add a new mortgage click the Add Another Loan button. 

From here you can add the relevant mortgage details. 

Adding existing liabilities 

If you have Liabilities on your opportunity, you can also add these to the real estate asset. 

1. Simply select the Link/ Unlink Liabilities button. 

2. From here the mortgage loan liabilities will be listed. Check the box for the Mortgage Loan you wish to link. 

Mortgage entries will now all appear in the Liabilities section. You can also link mortgage loan liabilities to real estate assets from here. Simply use the Link/Unlink Assets button. 

We've now aligned the real estate assets and liability fields with Apply Online. So when you push the opportunity to Apply Online you can save on data entry. 

Refer to the Wiki to learn more.