He spent over a decade deciding loans from the lender's side. Now he sits on yours.
Richard (Ricky) Esteb is a licensed finance broker and the founder of Esteb & Co. Before broking, he worked inside private lending — approving, declining and funding deals — which is exactly why he brokers the way he does: match the borrower to the lender whose policy actually fits, and let the numbers make the case.
Credit Representative #574071 · ACL 389328
Eleven-plus years in lending — most of them on the other side of the table.
Most finance brokers learn the industry from the broker's chair. Ricky learned it from the lender's — which changes how you read a deal, and how you place one.
Funding real deals inside private lending
Ricky started his career on the lender side of the industry — approving and declining applications and funding developments and projects across the residential, commercial and development sectors. Day after day, he watched how lenders actually assess risk and make decisions.
Marketing Manager at an ASX-listed private lender
He went on to serve as Marketing Manager at an ASX-listed private lender, where he assessed thousands of applications from the lender's side. The pattern he kept seeing: good borrowers turned away — not because they were weak, but because that lender's policy simply didn't suit their situation.
The move to finance broking
Knowing how the other side of the table thinks, Ricky moved to finance broking to help borrowers navigate the system — because he'd seen firsthand how the right lender match could change everything.
Esteb & Co — founded 2025
Esteb & Co combines that real lending experience with technology that compares 50 lenders objectively. Instead of leaning on relationships with a handful of preferred lenders, a data-driven matching engine evaluates every lender on the panel for each individual client — Australia-wide, fully digital.
Career history as described on this page reflects Richard's professional background as at 2026. Esteb & Co compares products from a 50-lender panel but not every product or lender in the market.
Lender-side experience, working for the borrower.
That decade-plus inside lending gave Ricky something most finance brokers never get: a genuine understanding of how lenders think — what an assessor is really looking for, where a policy bends, and where it never will.
"Good borrowers weren't being declined because they were bad risks. They were being declined because they'd asked the wrong lender."
So Esteb & Co is built around the match, not the relationship. Every client's situation is scored against the whole 50-lender panel — policies, rates and criteria — so the recommendation reflects fit, whether you're a first home buyer with a 5% deposit, a self-employed borrower with complex income, or an investor structuring a portfolio.
Licensed, on the record.
Everything here is verifiable on the ASIC register.
ASIC Credit Representative
Richard Esteb is individually licensed to provide credit assistance.
Credit Rep #574071
Esteb and Co Pty Ltd
The company is itself an authorised credit representative.
ACN 690 323 687 · Credit Rep #574070
Australian Credit Licence
Operating under an Australian Credit Licence holder, accredited through Connective.
ACL 389328 · Connective
50-lender panel
Home, car, business and personal loan options compared across the panel — Australia-wide, digital-first.
Not all products or lenders in the market
Where Ricky does his best work.
How a conversation with Ricky works
No call centre, no hand-offs — you deal with the broker whose name is on the licence. Start with the smart form, and the matching engine does the first pass across the panel before you ever get on a call. From there it's a straight conversation about what fits, what doesn't, and why.
Everything is done remotely, Australia-wide — video, phone and secure document upload.
Put the lender's-side insight to work.
Tell us your situation once — the matching engine scores it against the 50-lender panel, and Ricky takes it from there. Free, no obligation, no credit check to start.
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