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That’s according to Agile’s Broker Pulse survey, which surveyed 331 mortgage brokers on their work and experiences in February 2026.
The survey found that 48 per cent of respondents submitted deals to ANZ, making it the most commonly used lender. Macquarie was the most-used non-major bank at 46 per cent, ranking second overall.
The remaining big four banks rounded out the top five, with Commonwealth Bank of Australia at 35 per cent, Westpac at 34 per cent, and National Australia Bank at 31 per cent, reinforcing the continued dominance of major lenders in broker flows.
Among non-major banks, St.George Banking Group recorded broker usage of 24 per cent, followed by Bankwest at 21 per cent. In the non-bank segment, Firstmac was the most-used lender at 11 per cent, ahead of Pepper Money, La Trobe Financial, and Liberty Financial, which each recorded 7 per cent.
Client needs drive lender choice
Client circumstances remain the leading factor influencing broker recommendations across both major banks and non-bank lenders.
The survey found that 74 per cent of brokers recommended major banks based on how well their offerings aligned with client needs, while this figure rose to 84 per cent for non-bank lenders.
Product pricing was the second most influential factor for major banks, cited by 37 per cent of brokers, but played a smaller role for non-banks at just 8 per cent.
In contrast, pricing was the dominant driver for non-major banks, with 63 per cent of brokers identifying it as the primary factor in lender selection, up 2 percentage points from the previous month. Client circumstances ranked second at 57 per cent, down slightly month on month.
“These are generally the mainstay reasons for using these lenders,” Michael Johnson, director of Agile Market Intelligence, said.
“Often consumers are most comfortable with the major banks, but if pricing or product features offer a more competitive alternative, then the non-majors are able strike – especially if there’s a special customer segment or other area where they can compete more attractively on price for certain consumers.
“For the non-banks, client circumstances reigns supreme is often the primary reason, but there are always other factors at play that impact which lenders brokers choose.”
Macquarie leads turnaround times
Macquarie recorded the fastest turnaround times among large ADIs, with an average of 1.4 business days to reach an initial credit decision.
Bankwest followed with an average turnaround time of 3.2 business days, while Westpac was the fastest among the major banks at 3.3 days. NAB, despite being the slowest among the majors, still improved to 4.7 business days.
Among small ADIs, Ubank led with a turnaround time of 3.5 business days, followed by HSBC at around four days and BCU at 4.2 days. MyState recorded a turnaround time of 4.9 days.
At the other end, Newcastle Permanent saw blowouts in turnaround times, with reported durations of 20 days.
In the non-ADI segment, AFG Home Loans recorded the fastest turnaround time at 4.2 business days and was the only lender in this category to improve its processing speed over the month. Pepper Money followed at 4.3 days, while La Trobe Financial recorded the longest turnaround time at 7.8 days.
Broker experience remains strong
Macquarie also led in broker experience among large ADIs, achieving a satisfaction rating of 96 per cent.
Bankwest followed with a score of 92 per cent, while ING recorded 90 per cent. Among the major banks, NAB achieved the highest satisfaction rating at 86 per cent, ahead of Commonwealth Bank and Westpac at 84 per cent, and ANZ at 80 per cent.
While ANZ and the other majors were the most used, they did not come out on top for satisfaction.
Johnson said that this comes down to a mixture of policies, pricing, and experience.
“The three key pillars of the broker proposition is experience, product policy and pricing,” he said.
“Clearly with Best Interests Duty brokers are accounting for all of this as they navigate which lenders to choose for their customers.
“Specifically for ANZ, their broker experience is still quite good when compared to other Tier 1 lenders. Macquarie’s clearly the market leader for broker experience, but their product policies restrict brokers for being able to send them any deals. Meanwhile, ANZ and the other major lenders are all performing well in the broker experience category presently, and ANZ’s competitive pricing means that brokers are turning to them more often.”
Recently, Broker Daily sat down with brokers to discuss what they value in a lender.
Johnson added that broker feedback for Macquarie is consistently positive.
“Macquarie has been the number one in broker experience for a long time, and it comes down to how quickly and consistently they process deals,” Johnson said.
“However, it’s important to keep in mind that Macquarie are generally only focused on a certain type of borrower, but because of their broker experience and competitive products, they are able to dictate which deals (often the easier ones) that they write.”
In the small ADI segment, P&N Bank ranked highest for broker experience with a satisfaction rating of 92 per cent. MyState and Ubank both followed at 88 per cent.
Beyond Bank, Great Southern Bank, and Bank Australia each recorded satisfaction ratings of 87 per cent, rounding out the top performers in the category.
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