CBA Culls Inactive Brokers: What It Means for Your Loan

Australia's biggest bank is removing accreditation from brokers who haven't lodged a CBA loan in 12 months, with thousands of brokers set to be affected.

In one of the most sweeping accreditation moves carried out by a major Australian bank in years, the Commonwealth Bank of Australia has removed broker accreditation from thousands of mortgage professionals who have not lodged a loan with the bank in the past 12 months. [The Adviser](https://www.theadviser.com.au/growth/48572-cba-to-conduct-mass-disaccreditation-of-brokers) reports that CBA wrote to affected brokers on 18 June 2026, notifying them that accreditations would be removed for those deemed "inactive" — defined as not having lodged a CBA loan in 12 months — or for those who had breached the bank's broker code of conduct. The move took effect the following day, on 19 June.

The scale is significant. While CBA has periodically reviewed broker accreditations in the past, this round is believed to affect thousands of brokers — a level of breadth the bank is said not to have attempted for years.

Why CBA made this move

CBA's general manager of third-party banking, Baber Zaka, explained the bank's rationale in a statement: "Brokers play a critical role in helping Australians achieve property ownership. As the third-party channel grows, we are focused on deepening relationships with those who actively work with us to deliver a consistent, high-quality experience for customers."

The bank's reasoning is practical: brokers who are not regularly writing CBA loans may not have current knowledge of the bank's products, policies and processes. Maintaining accreditation for inactive brokers, CBA argues, creates inconsistency in application quality and customer experience.

This move follows CBA's restructure of its broker tier system 12 months ago, which ranks active brokers on a balanced scorecard covering "quality outcomes" and application volumes. Higher-tier brokers receive more support — including relationship managers, relationship assistants and dedicated credit coaches. Platinum-tier brokers now have access to increased credit assessment support, one-day service level agreements and fully assessed pre-approvals. CBA has also flagged continued investment in its CommBroker platform and targeted support for its top-tier broker cohort.

There is a broader business context here. CBA has seen its broker channel share fall steadily: just one-third of the bank's total mortgage flows now come from the broker channel. The remainder flows through CBA's proprietary and digital channels. The bank has been investing heavily in artificial intelligence tools and recently appointed its first AI scientist, as it accelerates growth through its own customer-facing platforms.

The major banks are moving the same direction

CBA is not acting alone. National Australia Bank has also publicly announced a shift toward what it calls a "targeted" broker strategy. The NAB CEO told The Adviser: "What we want to do is to focus on a smaller cohort of brokers that we have good relationships with, that we can, essentially, more effectively service."

NAB's stated focus is on brokers who can deliver loan flows "closer to our appetite in terms of above-cost-of-capital lending", with the CEO adding: "We really don't want to be doing business where the returns are below our cost of capital. So that's where we're pulling away from, slowly and purposefully." NAB's ambition is to be "the partner of choice for target brokers."

Together, the moves by two of the four major banks point to a clear structural shift: as total mortgage origination through the broker channel continues to grow, the major banks are selectively concentrating accreditation and support on a smaller, higher-producing subset of broker businesses. The relationship between major bank and broker is moving firmly toward depth over breadth.

What this means if you're using a broker for your home loan

For borrowers, the practical implications are worth understanding clearly. If your broker does not regularly write CBA loans, they may no longer hold CBA accreditation — and will be unable to submit a CBA application on your behalf.

That does not mean your broker is less capable or less qualified. Many excellent brokers deliberately focus on non-bank lenders, mutual banks, or the specific lender panels that best suit their client base. For those brokers and their clients, CBA accreditation may never have been a meaningful part of the offering.

The more useful question to ask your broker is: which lenders are you currently accredited with, and which have you actively placed loans with in the past 12 months? A broker with deep, active relationships across a broad panel is often better placed to find you a competitive product than one who holds dozens of nominally active but rarely used accreditations. The [cheapest home loans](/home-loans/cheapest) are frequently found outside the major four banks.

If you are currently [refinancing](/home-loans/refinance) your mortgage or approaching the market fresh, confirm that your broker is actively working with lenders that match your situation — whether that is a major bank, a second-tier lender, or a non-bank institution.

It is also worth using our [refinance savings calculator](/calculators/refinance-savings) to understand what a rate improvement could mean for your monthly repayments, and carrying that number into the conversation with your broker. Knowing what you stand to save gives you a clear benchmark when your broker compares lenders across their active panel.

Broker accreditation changes at the major bank level do not automatically mean worse outcomes for borrowers — but they do mean the broker you choose, and the breadth of their active lender relationships, matters more than ever.