Switching to a new mortgage aggregator is a contractual and accreditation exercise, not a single resignation letter. For most mortgage brokers, moving well means four things in order: read the existing agreement for notice periods and exit obligations, compare the new aggregator on evidence rather than sales material, transfer accreditations and client data lawfully, and keep clients informed throughout.
This guide walks through those stages with the checks that prevent the most common failures. Every agreement differs, so treat the sequence as a framework and confirm your own contract terms before acting.
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Read your current agreement before anything else
The outgoing side of a switch is governed entirely by your existing agreement. Look for the notice period you must give, whether any exit or termination fees apply, what happens to trails on loans written under the old arrangement, how clawbacks are treated at exit and whether any restraint clauses limit where you can move.
Note the dates that fall out of this review. Missing a notice window can add months to your timeline or trigger fees, so write down the earliest lawful exit date before you negotiate with anyone new.
Cover the regulatory steps
Your aggregator relationship has an authorised-credit-representative structure behind it, which creates obligations on both sides of the switch. Your new licensee must notify ASIC of your appointment within 15 business days, and cessation of the old appointment must be notified within 10 business days. Authorisation also depends on current AFCA membership, so confirm your membership will carry across without a gap.
If you ask another broker or a prospective aggregator about their track record, the ASIC reference checking and information sharing protocol can apply to those conversations. Use it rather than informal word of mouth when you need verifiable answers about a party’s conduct history.
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Evaluate the new aggregator on evidence
Compare candidates against your actual book rather than their marketing. Which lenders on their lender panels did you actually use in the past twelve months? What commission split and fee structure applies at your settlement volume? What does their technology do that yours cannot, demonstrated in a demo with your own sample file?
An aggregator should also answer three questions in writing before you sign: who holds the licence your authorisation sits under, what support response times apply during the transition period and what data export they will provide if you ever leave. A partner unwilling to answer the last question deserves suspicion.
Move client data lawfully
Client records are personal information, and Australian Privacy Principle 11 requires reasonable steps to protect that information from misuse, interference, loss and unauthorised access. Export what your agreement entitles you to, transfer it through secure channels and delete local copies from systems you are exiting once the migration is confirmed.
Rebuild your pipeline inside the new platform deliberately: import your own customer relationship management data, verify settlement dates and trail figures against source documents, and reconcile a sample of files against the old system before you rely on the new one.
Keep clients steady through the change
Clients rarely need the details of your commercial arrangements, but they do need continuity. Tell active clients that their loan is unaffected, name the contact they should use during the transition and honour every committed follow-up date. The switch should be invisible in your service levels; protect client relationships by keeping every promise already made, even the small ones.
Your next step
Pull out your current aggregator agreement tonight and mark four things: the notice period, the exit date those terms produce, the trail treatment at exit and any restraint clause. Those four facts determine whether a switch this year is realistic and give every later conversation with a prospective aggregator its starting point.
