Created on 10.11.2022

What is your job like as a Financing Customer Advisor?

Thushitha Gunarajah works as a customer advisor at PostFinance Store Basel, Clara Shopping Center. She tells us in our interview with her why she decided to specialize in financing, and what this job requires.

Thushitha, what is your daily routine like as a Financing Customer Advisor?

A role that is always very varied, and occasionally intense as well. In the financing sector, we need to respond quickly and to keep track of all our business. In my role as Financing Customer Advisor, I support my customers from the initial request for new financing to choosing a product and paying their mortgage. I am also responsible for maintaining my customer portfolio afterwards. In practice, this means we have to regularly check e-mails that we receive from customers, notaries, internal credit departments or any other parties involved in financing. We usually conduct customer consultations on site in person or by telephone. Providing advice in the other sub-markets of retirement planning and investing round my profile off.

What do you think is important when it comes to giving advice?

We have to be fast because supply on the property market is low, but demand is high. Then of course there are our competitors, who do not miss a beat. If we want to process a financing transaction successfully, speed is of the essence. This is why it is so important customers submit their documents in full.

How did you become a Financing Customer Advisor?

I completed a training course in retail, and worked for a total of six years at Swiss Post. In 2017, I started working for PostFinance in the Customer Center. As part of this job, I helped customers with simple queries over the phone, and came into my current role as General Advisor through an internal project that tested video consultations. Seeing as I was interested in financing from the very outset, I had actually already started a training course to be a Swiss Federal Financial Planner before I started working as a General Advisor. Since then, I have been working for over three years as a Financing Customer Advisor – and my work still brings me a great deal of pleasure.

Why were you particularly interested in financing?

For one thing, it’s a subject that has become increasingly important in recent years. This is clear from the substantial demand for financing. It’s also just something personal as well: when my parents bought a house about ten years ago, I realized I was really interested in financing. Now I know there isn’t just one financing solution, but many different ones. And each case is different. Sometimes you’re dealing with a renovation, sometimes the sale of an existing property and the purchase of a new one. With my work, I can help my customers make their dreams come true, and support them through an important part of their lives.

With my work, I can help my customers make their dreams come true.

What are the biggest challenges in your job?

In addition to the pace of the job, the sheer number of parties involved and the high number of cases we deal with simultaneously, we are also constantly confronted with special cases. Financing is primarily about the creditworthiness of our customers, which is determined on the basis of affordability calculations. There are clear rules here, but in some cases it does make sense to stretch them to some degree. The challenge I face is trying to convince our internal credit department to agree to provide financing so that my customers get the loan they need.

What do you like in particular about your work?

I have been a Financing Customer Advisor for nearly three years now, and I am always learning new things. For instance, you might suddenly be faced with a case of a mortgage certificate that has gone missing. Or perhaps a buyer wants to sell their house and buy a new one, but the buyer drops out at the last minute. Again and again you get cases where you don’t have an immediate solution. I like finding solutions that all parties can be happy with.

Who would you recommend the role of Financing Customer Advisor to?

Anyone who enjoys working with customers, but is also aware that you are dealing with several different partners, such as sellers, pension funds, notaries and brokers. Anyone who doesn’t simply bury their head in the sand when a customer rejects something, but rather they do all they can to make sure they go away happy with what we have done. And above all, I would recommend the role to anyone who really likes working in admin and who is well organized. After all, we carry a lot of responsibility. We are dealing with large amounts of money.

About

Thushitha Gunarajah is one of two Financing Customer Advisors at PostFinance Store Basel, Clara Shopping Center. She has worked at PostFinance since 2017.

Your new job at PostFinance: what talents do you want to bring to the role?

Do you want to help customers make their dreams a reality too as a Financing Customer Advisor? Or do you have other talents? At PostFinance, can you play an active role because your courage takes us further.

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