A bank branch can only sell you that bank’s loans, assessed against that bank’s credit policy. A broker can put the same application to any lender on their panel, and since 1 January 2021 has a legal duty to act in your best interests. In the June 2026 quarter, brokers arranged 81.6% of new home loans in Australia.
Current as at September 2026.
I worked inside two of the big four before I started Loan Lounge in 2015, so I’ve sat on both sides of this. Here is the honest case for using a broker, and the two situations where I’d tell you to go direct.
What does a lender panel actually buy you?
A bank branch can only sell you that bank’s loans. That’s their job. But it means the person across the desk isn’t asking “which lender suits this person”, they’re asking “which of our products can we fit this person into”. If your situation is plain (PAYG salary, 20% deposit, clean credit, buying a house in a suburb the bank likes), the difference may be small. If anything about you is unusual, the difference can be the whole outcome.
We have a panel of over 75 lenders. What that actually buys you is access to 75 different credit policies. Lenders disagree about how much of your rental income counts, how they treat bonus income, whether your two years of self-employed tax returns are enough or whether one will do, how they assess a unit under 50 square metres, what they’ll do with a HELP debt. Lenders differ on how much rental income they count, and we work through a recent example in Mortgage broker vs bank. That change alone moved some investors from “not quite” to “yes” without anything about them changing. If you’d walked into a different bank that week, nobody would have told you.
Do brokers owe you a duty that bank staff don’t?
Since 1 January 2021 mortgage brokers have had a best interests duty under the National Consumer Credit Protection Act. ASIC’s Regulatory Guide 273 spells it out. When I recommend a loan I have to be able to show it was in your interests, ahead of mine and ahead of the lender’s. If a loan that pays me a lower commission is the better loan for you, that’s the one I’m obliged to recommend.
A bank employee selling you their own bank’s mortgage doesn’t carry that duty. They have responsible lending obligations, which are real, but that’s a duty not to lend you something unsuitable. Nobody in the branch is obliged to find you the right thing.
What does a broker cost?
You don’t pay a broker for a standard residential loan. The lender does, an upfront commission at settlement and a trail commission for the life of the loan. The MFAA publishes the going ranges: upfront usually 0.65% to 0.70% of the loan, trail generally 0.15% a year. Brokers have to disclose what they’ll receive. If a broker ever wants to charge you directly, you get a written quote first and you have to sign it before they start work. Moneysmart spells that out.
People sometimes assume that because the lender pays us, the loan must be dearer to cover it. In our experience lenders do not price a loan differently because a broker sent it. The bank’s branch staff are a cost too, you just don’t see the line item.
Book a time with a Loan Lounge broker — no cost, no obligation.
What happens to your rate after a few years?
The ACCC measured that gap in its 2020 home loan price inquiry, and we go through the numbers in Loyalty to your bank is a tax on your future. Banks price for new customers and let the old ones drift. The ACCC’s recommendation was that lenders be made to prompt borrowers with loans older than three years to review their rate.
So somebody has to do the prompting. A broker on trail has a reason to: if you refinance away because we went quiet, we lose the trail. That’s a self-interested reason, and I’ll own it, but it lines up with yours. A branch has much less reason to call you and offer you a lower rate.
What the market did with all this
In the June 2026 quarter brokers arranged 81.6% of new residential home loans in Australia. That’s the MFAA’s number, released 3 September. Eight out of ten new home loans didn’t drift to brokers by accident.
When I’d tell you to go direct
One, you already have a strong relationship with a bank that’s giving you a rate you’ve checked against the market and the loan is simple. Then a broker mostly adds a middle step. Ask us anyway if you want a second opinion, we’ll tell you if the bank’s offer is good, and we’ve done exactly that and sent people back to their bank.
Two, now and then the product that suits you is one we can’t access through our panel. If that’s the case we’ll say so. It’s rare, but it happens, and the best interests duty means we can’t pretend otherwise.
What working with us is like
Our process runs in four steps, set out in A broker who doesn’t ask about strategy is a price-shopper. A conversation about what you want to do. Research across the panel and a proposal with more than one option. The application, which we manage, including the chasing. Then settlement and the years after, which is where the review conversation from above happens. Conditional approval usually takes one to five business days once the lender has your documents. A refinance settles in two to three weeks, sometimes longer, a purchase around six to eight.
If you want to see whether your bank’s offer stacks up, or you’ve been told no and want to know why, call 02 9037 2825 or book a time with one of the brokers. No obligation and no fee for the conversation.
Frequently Asked Questions: Why Choose a Broker Over Going Direct to a Bank?
Is a mortgage broker free?
For a standard residential loan, yes. The lender pays the broker an upfront commission at settlement and a trail commission monthly. If a broker wants to charge you directly, you must get a written quote and sign it first.
Does using a broker make my loan more expensive?
In our experience lenders do not price a loan differently because a broker sent it. Branch staff are a distribution cost to the lender too.
When should I go direct to my bank instead?
If your situation is simple, you have a long relationship with one bank, and you have checked their offer against the market. Bring the offer to a broker anyway for a second opinion.
Related reading
- Mortgage Broker vs Bank: Why a Lender Panel Beats One Bank
- Loan Lounge vs the Big 4 Banks: A Side-by-Side
- Broker vs Comparison Site: What Aggregators Don’t Tell You
- More on the services we arrange
Book a broker or find a broker near you. Or call the Burwood office on 02 9037 2825.
General information only. This article does not take your objectives, financial situation or needs into account, and is not financial product, tax or legal advice. Lending criteria, fees and rates vary by lender and change without notice. Loan Lounge, Australian Credit Licence 515608.