The market uses first-tier to describe a major ADI or a familiar lending brand within a large ADI group. Regulators do not use it as a licence class. Confirm the exact brand, product and writer accreditation on the current panel before lodging.
Compare the live rate, offset structure, package fee and serviceability result for the same client scenario. Bankwest sits in the Commonwealth Bank group, St. George belongs to Westpac and ME is part of BOQ. Heritage and People’s Choice merged in March 2023 to form one legal organisation, with the Heritage brand continuing during the staged move to People First Bank.
Eliminate hours of manual data crunching and focus on building relationships with new clients.
Track My Trail makes it easy for brokers to keep track of lost & gained trail, discover clients who have paid off big chunks of their loans, and identify your most profitable clients.
Get Track My Trail for free today – no credit card required.
10 First-Tier Lenders in Australia to Compare
Commonwealth Bank
Commonwealth Bank offers a broad home-loan range and one of the country’s largest branch and digital service networks. It can suit straightforward owner-occupier or investor files where broad product choice and familiar servicing matter. CBA and Bankwest retain separate brands, policies and accreditations, so access to one does not prove access to the other.
Westpac Banking Corporation
Westpac serves residential and business borrowers through its main brand while retaining St. George as a separate lending brand. This gives an accredited broker two policy and product sets within the same group, which can help when a file misses one brand’s settings. Compare both guides independently because group ownership does not make their pricing or credit rules interchangeable.
National Australia Bank (NAB)
NAB spans residential, business and agribusiness lending, making it relevant when a client’s personal borrowing sits beside farm or business needs. Those divisions use different policy paths, so identify the loan purpose before assessing the file. Broker customer service can help resolve a scenario, but the current credit guide and calculator still decide whether it fits.
Australia New Zealand Bank (ANZ)
ANZ provides home loans through a national broker channel under Australia and New Zealand Banking Group. Its range is relevant to mainstream owner-occupier and investor applications, including borrowers who value offset features. Check the exact package fee, offset eligibility and LVR tier because the group’s regional scale says little about the cost of an Australian home loan.
Macquarie Bank
Macquarie Bank is a broker-distributed ADI with digital home-loan servicing and transaction accounts. It may suit a clean residential file where the borrower values online account management and multiple offset arrangements on an eligible product. Assess the bank’s home-loan policy on its own; Macquarie’s investment banking and asset-management operations do not expand that credit box.
Bankwest
Bankwest sits within Commonwealth Bank but publishes its own home-loan range and policy. It gives brokers another group-backed option for residential files, particularly when its current features or pricing differ from CBA. Confirm that the broker and the individual writer hold Bankwest accreditation rather than assuming a CBA appointment covers both.
St. George Group
St. George remains a separate Westpac-group brand with its own broker products and service channel. It can be useful when a scenario fits St. George policy better than the main Westpac card. Record the St. George product code and calculator result, since a shared parent does not make a Westpac assessment transferable.
Heritage Bank
Heritage Bank merged with People’s Choice in March 2023 to form Heritage and People’s Choice Limited, and the organisation is moving to the People First Bank brand. Heritage information may still appear during that transition. Use the brand, legal entity and product code shown on current panel and credit documents rather than treating Heritage and People First as separate lenders.
ME Bank
ME Bank operates within the Bank of Queensland group while keeping its own customer brand and home-loan products. It may suit a broker seeking a digital bank option outside the four majors. Former industry-super ownership is historical context only, so base the recommendation on the current ME product and the accreditation held by the writer.
Bendigo and Adelaide Bank
Bendigo and Adelaide Bank is a regional ADI with direct and community-bank distribution. Its local network can matter to clients who prefer a branch relationship, while brokers still need to compare the national product and policy available through their panel. Check the contracting brand because a community-bank name can use a different product code within the group.
Additional Broker-Channel Detail for Five Lenders
Commonwealth Bank
Commonwealth Bank’s published broker process includes servicing calculators, document upload and application tracking. Its mainstream range covers owner-occupier and investor borrowing, with fixed and variable structures plus eligible offset options. The current calculator and product guide still determine whether an individual file fits.
