The MFAA and FBAA should merge to present a united voice for the mortgage and finance broking industry.

Brendan O'Donnell and John Mohnacheff, both key executives at non-bank lender Liberty Financial, told Australian BrokerNews that the industry would benefit from having one representative body, rather than the current two.

"I'm a firm believer that we probably only need one body," O'Donnell said. "I think we don't have a big enough industry to accommodate both. I think that will play itself out in the next couple of years no doubt," he said.

Mohnacheff agreed with O'Donnell. "I do live in hope that they [the MFAA and FBAA] find mutual ground for coming together as one, because one strong big body, is always better than two," he said.

Both O'Donnell and Mohnacheff said such a merger would be difficult, due to differences between the two propositions.

"Everybody has hoped that there would be some consodliation between the two bodies, however there are fundamental differences between their ideologies," Mohnacheff said. "I think the MFAA has taken the path of higher levels of education, etcetera, whereas the FBAA has maintained a different course," he said.

"I think there are some ideological differences that have not allowed them to come together and speak as one voice," he added.

O'Donnell said the associations have very different propositions. "One has got much more into the educational side which I think is important because you want to have a very professional industry," he said.