Broker guide
Business Loan Offset Accounts: Broker Guide
Check an ANZ business offset account against the facility, legal borrower, ownership, balance rules and evidence before submission.
- Published
- Updated
A business offset account holds cash separately from an eligible business loan and uses that cash to reduce the loan’s interest charge. It works only when the lender accepts the facility and account structure and activates the link. A business transaction account alone doesn’t create an offset.
For brokers, the assessment starts with the legal borrower and the precise loan product. The amount of cash the business keeps between payments then decides how much use it gets from the feature.
Confirm the Business Loan and Linked Account Structure
Record the business purpose, legal borrower, facility and rate type before choosing the linked account. Identify which loan portion needs an offset, especially where the facility has several accounts or repayment structures.
A loan secured by a director’s home can still fund the company’s business. Security describes what supports repayment. Purpose describes where the borrowed money goes, and the borrower is the person or entity that owes it.
Ask for the loan offer and an account statement or proposed account-opening details. Match product names and account numbers. An account shown beside the loan in online banking proves access to both accounts, not an active interest-offset arrangement.
| Arrangement | What happens to the money | What proves the treatment |
|---|---|---|
| Offset account | Cash stays in a separate deposit account and reduces interest on the linked eligible loan | Offset terms and confirmation of the loan-account link |
| Interest-bearing business account | The bank pays deposit interest | Deposit interest terms, without a loan offset |
| Redraw | Extra payments reduce loan principal and can be withdrawn under the loan’s redraw rules | Loan repayment and redraw terms |
| Overdraft | The business draws on an approved credit limit through an account | Overdraft terms and debit-interest calculation |
| Cash-management arrangement | Funds move between accounts or earn deposit interest according to the arrangement | Written terms stating any loan-interest effect |
Keep the home-loan assessment separate. The residential offset policy guide explains that route, while this assessment follows the business-purpose facility.
Verify Facility Eligibility and Offset Terms
Use the exact product terms and current amendments to establish eligibility, then match them to your client’s proposed facility. A lender’s commercial account rules don’t establish another lender’s rules.
ANZ’s business account terms, checked in October 2026, set these Business Offset conditions.
| Condition | ANZ Business Offset Treatment |
|---|---|
| Loan | ANZ Business Loan (Variable Rate), or another loan ANZ accepts at its discretion |
| Security | Fully secured by property ANZ accepts, unless ANZ allows otherwise |
| Offset | 100%, capped at the lower of account balance and linked loan balance |
| Daily calculation | Eligible balance multiplied by loan rate, divided by 365 |
| Balance threshold | Positive end-of-day balance from 12 September 2026 |
| Excluded balance | Amount above the linked loan balance doesn’t increase the offset |
The September amendment removes the previous $5,000 threshold. Earlier balances through 11 September 2026 retain that threshold. ANZ Business Mortgage Loan Offset is a separate legacy product, no longer for sale.
ANZ’s Target Market Determination, effective 12 September 2026, confirms the current Business Offset route. Distribution is through ANZ Commercial, ANZ National Business Centre or ANZ Private. Brokers can refer clients, but only authorised ANZ staff decide to issue the account.
Treat the proposed borrower’s account as conditional on ANZ’s application process and facility decision. A discretionary extension to another loan isn’t automatic eligibility. Identify each proposed linked loan portion in the referral, including any portion outside the named variable-rate product.
ANZ’s transaction fees booklet, checked in October 2026, lists a $15 monthly Business Offset account service fee. It includes five monthly ANZ Transactions, with a separate allowance of five cheque deposits or manual merchant deposits. Additional transaction fees are $5 per listed transaction type.
Count the client’s intended transactions under the booklet’s definitions, including electronic payments. Separate account charges from loan fees and any other service charges. The ANZ business loan guide covers the broader facility assessment.
Match the Legal Borrower and Account Owner
Compare the loan’s full legal name with the proposed account name before treating the structure as workable. Under ANZ’s business account terms, checked in October 2026, both names must match exactly.
A trading name can hide a different owner. An account operated by a director personally isn’t the company’s account. A guarantee or permission to make payments also doesn’t make that person the borrower or account owner.
