7 Things About Bank of Melbourne Home Loans That Aren't Obvious

95% investment LVR — the one thing the other sister brands won't do

This is the single most important fact about Bank of Melbourne and the reason it has its own review page rather than just being a footnote on the Westpac page. Bank of Melbourne is the only Westpac sister brand that will lend to 95% LVR on investment property with LMI. St George, Bank SA, and Westpac itself all cap investment at 90%. For thin-equity investors, BoM is the only door open in the Westpac group.

For context, the only other major lenders offering 95% LVR investment are ANZ and CBA. Macquarie, NAB, Suncorp and ING all cap at 90%. BoM's position in this small club is why VIC investors who need maximum leverage route here.

Cheapest Westpac sister-brand on average

While all four sisters share the same 5.89% headline rate, Bank of Melbourne's average rate across its full 200-product range is 6.84% — the cheapest of the four (St George 6.90%, Westpac 6.89%, Bank SA 6.88%). That means the typical BoM customer who doesn't aggressively optimise their product ends up 0.04-0.06% better off than an equivalent customer at St George or Westpac.

VIC branch network is denser than you'd expect

Bank of Melbourne operates approximately 60 branches across Victoria — concentrated in metro Melbourne but with meaningful regional presence in Geelong, Ballarat, Bendigo, and the Mornington Peninsula. For VIC-based borrowers who want a branch relationship without a Big 4, BoM is one of the few alternatives with genuine in-market presence. Compare that to ING (zero branches), Macquarie (zero branches), or UBank (zero branches).

Assessment rate matches St George, beats CBA and NAB

Bank of Melbourne uses an 8.64% assessment rate — the same as St George and 0.35% below CBA's 8.99% and NAB's 8.99%. On a $160K income, that's roughly $20K more borrowing capacity than CBA. A tangible edge for borrowers near the servicing limit.

200 products — second-largest range behind Westpac

Bank of Melbourne carries 200 active home loan products, second only to Westpac's 237. The practical advantage: there's usually a product variant that matches your specific combination of LVR, repayment type, loan purpose and rate preference. The disadvantage: it's easy to end up on a mediocre product without broker guidance. Always check whether the quoted product is actually the sharpest BoM variant available for your scenario.

Not just for Victorians

Despite the name, Bank of Melbourne accepts home loan applications from anywhere in Australia — the property doesn't need to be in Victoria and the borrower doesn't need to live in Victoria. The VIC branding is marketing, not a geographic eligibility restriction. We've settled BoM loans for borrowers in QLD and WA buying interstate investment properties.

9-day turnaround — 1 day behind St George, 1 ahead of ANZ

Bank of Melbourne averages 9 business days submission-to-unconditional — slightly slower than St George and Westpac (both 8 days) but faster than ANZ (10 days) and significantly faster than most mutuals (14+ days). For most settlement timelines this is adequate; for tight 21-day contracts it's borderline. If turnaround is mission-critical, St George or Westpac itself are marginally quicker within the same group.