There is no "best lender". There's the lender whose policy fits your file.
Put the same borrower in front of a major bank, a customer-owned mutual, a non-bank and a specialist lender, and you can get four genuinely different answers — on how much they'll lend, how they treat your income, and whether they'll say yes at all. That's why we don't publish league tables. We compare a 50-lender panel against your actual situation, and we're legally required to act in your best interests when we do.
Same borrower, four different answers.
Lenders cluster into tiers, and each tier is built around a different kind of borrower. None of this is about "good" or "bad" lenders — it's about which credit policy your deposit, income and credit history actually fit.
| What we compare | Major banks | Regionals & mutuals | Non-bank lenders | Specialist lenders |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Deposit flexibilityAppetite for smaller deposits / higher LVR | ◐Solid with LMI or government schemes; caps tighten as risk rises | ●Some genuine high-LVR and niche deposit policies exist in this tier | ◐Varies widely lender to lender — policy is set deal by deal | ●Includes state-backed low-deposit schemes for eligible buyers |
| Income treatmentSelf-employed, contract, allowances, complex income | ◐Full-doc standard; usually wants established trading history | ◐Broadly similar, with pockets of flexibility for specific professions | ●Alt-doc and complex-income lending is the core specialty | ◐Depends entirely on the niche the lender is built for |
| Credit history toleranceDefaults, past credit events, thin files | ○Clean-credit territory — past events usually mean a decline | ○Generally similar to the majors on credit history | ●Defaults and past events can be considered, priced to the risk | ◐Case by case, within the lender's defined niche |
| Pricing approachHow the rate you're offered is set | ◐Advertised vs negotiated — the discount depends on your file | ●Customer-owned mutuals return margin to members rather than shareholders | ◐Risk-based — priced to the individual file, not a standard card | ○Pricing reflects the niche; comparison beyond the niche rarely applies |
| TurnaroundAssessment speed on a clean, complete file | ◐Moves with application volume — fast weeks and slow weeks | ◐Often quick on straightforward files; smaller teams can queue | ●Broker channel with closer underwriter access on complex files | ○Typically slower — more manual assessment by design |
| Service modelHow you deal with them day to day | Branches, apps and broker channel — full retail banking alongside the loan | Branch/online mix; member-service culture in the mutual segment | Broker-introduced; no branches — service runs through us | Purpose-built channels for the borrower type they serve |
This table is a qualitative generalisation of how lender tiers on our 50-lender panel tend to behave — it is not a ranking, a recommendation, or a statement about any individual lender, and individual lenders within a tier differ materially. Which lenders actually suit you depends on your circumstances and each lender's current credit policy.
Who's actually on a 50-lender panel.
Our panel is accredited through Connective, one of Australia's largest aggregators. Here's what each tier looks like — and the kind of borrower each one is built around.
Major banks & their sister brands
ANZ, Commonwealth Bank, NAB and Westpac — plus the brands they own, like Bankwest (CBA), ubank (NAB) and Westpac's St.George, Bank of Melbourne and BankSA. The deepest product shelves and the benchmarks everyone else prices against, but the sister brands often run their own rate cards and slightly different policy to the parent.
Tends to suit: clean-credit PAYG borrowers, borrowers who want full-service banking with the loan, and files that fit standard policy.
Regional banks & customer-owned lenders
Regionals like Macquarie, ING, Suncorp, Bank of Queensland and Bendigo Bank, alongside customer-owned mutuals and credit unions — including profession-based lenders originally built for teachers, health workers and emergency services. Mutuals have no external shareholders, and several hold genuinely distinctive policies — from profession-friendly income treatment to niche high-LVR products.
Tends to suit: borrowers hunting policy niches the majors don't offer, profession-based borrowers, and anyone who values the member-owned model.
Non-bank lenders
Lenders like Pepper Money, Liberty, Resimac, Firstmac and La Trobe Financial. They fund loans without holding banking deposits, which lets them write files mainstream banks decline: self-employed with alternative documentation, complex income, past credit events, high debt-to-income. Pricing is set to the risk of each file rather than a standard rate card.
Tends to suit: self-employed and alt-doc borrowers, credit-impaired files on the way back, and deals that need a policy exception rather than a discount.
Specialist & purpose-built lenders
Lenders built for one job: Sharia-compliant home finance structured without interest, reverse mortgages for older homeowners releasing equity, and state-government schemes such as Keystart (WA) and HomeStart (SA) that help eligible first home buyers in with small deposits. You'd rarely compare these against a major — you compare them against the alternative of not proceeding at all.
Tends to suit: borrowers whose situation is the niche — faith-based finance, equity release, or a state scheme they're eligible for.
Policy first. Price second. Execution third.
Most people compare lenders in exactly the wrong order — starting with the advertised rate. The sharpest rate in the country is irrelevant if that lender's credit policy declines your file.