Use the following checks to prepare the entity records. These checks identify the questions for the application, without implying that every entity type qualifies for every offset product.
| Borrower structure | Records to reconcile |
|---|---|
| Company | Full registered name, company extract, ownership details and account-opening authority |
| Trustee borrowing for a trust | Trustee identity, trust deed, amendments and the capacity shown on the loan and account |
| Partnership | Partnership agreement or ownership records, partners’ identities and the bank’s required account title |
| Sole trader | Individual legal name, registered trading name and personal identification |
| Guarantor or authorised user | Role in the loan or account, with authority recorded separately from ownership |
ANZ’s business identification guidance, checked in October 2026, asks for people connected to the business. They include directors, trustees, beneficial owners and account signatories. A beneficial owner is a person who ultimately owns or controls the entity.
Collect the ownership chain and the authority for each person who will operate the account. Where ownership runs through another company or trust, identify the individuals behind that structure. Match bank requests to current documents, including changes of trustee or director.
Fictional Borrower: Which Entity Holds the Cash?
Harbour Electrical Pty Ltd wants a loan for business premises and holds its trading cash in a company account. Its director, Mia, proposes to keep some cash in her personal account instead. The broker records those as different account owners and seeks a company-owned linked structure.
If Harbour Electrical Pty Ltd borrows as trustee for Harbour Trading Trust, the trust capacity becomes part of the naming question. The broker supplies the deed and trustee records. A sole-trader version of the same business instead needs the individual’s legal identity reconciled with the trading name.
These are different applications, even when the business name and cash balance look similar. None of the examples establishes approval. A company borrowing for a residential purpose has a separate assessment in the guide to home loans in a company name.
Test Business Use and Cash Behaviour
Assess the cash expected to remain in the account after wages, supplier bills and other scheduled payments. A large deposit that leaves the next day contributes less than cash retained across the interest period.
Build a daily balance forecast from business statements and the payment calendar. Record incoming receipts, payment dates and the amount needed for operations. Stress-test delayed customer payments so the forecast doesn’t assume the business can always retain its opening balance.
Fictional Calculation: Payroll Reduces the Balance
Assume an approved $400,000 loan has an active 100% offset and uses a 365-day daily calculation. The illustrative rate is 7.3% a year, not a lender quotation. Cash stays at $50,000 for ten days, then falls to $10,000 for twenty days after payroll and supplier payments.
| Period | Daily offset balance | Calculation | Illustrative interest reduction |
|---|---|---|---|
| First ten days | $50,000 | $50,000 multiplied by 7.3%, divided by 365, multiplied by 10 | $100.00 |
| Next twenty days | $10,000 | $10,000 multiplied by 7.3%, divided by 365, multiplied by 20 | $40.00 |
| Thirty-day total | Changing balance | Sum of both periods | $140.00 before account and loan costs |
Holding $50,000 for all thirty days would produce $300.00 under these assumptions. Using the opening balance alone therefore overstates the illustration by $160.00. Actual posting dates, rounding and the facility’s own terms determine the statement result.
Compare the projected reduction with the account costs and any different loan costs for the proposed structure. Also test whether the business can make its usual payments through the account without extra fees or access restrictions undermining the benefit.
Keep business and private movements distinguishable in the file. Record why money enters or leaves the account, including director funding and withdrawals for private use. Refer deductions, distributions and other tax or accounting conclusions to the client’s qualified advisers.
Document the Facility and Confirm the Link
Put the facility decision and account-link evidence beside the credit submission, so the recommendation rests on the proposed structure. Retain the following records.
- Borrower identity and capacity, account owner and operating authorities.
- Business purpose, loan product, rate type and each relevant loan portion.
- Current offset terms, effective amendments and the lender’s facility confirmation.
- Business financial evidence and the daily cash forecast, including scheduled withdrawals.
- Account and loan costs used in the comparison.
- Outstanding borrower-specific questions, the person resolving them and the lender’s response.
For an ANZ referral, use the distribution route in its 12 September 2026 Target Market Determination. Attach the legal names and proposed facility details so authorised staff can assess the account alongside the loan.
ANZ’s business account terms, checked in October 2026, allow up to five business days for linkage after eligibility is satisfied. Offset starts after linkage.
Obtain confirmation of the linked loan account number and activation date. Then reconcile the first relevant statement against the eligible daily balances and interest calculation.
If the reduction doesn’t match, request a calculation breakdown. Supply the account numbers and activation date with the transaction history.
Confirm the corrected calculation before the business relies on the offset in its cash forecast. Repeat the linkage check when refinancing or changing the facility, because an account visible in banking can outlast the interest arrangement.
