Bank of China Australia Home Loan Lending Policy 2026

A Bank of China home loan in Australia is assessed against the Australian lender’s borrower, income and residential security requirements. Start with the client’s circumstances, then match the requested loan to Australian product documents and a scenario-specific policy response.

Bank of China’s Australian home loan page, as at October 2026, covers owner-occupied purchases, investment purchases and refinancing. Other purposes need the bank’s approval. A product listing or advertised rate doesn’t establish that a particular borrower qualifies.

Confirm the Australian Scenario

Record who is borrowing, where they live and what Australian property secures the loan before selecting a Bank of China policy source. The lender named in the owner-occupier schedule effective 1 October 2026 is Bank of China (Australia) Limited. Its Australian credit licence number is 287322.

Build the initial scenario around these facts.

• Each applicant’s citizenship, residency status and current country of residence.
• Any visa subclass and expiry date, alongside the identity evidence for that applicant.
• Employment type, employer location and the currency of each income source.
• Purchase, refinance, construction or another proposed loan purpose.
• Owner-occupied or investment use, requested product and repayment structure.
• Property address, type and purchase price, plus the proposed loan amount and deposit source.

Treat residency and income location as separate questions. An Australian resident can earn overseas income, and an overseas resident can hold Australian assets. The October owner-occupier schedule specifies Australian income assessment, so it doesn’t establish how foreign income or an overseas applicant qualifies.

Use the temporary resident mortgage guide to organise visa and residency evidence. Apply Bank of China’s Australian response to this file. New Zealand, Hong Kong and mainland China products have their own lending rules, even when the bank’s name looks familiar.

Verify Income and Deposit Evidence

Match the evidence to the income you intend to use and trace the money available for settlement. Bank of China’s Discount Plus target market determination dated 6 May 2026 requires regular income for the loan term and compliance with its credit assessment requirements.

For the income review, organise the documents below around the client’s actual earnings. This table is a preparation guide. The bank’s scenario-specific documentation instructions determine the required periods and any additional evidence.

Income source	Evidence to organise	Question the evidence must answer
Employee salary	Payslips, employment terms and salary credits	Does the ongoing wage match the amount entered in the application?
Casual work, overtime or commission	Pay history and employer evidence explaining variable earnings	Which earnings recur, and which are one-off payments?
Self-employed income	Personal and business tax returns, financial statements and current business records	Which entity earns the income, and how much reaches the applicant?
Rent or overseas income	Lease or income records, receipt statements and currency details	Who receives the money, where is it earned and how is it paid?

Keep variable earnings separate from base salary. For a business owner, separate salary from business profit so the same money isn’t counted twice. Record existing debts and household expenses alongside income, because repayment capacity depends on what remains after those commitments.

For the deposit, show the opening balance, incoming transfers and available balance in the accounts providing settlement funds. Connect a gift to the donor and transfer record. For money from a property sale, reconcile the sale proceeds after debt repayment and selling costs.

Identify borrowed deposit funds and their repayment obligation. For overseas funds, retain the transfer trail and conversion amount. A remittance service or deposit account doesn’t establish that those funds meet the home loan’s deposit rules.

Prepare a funds-to-complete calculation showing the purchase price and costs, less the proposed loan and money already paid. Keep savings evidence separate from proof of the balance available today. Any question about an unusual deposit source goes to the home lending team with that evidence attached through its approved channel.

Check Security and Loan Conditions

Match Bank of China’s product conditions to the property and requested repayment structure before treating the scenario as suitable. Its investment schedule effective 1 October 2026 has pricing bands at a loan-to-value ratio (LVR) of 80% or less and above 80% up to 90%.

LVR compares the loan with the security value used by the lender. Those published bands describe pricing categories. They don’t establish a universal maximum for every applicant or property, and the schedule makes approval subject to lending criteria.

Record the property’s address and postcode, dwelling type, land size and intended use. Include any unusual feature, such as commercial use, incomplete construction or a small apartment. Ask the bank to assess that specific security and confirm the valuation basis before relying on a proposed LVR.

In a hypothetical file, a $560,000 loan against a $700,000 accepted security value has an LVR of 80%. Using $680,000 as the accepted value produces an LVR of about 82.4% on the same loan. The second calculation changes the pricing band and can change the mortgage insurance question, even though the purchase price stays the same.

The Discount Plus determination describes a maximum term of 30 years and an initial interest-only option of one to five years. It states that construction or renovation loans use interest-only repayments during construction. Lenders mortgage insurance (LMI) is payable under that product when the loan exceeds 80% of the security value.

These are Discount Plus product features, not permission to approve a construction file or an interest-only request. Set out the reason for interest-only repayments and how the borrower will meet principal and interest repayments afterwards. Confirm any construction conditions against the proposed contract and property.

A target market determination describes the customers a product is designed for. The bank’s individual credit assessment still decides eligibility, and the approved loan agreement governs the borrower’s terms.

Escalate the Policy Question

Send Bank of China’s home lending team the exact scenario and policy question that changes your lending decision. Its contact page dated 25 July 2025, still listed as at October 2026, gives hmlendingteam.au@bankofchina.com and 02 9212 7288 for home loan products.

Keep the enquiry specific enough for the team to answer without reconstructing the file.

1. Name the Australian product and attach the relevant source title, URL and effective date.
2. State the applicant’s residency, employment and income currency, plus the loan purpose and requested repayments.
3. Give the property details, proposed loan, estimated LVR and deposit source.
4. Identify the exact decision needed, such as treatment of a particular visa, variable earnings, overseas funds or unusual security.
5. Ask for the applicable documentation instructions and any conditions attached to the answer.

For example, a useful question asks whether a named visa subclass and Australian employment contract fit the proposed owner-occupied loan. It includes the visa expiry, contract term, property type and proposed LVR. A general question about whether the bank lends to temporary residents leaves those deciding facts unanswered.

Record the reply date, who answered and which scenario facts the response relies on. Keep a policy clarification separate from formal loan approval. If the client changes employment, security or loan structure, assess whether the response still applies.

For login, accreditation or technical access, use the Bank of China broker portal guide. Keep this policy enquiry with the home lending team, and retain its answer beside the Australian source documents in your file notes.

If Bank of China excludes the scenario, use the lender policy guides to assess another lender against the same facts.