Weekly Credit Crunch 18th May 2026 🌟

🏦 Beyond Bank: Trust Lending Update

Beyond Bank has confirmed it will continue to accept loan applications involving Simple Trust structures, where either individuals or a non-trading company act as trustee.

What is a Simple Trust?

For Beyond Bank, a Simple Trust is generally a discretionary family trust established specifically to hold an investment property asset.

Key requirements

The trust must not operate a business or conduct trading activities.
Neither the trust nor the corporate trustee should be actively trading.
Beneficiaries must be individuals legally residing in Australia.
Companies, other trusts, partnerships and overseas beneficiaries are not permitted.
Trusts and companies must be registered in Australia.
Beyond Bank membership is open to Australian citizens or eligible visa holders who reside in Australia.

Existing members living overseas

Beyond Bank may consider existing members who have moved overseas for employment reasons.

⚡ Zeus Policy Changes: Effective 18 May 2026

Zeus has announced several policy and process changes effective from Monday, 18 May 2026, with a strong focus on fraud prevention, verification, and application integrity.

1. Digital Verification of Identity now required

All Zeus applications will now require Digital Verification of Identity using biometric facial recognition.

This includes:

A live selfie matched to identity documents
Verification through government records via the Document Verification Service
Digital VOI required across all applications

Zeus BOLT Policy Changes👇👇

2. Existing mortgage must appear on CCR

For Zeus Bolt refinances, the outgoing mortgage must generally appear on the borrower’s Comprehensive Credit Reporting.

The key exception is La Trobe funded loans, as La Trobe is not currently a CCR participant.

3. Visa eligibility updated

Zeus has updated its acceptable visa list for permanent and temporary residents.

From 18 May 2026, Zeus Bolt will no longer accept applications where one or more applicants hold a Student Visa subclass 500.

Expats may still be accepted where they meet Zeus eligibility requirements.

4. Company and trust borrower rules

For company and trust borrowers:

The company or trust must have been established for at least 24 months
A written explanation is required for lump sum payments or withdrawals over $50,000

5. Documentation requirements tightened

For individual borrowers, Zeus requires:

Most recent loan statement
Minimum 90 days / 3 months of loan statements
Transaction, savings or offset statements showing where repayments are debited from

For company and trust applicants, Zeus requires:

12 months of loan statements for the mortgage being refinanced
90 days / 3 months of business bank statements
Transaction, savings or offset statements if repayments are not made from the business account

If statements are more than 60 days old, a transaction listing may also be required, with no gaps between statement periods.

6. Redraw and cash-out limits

Available redraw can be retained under the existing credit limit, provided it does not exceed 30% of the current loan balance.

Equity release/cash out is limited to:

3% of the security property value
Capped at $50,000

If available redraw is more than 30% of the current loan balance, the borrower is not eligible for cash out.

✅ Broker takeaway

Zeus Bolt is a cracking policy and market-leading in terms of streamlined refinance products. This update is all about cleaner verification, tighter refinance eligibility, and more detailed documentation upfront.

The main things to check before submitting are:

VOI completed before lodgement
Outgoing mortgage appears on CCR (with the exception of La Trobe)
Visa subclass, especially any Student Visa 500 - make sure you check the updated acceptable list of Visa's.
Company/trust age of at least 24 months
Large transactions over $50,000 explained
Statement periods are complete with no gaps
Redraw and cash-out limits are within policy

🏦 Macquarie Bank: Servicing Guarantees for Company & Trust Properties

Macquarie has announced an update to its credit policy, effective Thursday, 21 May 2026. The update relates to applicants who are providing servicing guarantees for properties held in a company or trust structure.

What’s changing?

From 21 May 2026, where an applicant is providing a servicing guarantee for any property held in a company or trust, Macquarie will require further information about how those commitments are being serviced. This means brokers may need to provide additional detail or supporting information where the applicant is connected to company or trust-held property debt.

Applications already in progress

This policy update only applies to new applications submitted from Thursday, 21 May 2026.
Any applications submitted before this date will continue to be assessed under Macquarie’s previous policy.

Broker takeaway

This is one to watch closely for clients with company or trust-related property commitments, especially where servicing guarantees are involved.

Before submitting, make sure you review the Credit Reports section in Macquarie’s Broker Credit Guidelines so you can identify any additional information required upfront and avoid unnecessary back-and-forth.

🏦 Skip Loans Webinar: The Real Cost of Waiting to Buy Property

Skip Loans is hosting a webinar designed to help brokers show clients the true cost of delaying a property purchase.

📅 Thursday, 21 May
🕦 11:30am AEST

The session will focus on how to quantify the cost of waiting — not just in terms of fees and interest, but the potential opportunity cost of sitting out of the market.

