Finance facts

Stats aren’t everyone’s cup of eucalyptus

Australian Finance Industry Statistics

74.1 %

Percentage of home loans facilitated by brokers

Source: MFAA   March 2024

That’s a record high. In March 2020 it was 52.1%

8,973

Number of mortgage broker businesses

Source: IBISWorld   2024

In 2012 there were less than 5,000

600+

Number of non-bank lenders

Not all these lenders offer home loans

Includes 36 Credit Unions and Building Societies

95

Number of banks (Aussie & Foreign)

Source: Australian Banking Association June 2023

In 2004 there were 51

4

Australia’s biggest banks

ANZ, CBA, NAB, & Westpac

In 2004 there were 4

$2.02trillion

Value of mortgage debt outstanding in Nov 2021

(owner-occupied 1,355 billion + investor 669 billion)

Source: Statista   11 November 2022

In 2011 it was 1.211 trillion

(owner-occupied 825 billion + investor 386 billion)

93.5%

Percentage that the Big 4 hold in home loans

Source: ABC News   10 May 2022

AUD 1.87 trillion of AUD 2 trillion total housing loans

76.9%

Market share of Big 4 mortgage lending in 2021

Source: Statista   2022

CBA 26.04%, WES 22.4%, NAB 14.42%, ANZ 14.05% In 2020 the combined total was 77.8%

What does it all mean?

Disclaimer

Not all statistics are lies, or damned lies. Far from it. All the stats above have been taken from reliable and trusted sources. However, please be aware that it's a moving landscape and all these figures are subject to change. Therefore, this page is monitored and updated on a regular basis.

Analysis

There are plenty of experts that provide detailed, in depth analysis about financial data. We’re not here to compete with them. This is just our quick overview of the current state of lending in Australia.

Overall, the stats indicate a healthy industry that’s experiencing strong growth. Lots of lenders with lots of products generates competition which is good for all borrowers. The figures also demonstrate a growing trend by borrowers to engage brokers rather than approach lenders directly. This is hardly surprising given the plethora of lending products that are on offer. The tight regulation and high standard of the broking industry are other compelling factors. Increased use of brokers in Australia is consistent with similar trends in many other countries.

One stat that is surprising is the second last one. Everyone is aware that the Big 4 dominate the Australian home loan market, but even we were shocked to discover that they held a staggering 93.5% of all residential mortgages. Here’s the link to the full article:

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-05-10/big-four-banks-profits-home-loans-mortgage-debt-interest-rates/101051100

A check of some popular comparison sites such as finder, ratecity, canstar, mozo, and compare the market reveals that the Big 4 rarely grace their top 10 lists, yet they still hold the lion's share of the home loan market. The last stat indicates that this is slowly changing. It shows that the Big 4 are currently writing slightly less than 80% of home loans and that percentage is steadily dropping. But even close to 80% is quite amazing!

In other words, despite the presence of hundreds of bank and non-bank lenders and a quantum leap in broker numbers, the Big 4 still manage to write a whopping 4 out of every 5 Aussie home loans.

Conclusion

The introduction of many new lenders with a raft of innovative and competitive products plus the surge in popularity of brokers has had only minimal impact on the dominance of the Big 4. For a standard loan there are many reasons why most borrowers and brokers still lean towards them. However, there are also many good reasons to search further afield.

The more your circumstances vary from the standard loan profile, the less likely it becomes that a major bank, or even a second tier lender, will approve your loan. In some cases, just finding any lender that's willing to consider your application can be a challenge. For all non-standard loan scenarios your best option by far is a specialist broker.

Standard loans

We refer to standard loans a lot on this site. It’s not an official term, it’s simply a title we use to describe the most common loans, which are:

The purchase of a residential property in a metropolitan area by a person or couple with stable employment, good income, clean credit history, and borrowing no more than 80% of the property’s value.

If you do not meet ALL of these criteria, your loan is most likely drifting into non standard territory. Quite often, the smallest deviation from "standard" can trigger a negative response to your application by some lenders.

Standard broker

Standard broker is another term we use a fair bit. It’s not an official title either. It’s the name we apply to brokers that work exclusively, or almost exclusively, with standard loans.

Please don’t misinterpret “standard” as inferior. The Australian broking industry sets the bar at a dizzying height. Every broker is required by law to be licenced. We must also achieve and maintain high levels of education, training, professionalism, and integrity.

