Mortgage lender Wizard Home Loans is applying for a banking licence with a view to taking on Australia's big banks. Wizard's founder and chairman Mark Bouris said that he sold the company to General Electric Corporation's finance arm, GE Money, two years ago in order to compete with the big banks. "That's my vision - to be number one; number one in the category," he told the ABC's Australian Story. "One thing to note about GE globally, they're always one or two." Mr Bouris also confirmed that Wizard will apply for a banking licence and, if successful, will compete vigorously in the banking sector. In other news, GE Money's chief executive for Australia and New Zealand, Tom Gentile, said that Wizard International will start operations this year. The first roll-out of Wizard International - a joint venture between Mr Bouris, GE Money and the Packer family's private company Consolidated Press Holdings - will be in India. "There's over a billion people in India, there's an emerging middle class of over 200 million," Mr Gentile said. "It represents an enormous opportunity." Markets in Europe, Latin America and Asia had also been explored, Mr Gentile said. SOURCE: AAP