According to Opportune managing director Paul Ryan, the firm's biggest competitive advantage is its leading edge business model that focuses on customer service. "We're building a model that is geared towards greater interaction between the lender and the consumer. We're focusing on the customer experience, targeting consumer needs and, dare I say it, communicating with the customer. "With the rates going up at the moment and people getting nervous about the cost of servicing their loans, one way that they can get a degree of comfort is by staying in contact with the lender a lot more. We're aiming to fill that hole," he claimed. An industry veteran himself, Ryan was one of the founding members of Wizard Home Loans. He's hoping his decade long experience at the lending firm will help his new venture ride out the challenging mortgage market. "We've achieved incredible success at Wizard, and with that came incredible learning. The mortgage sector is a tough and cluttered market, with a significant number of new players and a far more aggressive approach to mortgage lending by the major banks. But it is a big market. I feel there is always an opportunity, if you go about it the right way and come up with a good model and good service," said Ryan.

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