Fast loan approval times are not the high priority for mortgage applicants they once were, according to Macquarie Securities’ latest broker survey. Macquarie said the survey, which was based on 370 responses, showed that while customers still looked for speed to approval, its importance has fallen by 9 percentage points since last year. “This is likely due to better overall approval times and a greater proportion of refinancing activity, where time to approval is less critical,” Macquarie said. Unsurprisingly, the critical factor in this year’s survey was “best rates”. Brokers reported that the average approval time was around nine days – down from 11 days in 2022 and 15 days in 2021. The lender nominated by brokers as having the best approval times was Macquarie Bank, with 54 per cent of approvals in one to two days and 40 per cent between three and seven days. Commonwealth Bank was the quickest among the major banks, with 25 per cent of approvals in one to two days and 56 per cent in three to seven days. Other lenders that scored well for their approval times were ING Bank, Bankwest, Suncorp Bank and NAB. ANZ made the biggest change to approval times over the past year, reducing its average approval time by six days. Suncorp and Bank of Queensland reduced their approval times by five days, St George Bank by four days and Westpac by three days. “We see approval times as a less relevant measure in the refinancing-driven market. Still, it does indicate the need for ongoing investment for players that are outliers.” Macquarie said. Brokers reported that lenders’ systems and processes have improved over the past year, with Suncorp and AMP making the most positive changes and Bank of Queensland also making a meaningful improvement. The lenders with the top ratings for systems and processes are Macquarie Bank, Bankwest, CBA and ING Bank. In their comments, brokers said living expense verification and assessment has become onerous and confusing. They said lenders were making it difficult for them to help clients plan for when they fixed rate terms end, with pricing only disclosed at the last minute. They said lenders needed to be more open about their best retention rates, rather than waiting until the last minute.