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Following the release of Agile’s Broker Pulse survey, which captured responses from 331 brokers in February 2026, Finni brokers Eva Loisance and Costa Arvanitopoulos shared their perspectives on what is driving broker experience in the current lending environment.
Speaking on Broker Daily Uncut, both brokers pointed to ease of communication, speed, and flexibility as key factors shaping their preferences. However, they also acknowledged that in practice, lender choice is often dictated by client needs rather than broker convenience.
Loisance said broker decision making is highly dependent on individual client priorities, with trade-offs often required between pricing, turnaround times, and service quality.
“It always depends on what the client wants,” Loisance said.
“There are times where I recommend a lender because it’s the best option for them, even if the experience isn’t great. Some lenders are very competitive on price but are difficult to deal with, and that can be challenging because it reflects back on us when things are delayed or requirements change.”
By contrast, when timing is critical, such as buyers needing pre-approval ahead of an auction, speed becomes the primary consideration, with lenders known for fast approvals taking priority.
Loisance and Arvanitopoulos said that this balancing act is a constant across broker workflows. While some lenders offer highly competitive rates, they may fall short on service, communication, or processing efficiency, creating additional friction throughout the application process.
What do brokers want?
According to Agile’s findings, Macquarie Bank recorded the highest overall broker experience rating on a three-month average, with 96 per cent of respondents reporting satisfaction. At the other end of the spectrum, AMP Bank ranked among the lowest, with a satisfaction score of 68 per cent.
The Broker Pulse survey measures experience across four key metrics: business development manager (BDM) support, application, assessment, and settlement.
While BDM support continues to perform strongly across most lenders, the data shows greater inconsistency in the later stages of the process. Application, assessment, and settlement remain the areas where performance diverges most significantly between lenders.
Macquarie stood out for delivering consistently strong results across the entire loan journey, while major lenders, such as Commonwealth Bank and Westpac, showed more variability through BDM and assessment experiences.
Several other lenders also lagged on broker experience. AMP Bank and Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (ANZ) recorded the lowest overall satisfaction scores among large banks.
Beyond pricing, Arvanitopoulos said speed and accessibility are critical for brokers, particularly when issues arise during the application process.
“For me, it comes down to speed of application and being able to deal directly with a credit assessor,” he said.
He emphasised the importance of real-time communication, noting that delays are often exacerbated when lenders rely solely on email.
“Some lenders just don’t call, you can’t even get a phone number, so everything has to go through email. And there’s only so much you can explain properly over email compared to a conversation,” he said.
“It becomes frustrating because you send something through, wait until the afternoon for a response, reply the next morning, and what could have been resolved in a 10-minute phone call ends up taking two or three days.”
These delays can have a direct impact on the client experience, with brokers acting as the intermediary and absorbing frustration when timelines extend or requirements change.
Loisance said that this is where expectation setting becomes essential, particularly when recommending lenders known for slower turnaround times or more intensive documentation requirements.
“I think it very much comes down to client circumstances. If someone says they want the cheapest rate for a refinance and they’re happy to wait a few weeks, then I’ll go and find the lowest rate regardless of the experience. But I’ll be upfront and tell them it might take a month and it won’t be smooth,” she said.
“It’s similar with some SMSF lenders – they might have sharp pricing, but they will ask for extensive documentation, often more than once. You just have to prepare the client properly so there are no surprises.”
ANZ comes out on top
In terms of overall usage, ANZ took the lead as the most commonly used lender, with 48 per cent of brokers saying that they worked with them throughout February. Macquarie followed up with 46 per cent of brokers.
“It’s interesting that ANZ came out on top,” Loisance said.
“We usually struggle with them, so it’s interesting that we still use them a lot. It shows our best interests duty working, even though we don’t like going there, we still go there for our clients.”
Among non-bank lenders, Firstmac emerged as the most commonly used.
Arvanitopoulos said that he wasn’t surprised that Firstmac was leading in satisfaction in the non-bank sector.
“I’ve recently been using them, because I have been struggling with servicing with some clients as they don’t service with any of the major banks,” he said.
“Firstmac is that second-tier lender that just is always there. They’ve got good rates, serviceability is good because they’ve only got the 2 per cent buffer compared to the three. I’ve had good experiences with them at the moment, so it doesn’t surprise me that they are there.”
Brokers were also asked to indicate the primary reason they recommended a lender to their clients. For major banks, client circumstances were most important for 74 per cent of brokers. Product pricing was most important for non-majors (63 per cent), although closely followed by client circumstances (57 per cent), while client circumstances was the most important among brokers choosing non-banks.
Agile Market Intelligence is currently undertaking its 2026 Third-Party Lending Report, an annual, data‑driven review of Australia’s mortgage lenders powered by direct feedback from mortgage and finance brokers. Click here to be a part of the survey.
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