Home Loan Repricing: Ask Your Bank for a Rate Review

Prepare the Rate-Review Evidence

Confirm the client’s authority to act and assemble the current loan terms before asking for a rate review. Record the scope of that authority, including whether you can request pricing or also accept a change.

Collect the following evidence:

• The balance, current interest rate and remaining loan term for each split.
• Annual, package and account fees, including any fee linked to an offset account.
• Loan purpose and repayment type, such as owner-occupied principal and interest.
• The property value used for pricing and the resulting loan-to-value ratio (LVR).
• Features the client uses, including offset, redraw and extra repayments.
• A comparable available offer with its eligibility conditions and fees.

LVR is the loan balance divided by the property value, expressed as a percentage. If a lower LVR is part of your request, identify the valuation basis and ask whether the bank accepts it for pricing. An online estimate doesn’t establish the bank’s valuation.

The mortgage loyalty tax is a possible gap between an existing borrower’s rate and a comparable available offer. It doesn’t mean every established customer pays more. Compare the same LVR band, loan purpose and repayment type before calling a difference a pricing disadvantage.

A cheaper advertised basic loan also needs a feature comparison with a loan carrying offset facilities. Check whether the client qualifies for the advertised offer and whether its ongoing fees remove part of the rate saving. Keep a copy of the offer’s conditions with the request.

Request Repricing From the Current Bank

Send a concise factual request through the bank’s documented customer or broker channel. Moneysmart’s switching guidance recommends asking the current lender for a better deal before switching and comparing its response with other loans.

Follow this request sequence:

1. Identify the authorised client and relevant loan splits through the secure channel.
2. State the current rate and the comparable offer’s rate, fees and eligibility conditions.
3. Ask for the bank’s best available variable-rate pricing while retaining the features the client needs.
4. Request the proposed rate, effective timing and any changed terms in writing.
5. Save the request reference and the expected response timeframe.

For example, a hypothetical request could say: “Please review the variable rate on this owner-occupied principal-and-interest loan. The balance is $500,000 and the current rate is 6.40%. A comparable offer is 6.00%, subject to its stated eligibility conditions. Please confirm your best available rate, any fees and whether the existing offset facility stays.”

Include the actual comparison evidence when sending that request. A claim that the client has received an approved offer needs an approved offer behind it. An advertised rate alone doesn’t establish approval.

Macquarie Rate Reviews

Macquarie documents a customer route in its variable-rate review instructions. In Online Banking or the Mobile Banking app, select the home loan, then “I want to”, “Manage home loan” and “Review my rate”.

Macquarie says the app must be up to date for that option to appear. It generally sends the outcome through an app or Online Banking notification within three business days. A review doesn’t guarantee a reduction.

This is a customer instruction. Where you act as the broker, use your authorised broker channel or have the client complete the documented request themselves.

ANZ Retention Requests

Start an ANZ home loan retention team enquiry through ANZ’s official home-loan contact options. ANZ provides a callback option for customers considering whether their loan still meets their needs. Ask the verified contact to route the pricing review to the appropriate team.

If you’re acting through a broker channel, use the contact within ANZ’s authenticated broker service. Avoid phone numbers from forums or unofficial retention directories. A rate-review request also doesn’t require you to submit a discharge authority as a negotiation tactic.

Fixed-Rate Splits

A negotiated variable-rate reduction is different from ending a fixed-rate contract. Identify each split before making the request and keep any fixed-rate change separate.

Macquarie says customers cannot request a review of their existing fixed rate. It allows review of the variable revert rate at specified stages around fixed-term expiry, depending on the loan’s BSB. Follow its published conditions for that loan.

For a fixed split, obtain the bank’s terms and any break-cost quote before deciding to change it. A lower advertised rate doesn’t show whether breaking the contract saves money.

Compare the Response With Refinancing

Compare the repriced loan with refinancing over the same remaining term and the client’s expected holding period. Use the offered rate and full fees, with the same assumptions about repayments and offset balances.

Include discharge and registration costs, new-loan fees and any applicable lenders mortgage insurance. Account for changed package fees and lost features. A lower repayment caused by extending the term needs a separate total-interest comparison.

A Fictional Loyalty-Tax Comparison

Assume a $500,000 balance with a current variable rate of 6.40%. A comparable refinance offer is 6.00%, while the current bank offers to reprice to 6.10% with no change fee. Assume matching features and ongoing fees, plus $1,000 in total switching costs.

The initial gap between 6.40% and 6.00% is 0.40 percentage points. On a constant $500,000 balance, that is $2,000 a year in interest. Repricing closes most of that gap, saving $1,500 a year on the same simplified basis.

The remaining refinance advantage is 0.10 percentage points, or $500 a year before switching costs. The $1,000 switching cost takes two years to recover. Compare refinancing against the improved 6.10% rate, because that is the client’s available stay option.

In this simplified example, staying for one year favours repricing by $500 after switching costs. Holding for four years favours refinancing by $1,000. These figures assume unchanged rates and a constant balance, with no offset benefit or repayment reduction modelled.

Use the refinance calculator to model the actual declining balance and switching costs. Repricing wins when its retained features and lower change costs outweigh the refinance saving over the client’s holding period. Refinancing wins when its extra savings exceed the costs of moving and the client meets the new lender’s criteria.

Confirm the New Terms Took Effect

Check the written offer against the account after the agreed change takes effect, then record the client’s decision. An acknowledgement that a review was submitted is only evidence of the request.

Complete the verification in order:

1. Save the lender’s written rate, discount structure and effective timing, including any expiry or product change.
2. Confirm the client accepts the proposed terms within your authority to act.
3. Check the account’s applied rate and any repayment notice against the written offer.
4. Confirm the agreed features and fees remain, then retain the evidence with the client’s decision.

A rate reduction doesn’t always mean the scheduled repayment changes immediately. Ask the bank how the minimum repayment is calculated and whether an existing higher repayment remains in place.

If the applied rate differs from the agreed rate, send the lender the written offer and account evidence through the same verified channel. Request correction and confirmation of any interest adjustment. Close the review when the account reflects the agreed terms or the file records the unresolved issue and its next action.