There are very strict guidelines in place that govern how we run our businesses, the services which we provide, how we provide them, and how we charge for them (if at all). Broking has gone from an “anything goes” playing field pre 2010 to one of the most tightly regulated industries in the country. In many aspects, we’re more firmly regulated than the lenders who provide the actual loans. Dealing with any licenced broker in Australia places you in very safe hands.

Some of the finest brokers in the land are standard brokers.

However, there are loans that fall outside the rather narrow standard loan paramaters.

When you need more than a standard loan
you need more than a standard broker

Time to contact

Call, chat, or write anytime at all.

After hours, weekends, even public holidays,

We’re here for you.

Site map, © build by Aaron Knight, © design by Jack Silber

Green

A green workspace is more than our goal, it’s our reality

Our communications

  • Like the good old days, we like to speak with our clients before starting on their application, but we don’t pollute the environment by travelling to meetings, we chat online.
  • We don’t pollute your personal space either. We never cold call. And we don’t distribute annoying marketing spam, not even electronically.

Our documentation

  • All outbound forms are fillable PDFs, we never send physical docs.
  • For inbound forms that require signing we accept electronic signatures. No printing, scanning, or consumables required.
  • For those people who still prefer to complete paper forms, we only require the signing pages of multi-page documents. And our application form if printed is only one A4 page.
  • Please note that some lenders still insist that we submit hard copy of their applications and/or mortgage docs, with “wet” signatures. Whenever possible, we use lenders that don’t insist on hard copy docs.

Our office

  • Way back, when faxes ruled, we were using paperless software faxes.
  • These days our office has no fax machines, no printers, no copiers, no scanners. That also means no inks, no toners, and less electricity used.
  • We’re 99% paperless; rare handwritten notes are the only exception.

Our stance

  • We’re not climate activists, we’re not trying to impress, we’re simply a small business which realised that maintaining an environmentally friendly workspace is not a sacrifice. Minimising the amount of equipment and consumables we use, and reducing how much we travel, actually helps us to improve efficiency and cut costs at the same time.

Range

Our lenders and products

3fb specialises in non-standard loans. For that we require a lending panel with a much broader range than the “usual suspects”. We have a carefully chosen mix of institutional and private lenders.

Some of their names may not be familiar, but rest assured that we only deal with reputable, accredited lenders. Fortunately for Aussie borrowers, every lender in this country, from the Big 4 down to the smallest private funder, is subject to the same strict banking rules and regulations.

We constantly monitor the ever changing financial landscape to ensure that our lenders and their products are up to the task of servicing the demanding needs of our clients.

Aside from the different loan types featured on this site, we can also assist with other specialised products; for example, SMSF loans, jumbo loans, equipment leasing, complex company and trust structures, and much more.

Standard loans more

Quite often we hear, “I don’t have any issues, I just need a “standard home loan” at a good rate. Can you help me?”

The answer is a resounding, “Yes”.

We actually have a wide array of very competitive products that are perfect for the “standard home loan” borrower. We just don’t market in this space because nearly everyone else does. Therefore, we focus on promoting the loans that most other brokers don’t do.

Expertise

A combination of knowledge, skill, and experience

When operating in the realm of specialised lending it’s vital to have the right blend of lenders and products. But that’s only the start.

Some of these lenders may not be household names, but they don’t belong to some obscure, secret society either. Every broker can access them.

Our ace in the hole is having the expertise to put the deals together. Quite often they’re complex and require a good deal of creativity in order to work through multiple issues. These deals require a finely balanced mix of knowledge, skill, experience, and determination to get them across the line.

It’s testimony to our expertise and high success rate that many brokers (which only swim in the “standard” end of the loan pool) refer their more “exotic” loan scenarios to us.

Broker referrals have been a mainstay of our business for over 20 years. They keep coming back because we deliver.

We have a long, proud history and thousands of satisfied clients.

History

  • It all began when Jack Silber commenced work at EFG as a finance broker in 1999
  • He went out on his own under the banner ”Flag Financial Services” in 2002
  • A member of Finance Brokers Association of Australia FBAA 102961 since 2007
  • Flag Financial Pty Ltd ABN 23 138 375 489 was incorporated in 2009
  • Flag has held an Australian Credit Licence ACL 390996 since their inception in 2010
  • A member of Australian Financial Complaints Authority AFCA 45378 since 2018
    (previously COSL/CIO)
  • 3fb is the latest evolution, the new face of Flag Finance launched in 2023

Availability

At 3fb we firmly believe that finance broking is a service industry. A significant part of great service is being available when you need us.

