RIYADH – Mohammad Badat, CCO of Bidaya home finance, said Bidaya sees a great future in the housing and mortgage eco system. The company made a firm decision in order to support the initiative of the housing and mortgage eco system, Bidaya needs to be that service provider for real estate developer, products like Mad3oum.
“We have launched the military initiative which allows the military sector to get products down payment assistance so whatever the product that REDF is coming out with. As a mortgage service provider we have our own products we have partnered with SRC -Saudi refinancing company- to launch the long term fixed rate product which really helps companies like Bidaya in gaining more market share.” Badat noted.
Though Bidaya had only the Ejar product for the first three years of their business, now a long fixed rate product, up to 20 years with no adjustments on a yearly basis, this product gives Bidaya’s customers a peace of mind for the most expensive purchase they will ever have in their lifetime and peace of mind with the installments, he added.
To Badat, the variety of products that Bidaya has and rolled out across their retail originations, as well as the REDF beneficiaries and Ministry of Housing beneficiaries that are coming in, the future of Bidaya is having a healthy mix between the governmental sector that Bidaya provides service, and their own retail originations to serve the non-REDF and non-Ministry of Housing beneficiaries.
“Indirectly our partners are all real estate developers. We don’t serve only the Ministry of Housing developers, but also private developers that have projects with non-Ministry related projects. From retail perspective, we are going to serve the private sector as well as the governmental sector.” Badat commented on Bidaya partners “SRC our biggest partner other than the Ministry of Housing and REDF. With this partnership, we will create the liquidity in the mortgage eco-system for companies like Bidaya, we want to originate a good book of business that we can sell and serve for the duration of the tenure.”
On the challenges Biday would be facing, Badat said that affordability has always been a challenge; we need to onboard customers and educate them on what is mortgage all about, it is not an auto lease and not a credit card. Educating the customers is another challenge in the different products available in the market in KSA. The challenge is finding the right housing and then the lending.”
“From the competitor perspective, the pie is so big that everybody can play very nicely. Bidaya’s market share numbers released by SAMA are 17% for the first year amongst the 5 non-bank financing companies, 26% for the second and over 30% at the third year. With the products at hand, Bidaya can start competing and gaining market share from banks.”
On the advantages of Bidaya and its differentiations other than rivals, Badat said automation and digitization differentiate Bidaya from the other 5 non-banks financing companies. From its beginning, Bidaya’s procedures depend on the website, so as a customer can apply anytime and get an answer with 2 to 3 days and more enhancements will occur in the upcoming months.
Badat concluded by saying that every customer has the right to own a home, and to be educated on what they are getting themselves into.