Policy fit
We screen the panel against your actual file — deposit, income type, employment, credit history, property — using lender policy data we refresh as lenders update it. This is where most of the 50 fall away, and where the real differences between tiers live.
True cost
Among the lenders that would actually approve you, we compare cost properly: rate and fees over the life of the loan, offset and redraw value, and what the comparison rate does and doesn't capture for a loan your size.
Execution
Then the practical layer: current turnaround times, valuation approach, and how the lender handles your scenario in practice. A slightly better deal that misses your settlement date isn't a better deal.
We're legally required to act in your best interests. Your bank isn't.
Since 1 January 2021, mortgage brokers in Australia have been bound by a statutory Best Interests Duty under the National Consumer Credit Protection Act, with ASIC's expectations set out in Regulatory Guide 273. When we recommend a home loan, the law requires the recommendation to be in your best interests — and to resolve any conflict in your favour.
A bank's lending staff can only offer that bank's shelf, and they owe you no duty to tell you a competitor fits you better. We compare across 50 lenders, show you why the shortlist is the shortlist, and put the reasoning in writing.
Source: National Consumer Credit Protection Act 2009 (best interests obligations for mortgage brokers, commenced 1 January 2021); ASIC Regulatory Guide 273. The duty applies to credit assistance provided by mortgage brokers for home lending; it does not apply to lenders selling their own products directly.
What a "comparison rate" actually tells you — and what it doesn't
Every advertised home-loan rate must be published alongside a comparison rate: a single figure that folds the interest rate together with most upfront and ongoing fees, so two loans can be compared on more than the headline number. It's calculated on a standard legal basis — a $150,000 loan over 25 years — which is exactly its weakness.
If you're borrowing a different amount over a different term (most people are), the true cost ranking of two loans can differ from what their comparison rates suggest. It also excludes some costs — like government charges and fees that depend on how you use the loan (redraw, early repayment) — and says nothing about offset value or credit policy. We compare loans on your numbers, not the statutory example.
Warning: a comparison rate is true only for the example given ($150,000 over 25 years) and may not include all fees and charges. Different amounts and terms will result in different comparison rates. Costs such as redraw fees or early repayment fees, and cost savings such as fee waivers, are not included in the comparison rate but may influence the cost of the loan.
Comparing lenders, answered straight.
How do you actually compare 50 lenders?
In order: policy, price, execution. We screen the panel against your file first — deposit, income type, credit history, property — because most lenders fall away on policy before price ever matters. Among the lenders that would actually approve you, we compare the true cost (rate plus fees over the life of the loan, offset value, comparison rate on your numbers) and then the practical side: turnaround and how the lender handles your scenario. You get a shortlist with the reasoning in writing, not a league table.
Are you independent?
No — and under Australian law we can't claim to be, because we're paid commission by the lender you settle with. Here's the honest picture: we compare a panel of 50 lenders accredited through Connective (not every lender in the market), the commission rates lenders pay are broadly similar and are disclosed to you in our Credit Guide and before you commit, and since 2021 we've been bound by a statutory Best Interests Duty that requires our recommendation to be in your best interests — a duty your bank doesn't have.
Why not just go to my bank?
Your bank can only offer its own products, and its staff owe you no duty to mention that another lender's policy or pricing fits you better. That matters most when your file isn't textbook — self-employed income, a small deposit, a past credit event, a profession-specific allowance — because that's where lenders genuinely differ. A broker compares across tiers, and is legally required to recommend what's in your best interests, not what's on one shelf.
What is a comparison rate?
A legally required figure that combines a loan's interest rate with most upfront and ongoing fees, calculated on a standard example of $150,000 over 25 years. It's useful for spotting loans with low headline rates and high fees — but because it's built on that fixed example, it can mislead for different loan sizes and terms, and it excludes some costs like government charges and usage-based fees. We compare loans on your actual amount and term instead.
How many lenders do you compare?
Our panel is 50 lenders, accredited through Connective — spanning the major banks and their sister brands, regional banks, customer-owned mutuals, non-bank lenders and specialists. We don't compare every product or lender in the market, and we'll tell you plainly if we're not accredited with a lender you ask about.
Which lender is the best in Australia?
There isn't one — and anyone who names one without knowing your situation is guessing. The lender that's sharpest for a clean-credit PAYG borrower with a 20% deposit is usually the wrong answer for a self-employed borrower with one year of financials, and both are the wrong answer for someone eligible for a state scheme. "Best" is a property of the match between your file and a lender's credit policy, and it changes as lenders change policy and pricing.
Stop guessing which lender fits. Ask the panel.
Tell us your situation once — deposit, income, goals — and we'll show you which of the 50 lenders would actually consider your file, and why. Free, no obligation, and no credit check to start.
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