Major bank usage rises: Broker Pulse

The survey of 288 residential brokers was conducted between 1 and 16 May 2024 to uncover their experiences with lenders during April 2024.

It showed that the primary reason for brokers choosing a major bank was client circumstances (74 per cent).

A higher proportion of brokers used one of the big four banks because of their product pricing this month (up from 42 per cent to 48 per cent), while more than a quarter (27 per cent) opted for a major bank due to their speed to initial credit decision, up from 22 per cent in March.

Almost half of the broker respondents submitted an application to ANZ in April (46 per cent), representing an 8-percentage-point spike from March.

One broker who used ANZ said that they were impressed with its customer service, competitive interest rates, wide range of financial products, “convenient” online banking services, and strong security measures.

Other brokers praised the bank’s business development managers (BDM), with its BDM satisfaction rating hitting 78 per cent in April.

However, other respondents said the credit assessment process remains difficult and some credit assessors did not align with the BDMs. Some brokers called for the function to be based in Australia as offshore assessors called brokers outside of business hours.

The Broker Pulse survey reflected this sentiment as only 67 per cent of respondents said they had a positive experience with ANZ credit assessors, the lowest among the most commonly used authorised deposit-taking institutions (those used by more than 20 per cent of the broker respondents).

The Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) was the second most commonly used major bank and third overall at 36 per cent, while Westpac was fourth (34 per cent), and National Australia Bank (NAB) was fifth (28 per cent).

While CBA drew praise from broker respondents for its strong lender policies and overall experience, brokers called for sharper rates and enhanced communication during the assessment period. One broker said they were disappointed with how the lender treated new customers.

CBA has also been drawing ire from the third-party channel over its channel conflict, with brokers having been frustrated at the bank’s focus on proprietary lending (and, more recently, its launch of a digital refinancing product that is not available to the broker channel).

Macquarie Bank was the only non-major bank that was one of the top five commonly used lenders in April, ranking second with 39 per cent of brokers saying they used it.

Brokers said they were pleased with the lender’s speedy turnaround times and processing, ease of use, strong new client experience, communication, and customer service. However, one broker urged the non-major bank to be consistent with its decisions and pointed to a lack of alignment between the BDM and credit assessors.

Turnaround times remained consistent month on month across the five lenders. Macquarie Bank took two business days to reach an initial credit decision, while CBA took three days, NAB and Westpac took four days, and ANZ took five days.

To participate in next month’s Broker Pulse survey or for more information, click here.

[Related: Non-banks most committed to broker channel, say brokers]