Mortgage Broker vs Bank: Who Actually Gets You the Better Deal?

A bank has one product shelf. Its staff are paid by that bank to sell that bank's loans. They can't offer you a Macquarie product or a Bankwest product, and they won't tell you when a competitor is cheaper for your scenario.

A mortgage broker sits between you and a panel of lenders. According to the Deloitte and MFAA Value of Mortgage and Finance Broking report using 2023–24 data, the average broker is accredited with 23 lenders, regularly settles with 8, and can access up to 65 through aggregator panels. You get shown 3 options on average, not one.

That’s the practical difference. A bank employee can recommend from that bank’s products. A broker can compare options across the lenders on their panel. If you’d like to know who you actually deal with at Blackk, that’s on our team page.

The legal difference matters because it changes the obligation of the person recommending the loan. 

Since 1 January 2021, every Australian mortgage broker has been bound by the Best Interests Duty under ASIC Regulatory Guide 273. Sections 158LB and 158LF of the National Consumer Credit Protection Act contain what's called the conflict priority rule. If a broker’s interests conflict with yours, the broker must give your interests priority. ASIC also expects the recommendation, the alternatives considered and the reasons behind it to be recorded and explained to you. 

Bank employees do not have the same statutory Best Interests Duty. They can recommend products offered by their employer, which is an important limitation to understand when comparing the two channels. When your bank manager recommends a variable rate with an offset, they’re recommending from their bank’s products rather than comparing that recommendation against the wider market.

The FBAA’s 2025 Consumer Access to Mortgages study found that 1 in 3 Australians were more likely to use a broker once they understood the legal protection involved. That lines up with the conversations we have with borrowers.

Most residential mortgage brokers are paid commissions by lenders, so borrowers usually do not pay them directly. Some brokers charge client fees, particularly for complex work, and any such fee should be disclosed in writing before you proceed. 

You'll hear the "brokers cost more" line thrown around a lot. Worth knowing that in CBA's 2026 Half Year Results, the bank told investors that its proprietary loans (the ones you get by walking into a branch) are roughly 20–30% more profitable to CBA than the broker-originated ones. CBA’s figures do not mean direct customers are charged a separate commission. They do show that loans originated through CBA’s proprietary channels are more profitable to the bank than broker-originated loans. 

Going directly to your bank is worth considering in a few common situations. 

You already bank there, your income is PAYG, and your file is vanilla. If you've been with the same bank for years, have clean statements and a stable salary, your existing bank may offer a competitive rate without much fuss.

You want a niche product only that bank offers. Some banks have specific package benefits, offset structures or professional pricing for certain occupations. If you've already identified the product you want and it's exclusive, go direct.

You're doing a simple rate-match on your existing loan. Ring the retention team. Ask for a repricing. Banks will often drop your rate to keep you, and this takes 15 minutes.

Very small top-ups. If you're borrowing another $20,000 against a loan you already have, running a full broker application isn't proportional. Ask your bank.

First home buyers. Low-deposit schemes, LMI waivers, guarantor structures, property-price caps and stamp duty concessions.There are 8 or 9 moving parts, and one lender's policy differs from the next. This is broker territory.

Self-employed or non-PAYG income. Some lenders will accept one year of tax returns, some want two, some will use BAS statements, some won't. Getting matched to the right lender the first time is the difference between approved and declined. Our self-employed home loans page has the detail on which lenders do what.

Refinancing when your bank won't move on rate. If you've asked for a repricing and got a token 0.05% cut, refinancing to a lender may produce a worthwhile saving, but the result depends on your balance, rate difference, remaining term and switching costs. 

Construction or bridging. Only a handful of lenders have the appetite and process to do these well. Picking the wrong one costs you months.

You've been declined once. Every application shows on your credit file. A broker matches you to a lender likely to say yes before the second hit lands.

On any given day, for a vanilla borrower, the rate is roughly the same whether you go through a broker or straight to the bank. Anyone who tells you brokers always get a lower rate is selling you something.

Where the gap opens up is when your file is non-standard, or when you need someone to keep repricing your loan every year. Banks don't chase you to give you a better rate. Brokers should.

One thing worth understanding. An interest rate cut announced in the media doesn't always land on your loan. Banks often adjust their honeymoon pricing or reprice existing customers to claw back margin, so the headline cut may not translate to your monthly payment. The bigger win is structural. An offset account, voluntary repayments while rates are low, a buffer built during good times. That's rate-cut-proofing, and it beats chasing 0.05%.

Before engaging a broker, including Blackk, check the following. 

1. Search the broker or business through ASIC’s Professional Registers Search.

2. Confirm that the business holds an Australian credit licence or that the broker is authorised to act under one. Their credit guide should identify the relevant licensee and licence number.

3. If you cannot confirm their authority through the register, credit guide or licensee, do not proceed until they provide evidence that they are authorised to offer credit assistance.

4. Check they're a member of the MFAA or FBAA. Both bodies have their own conduct standards on top of the law.

5. Ask how many lenders they actually placed loans with last quarter, rather than focusing only on the size of their panel. A broker may have access to dozens of lenders but regularly use only a small number of them.

6. Ask for their commission disclosure in writing. Any broker worth using will send it without hesitating.

You can verify our Brisbane broker team and licence details the same way.

If you're unsure whether a broker or your own bank is the right starting point, book a free 20-minute call. We'll look at your borrowing power, your goals and your existing setup, and we'll tell you honestly if we think your bank will get you there faster. No pressure to proceed. No follow-up sales calls.