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According to the 17th annual Third Party Lending Report, 90 per cent of residential brokers see product policy as the most important criterion in choosing a lender. This is followed by turnaround times, credit assessment, and BDMs – all rated at 89 per cent.
Yet beneath this year’s snapshot, a longer-term shift is emerging. BDMs and credit assessment staff have seen the strongest rise in broker importance ratings of any category over the past seven years. Both up by around 7 percentage points since 2019, as lenders continue to lift their operational and technology performance across the board.
The report compiles and analyses the findings of the Third-Party Lending Survey, undertaken by Agile Market Intelligence between 17 February and 30 April 2026. A total of 1,261 mortgage, finance, and commercial brokers were asked to evaluate the performance of lenders they have worked with over the past 12 months, rating each across 16 attributes spanning five categories:
- Personnel: BDMs, call centre support, credit assessment staff
- Products: product policy, product pricing, product range
- Speed: turnaround times
- Support: broker communication and training, channel commitment, settlement, post-settlement support
- Technology: application lodgement, broker portal, digital tools, document submission, upfront valuations.
Respondents were asked to rate each attribute by importance from 1 (not important at all) to 5 (extremely important).
Macquarie ranked first overall with a score of 88 per cent, extending its run at the top to six consecutive years.
Macquarie led the field in turnaround times, with a score of 96 per cent and also topped the rankings for product policy, BDM quality, and credit assessment – the four attributes brokers weigh most heavily.
Bankwest finished closely behind across all four metrics, narrowing the gap with Macquarie this year and reinforcing its position as the strongest challenger for the top spot.
Among the major banks, Westpac led with a rating of 78 per cent.
P&N Bank topped the small ADIs and mutual banks with a score of 80 per cent.
Pepper Money led the large non-banks with 75 per cent, and MA Money led the small non-banks with 80 per cent.
“When you look at how importance ratings have shifted since 2019, personnel stands out,” Michael Johnson, head of Agile Market Intelligence, said.
“BDMs and credit assessment have each climbed around 7 percentage points, while product policy and turnaround times have remained relatively stable.
“Brokers have always needed the product to be right and the deal to move fast. Increasingly, it’s the people behind that process who determine where their business goes.”
The full, interactive Third-Party Lending Report can be obtained from Agile Market Intelligence.
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