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New data has highlighted a persistent gap between lender usage and performance, with the largest banks still gaining the lion’s share of broker flows for commercial mortgages but falling behind when it comes to speed of service.
The latest Broker Pulse: Commercial Lending report by Agile Market Intelligence reveals that while the big four banks capture the majority of application volumes, smaller players are outperforming them on service metrics and processing speeds.
Based on a survey of 122 active commercial brokers conducted between 1 and 25 March 2026, the report provides a comprehensive breakdown of lender performance across commercial mortgages, business lending, and asset finance for the month of April.
Majors retain top position on broker flows
Competition for volume remains a battle between the major institutions, particularly in the commercial mortgage and business loan segments.
In commercial mortgages, ANZ widened its lead over its rivals, capturing applications from 32 per cent of brokers in April, up from 30.2 per cent the previous month. National Australia Bank (NAB) held second place at 28 per cent, while Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) and Westpac followed with 20 per cent and 16 per cent, respectively.
Non-bank lender La Trobe Financial rounded out the top five with 13 per cent.
In business lending, NAB solidified its top position with 22 per cent of broker lodgements, closely followed by ANZ at 21 per cent. CBA ranked third at 16 per cent, while mid-tier Judo Bank and non-bank Shift tied for fourth at 13 per cent.
Notably, Westpac saw a significant drop in this segment, falling to eighth place with only 9 per cent of broker usage. Nevertheless, the major bank is still gaining ground on the major banks when it comes to business lending. According to the bank’s most recent half-year results, overall business lending at Westpac was up 13 per cent to $120 billion, with lending to large institutions having jumped 23 per cent over 1H26 to $131 billion.
In asset finance, Westpac emerged as the market leader with 33 per cent of broker applications, edging out Metro Finance at 31 per cent and Angle Finance at 28 per cent.
Non-banks and mid-tiers lead on turnaround times
The report confirms that non-bank and mid-tier lenders continue to offer significantly faster processing speeds than the major banks.
In commercial mortgages, ORDE Financial was the fastest lender, with a rolling average turnaround of 3.8 days, followed by Macquarie at 4.3 days. Liberty Financial and Pepper Money both averaged 5.0 days.
Among the majors, CBA was the quickest at 5.4 days, while NAB trailed at 6.3 days, according to Broker Pulse.
Business loan processing remained the fastest segment of commercial loan turnarounds, dominated by non-bank lenders. Moula led the pack with a turnaround time of 0.8 days, while Dynamoney, Shift, Bizcap, and Lumi all held turnarounds within 2.1 days.
Major banks sat well outside the top 10, with times ranging from 5.4–6.9 days.
Asset finance decision speeds rose across the board, but non-banks maintained their lead with an average of 1.3 days. Autopay and Capital Finance were standout performers, reaching decisions in under one day.
Broker satisfaction favours non-majors
Satisfaction ratings for BDM support and credit assessment also skewed heavily toward non-major lenders.
ING and Metro Finance recorded the highest BDM satisfaction ratings at 94 per cent and 92 per cent, respectively. Judo Bank and Flexi Commercial followed at 89 per cent. Westpac was the highest-rated major for BDM support at 88 per cent, while CBA sat at the bottom of the big four with 77 per cent.
At the credit assessment stage, Suncorp Bank achieved a perfect 100 per cent favourability rating. St.George and ING followed closely at 94 per cent, with non-bank Flexi Commercial at 92 per cent. Westpac again led the majors with 90 per cent, while other major banks ranged between 81 per cent and 87 per cent.
Economic headwinds for SMEs
The results come as brokers play an increasingly vital role in helping SMEs navigate a volatile economic landscape.
Earlier this week, a new SME toolkit was launched by the MFAA and CAFBA, designed to help brokers assist clients with tightening cash flow and regulatory shifts.
Ongoing inflationary pressures and the upcoming “Payday Super” reforms have added complexity to business lending, leading more SME owners to seek out lenders that offer both speed of execution and high-quality BDM guidance.
[Related: New resource launched to help brokers support SME clients]
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