Bank of Melbourne has expanded its BDM access in a move tipped by its new head of broker, Clive Kirkpatrick.

Kirkpatrick told Australian BrokerNews last week that St. George brands would look to expand BDM access to all accredited brokers. Bank of Melbourne has now become the first brand to adopt the policy.

The bank has claimed its current segmentation model will not change, but has said it has doubled its BDM team and expanded access following a review of its service proposition. The bank's call centre, Mortgage Central, will also remain open to all brokers.

Bank of Melbourne acting state manager of mortgage broking Darren Little said the move to expand BDM access came as a result of broker feedback.

"Formerly if you were an accredited broker your point of contact for service and support was Mortgage Central, we’ve listened to brokers who have told us that they want more a more personalised relationship. We want to support our Bank of Melbourne broker partners with a customer-centric business model. It’s important to our customers that brokers submit high quality applications, to do this they need a high level of support," Little said.