What brokers will learn

How to explain the cost of delaying a purchase
Practical tools and language to use with clients
How time out of the market can sometimes cost more than waiting to build a larger deposit
How to turn “I’ll wait and save more” conversations into more informed strategy discussions

👉 Register here

🏦 ORDE Financial: Commercial Prime EOFY Pricing Special

With EOFY fast approaching, ORDE Financial has released a limited-time Commercial Prime pricing special.

Eligible business clients may benefit from a 0.30% rate reduction across all LVR tiers for:

Full Doc applications
Lease Doc applications
Alt Doc applications

Applications must be submitted by 30 June 2026.

Common EOFY scenarios this may support

Owner-occupied commercial property purchases
Commercial refinances
Business debt restructuring
ATO-related debt consolidation
Commercial property restructures

Terms and conditions apply.

👉 Learn more and submit before EOFY

🏦 Westpac Webinar: What the May Changes Mean for Your Deals

Westpac is running its Navigate to Validate webinar to help brokers understand recent credit policy updates and system enhancements.

📅 Thursday, 28 May
🕦 11:00am – 12:00pm AEST

LINK to register👉

What the webinar will cover

🏠 Valuation updates

A high-level overview of upcoming valuation changes, particularly those impacting purchase applications and how they may support faster, more efficient progression.

🪪 Customer ID verification changes

Updated expectations for customer identification and verification at submission, including what brokers need to be aware of upfront.

📄 Credit policy and documentation updates

A summary of selected policy and documentation enhancements designed to improve consistency, reduce rework and support cleaner submissions.

🏦 LMG Bridgit: $1,500 Cashback Incentive

LMG Bridgit is currently offering a $1,500 cashback incentive for eligible owner-occupied borrowers.

Key details

Available for owner-occupied borrowers
Minimum loan size of $250,000
Applications must be submitted and settled by 30 June
Terms and conditions apply

This may be useful for clients needing a short-term bridging solution where cashback support helps reduce the overall cost of the transaction.

🌟 Product Spotlight: Latitude “Funds to Complete” Personal Loan

Latitude’s Funds to Complete solution is a flexible unsecured personal loan designed to help borrowers bridge funding shortfalls where traditional mortgage lending may not fit neatly within policy, servicing or security requirements.

This can be a valuable niche solution for brokers dealing with clients who need additional funds to complete a purchase, construction project, subdivision or other property-related costs — without impacting their existing mortgage security.

Key features

Borrow up to $200,000
Loan terms from 2 to 7 years
No property security required
No mortgage registered
No caveat lodged
Available for mortgage brokers only
Clients must still meet the mortgage lender’s 5% genuine savings requirement

Servicing advantages

This product may be helpful where the client has strong actual income but does not fit neatly within mainstream servicing calculators.

Latitude may consider:

No interest rate buffer
No income shading
Common debt reducer policy

Common use scenarios

Latitude’s Funds to Complete product may assist with:

Construction loan shortfalls
Funds to complete builds
Bridging finance requirements
Stamp duty and legal fees
Owner-builder projects
Subdivision funding
Modular homes
Kit homes
Tiny homes
Relocatable homes
LVR restrictions with mainstream lenders
Situations involving unacceptable mortgage security
Medico or professional clients looking to avoid LMI limitations
Borrowers who do not want further property encumbrances
Clients wanting to avoid seeking consent from their existing lender for additional funding

Why brokers may find this useful

This product can be particularly helpful when a client needs funds quickly but the mortgage lender will not assist due to policy, LVR, security type or servicing constraints.

Broker benefits

Can be used without changing the client’s existing mortgage structure
No property security restrictions
Helpful where traditional lenders decline due to policy / security limitations
May allow borrowers to complete projects without refinancing their home loan
Useful for complex, niche or time-sensitive funding scenarios
Can assist clients with strong income who are impacted by mainstream servicing buffers

This is definitely one for the “niche but handy” toolkit especially when the deal is good, the client has capacity, but the lender policy box is being unnecessarily dramatic. 😉

✅ Final Broker Takeaway

This week’s updates are a good reminder that lending policy is already starting to shift in response to the Budget, and Macquarie is one of the first lenders to come out with a clear update around company and trust-held property commitments.

And while Macquarie has moved first, I am sure we will see the other lenders follow. For brokers, the opportunity is to stay ahead of the curve, ask the right questions upfront and be ready for more detailed scrutiny around trusts, companies, investors and property ownership structures.

In other words… watch this space. The Budget conversation is not just a tax conversation, it is quickly becoming a lending policy conversation too.

Have a cracking week, finance friends. See you next Monday. 💛

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