We realise that you may run a business, work odd shifts, raise a family, or simply don’t have a lot of time on your hands between 9 to 5 on weekdays.

That’s why you can call, chat, or write to us at any time that suits you.

After hours weekends even public holidays

We’re here for you.

If we don’t answer immediately, our average response time outside normal business hours is typically within 2 hours.

Thankyou

We do more than just thank you for a referral. We pay you.

Our 2 step process is quick, simple, and very rewarding.

It only takes 30 seconds to fill out our referral form below.

The minimum “reward” is $200, maximum $3,000.
The most common rewards range from $500 to $1,000.

3fb Referral Rewards Form

    Step 1 : Referred party – must be an actual person

    Step 2 : Referrer - your details so we know who to pay

    I acknowledge that I have read and agree to the terms and conditions of the 3fb Referral Rewards promotion

    Optional

    Step 3: Comments

    3fb Referral Rewards Promotion

    Terms and conditions

    To be eligible for the “referrer reward” the following conditions must be met:

    In these terms and conditions, Flag Financial Pty Ltd t/a Fast Forward Finance Brokers may be referred to as “us”, “we” or “3fb”.

    1. The referrer cannot be a party to the loan; neither as a borrower, nor as a director or trustee of the borrowing entity, nor as a guarantor.
    2. The referrer must be a natural person and must personally know the referred party. Family members, friends, associates, and work colleges, are all acceptable.
    3. The intended loan recipient may be an individual, business, company or trust, however the referred party nominated in Step 1 MUST be a natural person.
    4. Any loan type is eligible provided that the loan amount is $250,000 or more.
    5. The referral must be made via the form that appears on the “about us” page of this website. Step 1 and Step 2 must be completed. Step 3 is optional.
    6. A confirmation email will be sent to the referrer acknowledging their referral and confirming the date of their referral.
    7. A further email will be sent to the referrer if the referred party makes contact with us.
    8. If the referred party fails to contact us within 90 days from the date of the referral, the referral will become inactive.
    9. If the referred party fails to proceed with a loan application within 180 days from the date of the referral, the referral will become inactive.
    10. A referred party may be referred a maximum of two times, regardless of who the referrer may be.
    11. There is no limit to the number of referrals that a referrer can make, provided that the referred parties are known to the referrer and have expressed interest in obtaining a loan.
    12. No referral will be accepted after the referred party has made contact with 3fb. Retrospective referrals will not be accepted under any circumstances.
    13. The amount paid to the referrer is determined by loan type, the amount of the loan, and other variables. All amounts paid are inclusive of GST
    14. We will notify the referrer if the referred party proceeds to a formal application and provide an approximate value for the referrer reward.
    15. We reserve the right to vary or even cancel the referral reward should the eventual loan amount decrease by more than 10% from the amount originally applied for.
    16. We reserve the right to vary or even cancel the referral reward should there be any substantial variation to the information provided by the referred party in their initial application.
    17. Should the referred party’s loan settle the referrer will be contacted and a request will be made for their bank account details.
    18. The referral reward will be deposited into the referrer’s nominated account within 28 days of settlement of the loan.
    19. Due to privacy laws, no other details about a referred party’s loan will be revealed to a referrer.
    20. Any information provided to us by the referrer or the referred party will never be used for marketing purposes by us or any third party. We never sell or otherwise share any information provided through this promotion.
    21. Under no circumstances do we ever cold call potential borrowers. Any referred party must initiate contact with us. This is to protect uninterested parties from being pestered by us as a result of unscrupulous referrers flooding our system with bogus referrals.
    22. All decisions regarding referral reward payments shall remain at the sole discretion of 3fb.

    Small print

    Where we operate In every state and territory of Australia
    Where we are 32 Galeen Drive Burleigh Waters Qld 4220
    For your safety Details of our internal dispute resolution (IDR) scheme can be found in our credit guide.
    Our external dispute resolution scheme (EDR) is with AFCA.
    Our Professional Indemnity Insurer is Allianz.
    What’s most reassuring is that in 23 years the only contact we’ve had with our insurers has been to pay our annual premiums. We’ve never had a complaint
    Privacy Policy The Privacy Act (1988) requires every applicant to Sign a Privacy Statement. You can find ours here
    Credit Guide It is an ASIC requirement that every applicant receives a Credit Guide. You can find ours here
    Application Form We like to speak with you to discuss your needs and expectations before rushing you to complete an application. That’s why you won’t find one anywhere on this site.