Westpac Banking Corporation
Westpac gives accredited brokers calculators, forms and application-status support through its home-loan submission channel. St. George maintains separate products and credit settings despite sharing the Westpac parent group, so a result under one brand cannot be transferred to the other.
Have you checked your trail book for missing trail?
Track My Trail makes it easy for brokers to keep track of lost & gained trail, discover clients who have paid off big chunks of their loans, and identify your most profitable clients.
Get Track My Trail for free today - no credit card required.
National Australia Bank (NAB)
NAB sets out its calculator and supporting-document requirements for broker home-loan applications. Its residential, business and agribusiness divisions follow different policy paths. That breadth can help when home lending sits beside business needs, provided each facility uses the correct guide and submission channel.
Australia New Zealand Bank (ANZ)
ANZ’s residential broker hub provides calculators and application forms. It also explains how to supply supporting documents. Owner-occupier and investor products have their own fixed, variable and offset settings. Business or institutional lending needs the relevant channel and authority rather than the residential workflow.
Macquarie Bank
Macquarie’s broker portal lets accredited users handle residential applications and documents, then track progress in real time. Eligible products can support multiple offset accounts and digital servicing. Those features may suit clients who divide household funds by purpose, but the Australian home-loan guide defines the credit policy.
Competitive Analysis
Comparison Of Financial Products
Compare the live home-loan rate, the comparison rate, the offset, the package fee and LMI on the same day. personal loans and credit cards are other products. A residential appointment does not automatically cover them.
Market Share and Consumer Preferences
Commonwealth Bank is commonly the largest ADI, while broker share measures a different part of the market. Use a current APRA source for lender size and a current industry source for broker flows rather than combining unlike measures.
Impact Of Economic Policies
Each lender sets its own variable rate, so a Reserve Bank decision is an input rather than an automatic pass-through. ADIs also respond to funding costs, deposit competition and portfolio settings. Brokers should use the current lender rate card when comparing a live file.
Bank Group Policies, Application Portals and Regulation
Independent Policies Within Banking Groups
A major-bank brand can still decline a file, and group brands such as Bankwest, St. George, ME and Heritage can change products or pricing independently. Check the appointment and live policy each time rather than relying on the parent company’s name.
Application Portals and File Tracking
Bank portals can reduce re-keying when they accept structured application data, support secure document upload and show milestones from submission to formal approval. The practical opportunity is fewer missing documents and clearer client updates. Compare the workflow with a recent file and measure the actual time to decision.
Regulatory Impacts
Before lodging, verify accreditation for the specific brand and run its serviceability calculator with the applicable ADI buffer. Record the LVR, any LMI quote, offset and package costs, clawback period and remaining finance conditions. Use current ASIC guidance and the licensee’s approved material when describing the product publicly.
Changes in First-Tier Lending
Pricing, Service and Product Changes
Product ranges, pricing and broker service levels can change faster than group ownership. Use each bank’s current rate card and broker notices when forecasting where it may win business. Sustainable home-loan discounts should be treated as product features with their own eligibility rules.
Potential Mergers and Expansions
People First Bank is the result of the Heritage and People’s Choice merger, while ME operates within BOQ Group. These ownership changes can affect brand names, portals and accreditation records even when customer products continue. Verify any further Mergers and acquisitions through an official announcement before changing a lender comparison.
Innovation and Technology Integration
The useful technology question is how each bank receives an application and returns a decision. Compare calculator access, data transfer from the aggregator, secure document upload, electronic signing, valuation ordering and status notifications. A fast portal helps only when it accepts the file type and gives the broker enough detail to resolve a condition.
Confirm the brand is on the panel, open its live guide and run serviceability before comparing the rate, offset, package fee and LMI with the next suitable first-tier option. Keep the finance clause until the chosen lender has issued formal approval.
Lodge with the appointed brand whose live ADI guide fits the file. Check the contracting entity when working with Heritage or People First, and confirm ME’s BOQ-group accreditation rather than relying on a familiar customer-facing name.
