Countrywide reveals new digital venture with Dynamo online mortgage broker

Countrywide has revealed its latest investment in online tech following today’s launch of Dynamo, a re-mortgaging service offering products direct to the public from NatWest, Virgin Money, HSBC, Barclays, Leeds Building Society, Nationwide and Santander. At launch the website offers only a re-mortgage service and has half a dozen brokers working for it, although with Countrywide’s backing Dynamo says it has big plans to expand quickly and will move into first time buyer and mover mortgages later this year. This is likely to be achievable – Countrywide is to supply leads to Dynamo from its customer database by contacting them as their mortgages come out of fixed-rate deals, for example. But Dynamo will do its owner marketing to acquire customers elsewhere, too. Countrywide is an equal partner in the business alongside Blenheim Chalcot, which has a successful track record investing in tech start-ups including ClearScore. A Countrywide executive, its MD of Financial Services Peter Curran, sits on the Dynamo board. Back to basics? This digital play by Countrywide sits slightly oddly alongside the company’s recent promise to ‘go back to basics’ but will help sure-up its ancillary income stream, which recently dwindled from 50p to 38p for every £1 generated…