Bendigo Bank lending policy for new broker loans applies through Bendigo Bank Broker, while an existing Adelaide Bank loan needs its own variation and commission assessment. Adelaide Bank takes no new broker originations. Identify whether the transaction retains the existing facility or repays it before calculating upfront, trail or clawback exposure.
Origination Channel and Broker Entitlement
Bendigo Bank Broker is the group’s new-loan broker channel, including its Easy and Flex home loans. The bank’s announcement completing aggregator onboarding identifies Bendigo Bank Broker as its flagship broker offering following Adelaide Bank’s retirement.
Record the product and introducing broker against the correct aggregator agreement. Upfront eligibility belongs to the qualifying advance under that agreement. Trail belongs to the eligible ongoing balance and the broker’s continuing entitlement. A customer-facing interest rate or loan fee does not establish either commission rate.
Keep the settlement amount separate from the balance used to calculate commission. Carry the agreement’s treatment of offsets, redraw and any excluded funds into the expected payment. Use the Bendigo broker contact and access guide when you need the lender contact for that file.
Clawbacks and Refinance Events
Classify a Bendigo repayment as an early discharge, an internal refinance or an external refinance before applying the channel’s clawback terms. The loan’s settlement history and repayment event determine which agreement provision applies.
An external refinance repays the outgoing facility and ends trail on that repaid balance. An internal refinance needs two separate entries in your assessment. Record the outgoing loan’s repayment and any resulting clawback, then assess the replacement loan’s commission eligibility. Shared ownership of the two brands does not establish an exemption.
For a partial repayment, apply the agreement’s balance-reduction rule instead of treating the loan as fully discharged. Keep the original upfront amount and settlement date with the lender’s adjustment advice. A later bank statement alone will not explain why a commission debit appeared.
Track My Trail’s Clawback Risk lists loans inside their clawback period, with days remaining and upfront exposure under the aggregator’s or lender’s rules. Use the loan-level figures when preparing a refinance review.
Top-Ups and Split Balance Treatment
Separate additional Bendigo borrowing from the retained debt when assessing a top-up. A larger closing balance is not evidence that the whole loan earns another upfront payment.
For a hypothetical $420,000 existing balance and $60,000 increase, record $60,000 as the additional borrowing and $480,000 as the resulting balance. Apply the agreement’s top-up eligibility to the increase. Assess ongoing trail on the eligible balance after the variation, including any offset treatment.
Keep the split account references with the original settlement record. A fixed and variable split can change the account numbers without proving that a qualifying new origination occurred.
Bendigo’s variation FAQ says customers initiate variations through its Customer Contact team. It also says this does not affect the commissions brokers would have received had they submitted the variation themselves. That statement protects the submission route. It does not make every variation commissionable.
Existing Adelaide Bank Facilities
Existing Adelaide Bank borrowing needs to be assessed using the facility’s current identity and the change requested. Bendigo’s 2026 results announcement reports that the Adelaide Bank account migration to its platform is complete.
Distinguish an administrative migration from a borrower-requested refinance. For a continuing loan, reconcile trail against the retained balance and existing entitlement, including changed account references. For a loan repaid into a Bendigo product or another lender, assess the outgoing Adelaide clawback separately from any replacement commission. A platform change alone is insufficient evidence of a new commission event.
Adelaide Bank’s DocSend guide has a document category for top-ups and product conversions. Where the bank directs an existing-facility request through that route, send the application and supporting evidence against the correct loan reference. The Adelaide broker document-upload guide covers the upload process.
Additional borrowing requires a new credit assessment. A product conversion that also changes the approved limit or borrowers needs assessment of those changes. For a conversion retaining the approved borrowing, identify the bank’s variation requirements before treating it as a new loan.
An earlier Adelaide approval does not approve extra debt. Put any policy departure for the revised request to credit afresh, with updated income and security evidence.
Employment and Income Documents
Bendigo’s broker supporting-document checklist directs income verification to its Lending Guidelines. Match the evidence to the actual income used in the broker application.
For salaried applicants, prepare payslips and evidence that explains the base salary and employment arrangement. Separate variable pay from base pay. Overtime, bonuses or commission need a history showing what the applicant received and whether that income continues.
For self-employed applicants, prepare personal and business tax evidence, supporting financial statements and an explanation of the income taken from each entity. Reconcile business profit with the amount attributed to the borrower. The Easy and Flex fact sheets exclude applicants self-employed for less than one year.
Record the accepted income amount beside its evidence. Do not apply a branch checklist or a retired income matrix as a blanket broker-channel rule.
Residence and Borrower Eligibility
The broker Easy and Flex fact sheets allow individual or joint borrowers and exclude overseas or non-permanent Australian resident applicants. They also exclude companies, trusts and family pledge arrangements.
Record citizenship or residence status for every applicant. Where a passport contains a visa, capture its subclass and expiry with the residence evidence. One permanent resident in a joint application does not establish eligibility for the other applicant.
Identify where each borrower lives and earns their income. An applicant living overseas needs assessment against the product’s overseas-applicant restriction even if they hold Australian citizenship. Keep any departure request separate from the ordinary eligibility assessment.
Security and Valuation Requirements
The Easy Home Loan fact sheet caps the loan-to-value ratio (LVR) at 80%. Its listed owner-occupied and residential investment categories cover principal-and-interest and interest-only repayments.
The Flex Home Loan fact sheet lists up to 95% LVR for owner-occupied principal-and-interest lending. Its other listed purpose and repayment combinations reach up to 90%. Applicable limits depend on the applicant and security, and include lenders mortgage insurance (LMI) where specified.
Identify the security’s location and property type before applying a headline maximum. Describe any unusual title, use or construction feature in the submission. A product maximum does not establish acceptance of a particular property.
Record any valuation and insurance conditions from the specific loan offer. Calculate the final LVR using the accepted security value and all borrowing secured against it. Keep the valuation outcome with the property details so the assessor can see which security supports the requested limit.
Loan Purpose and Funds Evidence
Bendigo’s broker supporting-document checklist distinguishes purchase, refinance and cash-out evidence. Match each part of the advance to its use.
For purchases, provide the contract and funds-to-complete evidence. Above 90% LVR, the checklist calls for three months of savings, deposit or equity history, with evidence for gifts or other funds where applicable.
For refinance, its statement requirements depend on whether the outgoing institution participates in comprehensive credit reporting. The checklist requires three months of statements for refinanced debts at non-participating institutions. Show which debts are being cleared and which remain.
Cash-out requests need commentary explaining the intended use. The checklist adds purpose documents above its $500,000 threshold, and specifies evidence for an investment-property purchase. Allocate mixed-purpose funds separately so the assessor can follow each amount.
For construction, identify the proposed product and construction request before treating an ordinary purchase approval as sufficient. Prepare the building contract, plans and progress-payment information for the construction assessment. Tie the requested advance to the work being funded.
Policy Departures and Credit Enquiries
Send a Bendigo policy enquiry with the product, distribution channel and exact condition the application does not meet. Its scenario-enquiry form asks for the aggregator and purpose, plus the loan amount, LVR, income type and intended security location.
Add the evidence supporting the requested departure. For an existing Adelaide facility, show the current account reference and retained balance, then describe the additional debt or product change. State whether the existing facility continues or will be repaid.
For example, a request involving nine months of self-employment must identify the product’s one-year restriction. Attach the income evidence and explain the requested exception. An earlier approval for a different facility does not answer that request.
Use the lender policy guides when comparing another bank’s treatment. Before lodging with Bendigo, put the written credit response and any outstanding conditions beside the application they cover.
