About two weeks ago we heard that the National Bank may be about to cut trail commissions paid to mortgage brokers. So obviously we contacted them to find out whether the rumour was true.

But, as we so often find, the bank said nothing. I find it amazing that still, now that the news is out in the open thanks to Mike Pero Mortgages and NZ Finance - our two listed brokers - that it is still saying nothing, and it hasn't properly consulted with the NZ Mortgage Brokers Association (NZMBA).

The association for its part up out a quite fierce statement yesterday wading into the bank.

"We were told that…the industry would be consulted. While there has been some industry consultation, there has been no consultation with NZMBA and we understand there has been no consultation before release of the final model," it said.

The bigger issue is what is the future of mortgage broking? Clearly the cut in trails from a bank that has generally very well supported by brokers is material otherwise Pero and NZ Finance would not have made NZX announcements.

And should brokers be paid trails? I put this question to NZMBA chairman Geoff Bawden the other day. Well to be true I wound him up by saying I can understand trails being paid to financial planners and investment advisers, but I struggle to see how brokers earn them. The proposition being that once the business is written it's onto the next lead and there is no regular follow-up, and looking after the client until they want another loan (when more upfront commission kicks in).

He countered that indeed brokers do regular follow-ups with their clients. While I am not in a position to know what each and every broker does, it would seem worthwhile that if this is the case they should be telling their story.

In the meantime I can see that the more banks irritate brokers they more likely they are to move their support to lenders such as Sovereign that still pay trails.