Jeffrey Krampah-Williams and Louis Mason
Still only in his 30’s, Jeffrey Krampah-Williams has already carved out an impressive career in the financial industry, rising through the ranks to become National Key Account Manager and Head of Large Loans at Santander. His journey, which began in 2012 after leaving university, has seen him take on a variety of roles, from Personal Banking Manager to Mortgage Consultant and Business Development Manager, before joining Santander in 2018.
In this interview, I, Louis Mason, sit down with Jeffrey to discuss his career progression, the evolving mortgage landscape, and what borrowers should be looking out for in 2025. We explore how Santander is adapting to market changes, the importance of strong lender-broker relationships, and how innovations like Edge Home are shaping the future of mortgage applications.
The Interview With Jeffrey Krampah-Williams
Louis: Can you tell me a bit about your background and how you came to work at Santander?
Jeffrey: My journey in the financial industry started after leaving university in 2012. I started in Branch for a building society and worked my way up from there. I have now worked for 3 mainstream lenders and I have held multiple roles including Personal Banking Manager, Mortgage Consultant, Business Development Manager and now National Key Account Manager. Along the way I have also picked up a few qualifications including Diploma for Financial Advisers (DipFA), CeMAP® Diploma (Level 4), Certified Practitioner in Specialist Property Finance & Certificate in Regulated Equity Release (CeRER). My journey started in Santander as a Business Development Manager covering the City of London in May 2018 and I decided to apply to Santander as I wanted to look after some of the big accounts in the City. I was then promoted to National Key Account Manager after 3.5 years.
Louis: What do you, Jeffrey, do to help your clients?
Jeffrey: I always look for opportunities to improve our proposition and to do the right thing for our customers. My journey in finance has meant the face of the customer has changed. What I mean by that is while in branch I was speaking to the end user, as a deputy area manager the customer was my team, as a Business development manager the customer was the broker and as a National Key Account Manager the customer is the Networks and Clubs I have relationships with. Although as I say the face of the customer may have changed, I never forget the people throughout the chain and never forget there is a customer trying to achieve a financial or life goal and this is always kept in the forefront of my mind.
Louis: What do you think is the most important thing that mortgage borrowers need to know going into 2025?
Jeffrey: I know you asked for the most important, but I am going to be cheeky and say two things. One is the stamp duty deadline. For those who can complete before the deadline this could help them save on cost for their purchases. The second I will say is that although we may see reductions in the bank of England base rate, this may not be directly reflected in the interest rates customers pay for their mortgages as the landscape for mortgage pricing is more complex than just looking at the bank of England base rate.
Louis: How has the past year been for Santander?
Jeffrey: It has been a strong year for Santander. We have made some really positive changes to criteria to be able to help more customers including now lending up to 95% LTV on New Build Houses and Flats, we increased the LTV caps for cases above £1m, we reduced the income required to apply for 75% LTV pure interest only along with being the first to launch a sub-4% interest rate earlier in the year just to name a few. It feels as though we’re making great strides in becoming a mortgage market leader. We also launched our broker pledges, giving something for the industry to hold us accountable to, and marking out our intention to be a partner to them.
Louis: What type of mortgage clients do you think Santander will be focussing more on in 2025?
Jeffrey: In 2025 I wouldn’t say we have a particular focus on a specific type of customer, but what I will say is that we are focusing on helping more customers in 2025. We want to get our natural market share in every market, therefore we’re looking at ways to support different types of customers both with price and service.
Louis: Is there anything new that Santander are introducing in 2025 that borrowers should be excited about?
Jeffrey: Aside from our broker pledges, one thing borrowers should be excited is our introduction of Edge Home. When you apply to Santander, your client will get an initial invitation email to Edge Home once we receive their mortgage application. Edge Home is a new online service that makes your clients’ mortgage journey easier. It allows your clients to track the real-time progress of their mortgage application from start to finish. Edge Home is available to intermediary clients only and complements the services you already offer. Plus, for the first time, your clients will be able to view and download their mortgage offer in Edge Home.
Louis: Why is a strong relationship between mortgage broker and mortgage lender so important?
Jeffrey: A strong relationship I believe is vital. There are a number of reasons why I say this is the main one being that 85% of the New Business mortgage market is intermediated. Having a strong relationship with a lender helps the broker to understand the nuances in each lenders criteria and means a broker can accurately place a case with a lender with the best chance of getting the mortgage offer.
Louis: Why should a borrower care about this when using a broker?
Jeffrey: Without this relationship you could find that cases are being submitted to lenders which doesn’t fit their criteria and as a result could leave unnecessary footprints on the customers credit profile – not to mention adding time to an already lengthy house buying process. It could also mean that a customer ends up paying a higher mortgage rate than required.
Louis: What do you see for Santander moving into 2025?
Jeffrey: In 2025 we came out with our broker pledges and this is something I feel is a very strong statement of our intent to the broker market. Our pledges are:
- No Dual Pricing: Which mean You’ll always have access to our best pricing for purchase, remortgage and product transfer clients.
- Minimum 24 hours’ notice of product withdrawals: This speaks to the wellbeing of the broker and It’ll give you confidence and assurance to recommend our products as we understand withdrawing products at short notice places pressure on you and your clients.
Improved Product Transfer Process: We’ll work with you to build a transparent and improved product transfer process, we’ll help you identify when your client’s current deal is due to end, We’ll change product maturity letters so your clients are directed back to you when their deal is due to end and we’ll develop website content to be clearer in our approach to product transfers.
Louis: If you had one message for borrowers (new buyers or remortgagers) for the new year, what would it be?
Jeffrey: Always seek advice from a professional mortgage broker to ensure that you have all the information before making probably the biggest financial decision of your life.
Speak To A Mortgage Advisor
Marketing and Communications Director at Oportfolio Louis Mason has been in the financial services industry since 2016
And there we have it! All the insights into Santander and the man who is leading them into the future! If you or anyone you know is interested in getting a new mortgage with Santander then please do get in touch with our mortgage advisors at Oportfolio Mortgages today. We are here to help!
Oportfolio Mortgages
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