Mortgage broker outsourcing: what to hand off and who to hand it to

Mortgage broker outsourcing works when you hand off the back office and keep the advice. A Philippines-based loan processor can enter fact finds, chase documents, prepare submissions, track conditions and manage settlements for about $1,600 a month on Tarino’s typical salary. What you can’t hand off is your best interests duty: anything that suggests a particular loan to a client, or helps them apply for one, needs to sit with a trained, authorised broker.

This guide is for Australian mortgage brokers deciding what to outsource and to whom. If you want the role-by-role detail on processors and settlement officers, read how a mortgage broking hire lets you write more loans. If you’ve already decided on a processor and want the hiring steps, see how to hire an offshore loan processor.

What can a mortgage broker outsource?

Start by listing every task in the loan journey, from first enquiry to post-settlement review, then sort them into three groups. Most of the time consuming work sits in mortgage processing, not advice.

Safe to hand off (back office). These tasks don’t involve recommending a product to the client:

• Data entry: loading fact find data and supporting documents into your CRM
• Document collection: sending document checklists and chasing what’s missing
• Document verification: checking payslips, bank statements and identification documents against the checklist and lender requirements, and flagging gaps
• Building servicing calculators and draft submissions for you to review
• Ordering valuations and tracking their status
• Logging lender conditions and handling lender follow ups on outstanding items
• Coordinating settlement dates with lenders, conveyancers and solicitors
• Loading trail and commission data, and preparing annual review reminders

Hand off with a script (client contact). Your hire can call or email clients to request documents, book meetings and give status updates. Give them a script and a clear escalation rule.

Keep with the broker (credit assistance). Product comparison, the lender recommendation, the preliminary assessment, the credit guide and the conversation where the client decides. These are the steps your licence and the best interests duty are built around.

Chris Tan, Tarino’s co-founder, built and scaled his own brokerage and hired offshore staff into his team before starting Tarino. The split above is the one that keeps brokers on the phone with clients and out of the document pile.

What does a loan processor do?

A loan processor runs the administrative side of a loan application so the broker can stay focused on clients. In most mortgage broking businesses that means document collection, data entry, building the loan file, preparing the submission for the broker to review, lender follow ups and settlement tracking. The processor keeps the file moving. The broker decides what goes in the recommendation.

Some brokers call this role a parabroker. A mortgage broker virtual assistant is usually a lighter role that covers administrative tasks such as the inbox, calendar and CRM updates, without working the loan file itself. Decide which one you need before you write the job ad, because the skills and the practical test are different.

What does NCCP and the best interests duty mean for outsourcing?

Three pieces of ASIC guidance shape what a broker can delegate. None of them stop you hiring support staff. They do tell you where the line sits.

The best interests duty stays with the broker

ASIC’s RG 273 explains that a mortgage broker must act in the best interests of the consumer when providing credit assistance (s158LA of the National Credit Act). The conflict priority rule (s158LB) adds that if there’s a conflict, the consumer’s interests come first, not yours, the lender’s or a third party’s.

RG 273 also says credit licensees must take reasonable steps to make sure their mortgage brokers comply (RG 273.173). ASIC generally expects licensees to train brokers, provide systems and guidelines, monitor compliance and keep records that show compliance (RG 273.179). When you add an offshore processor, your procedures and file notes become part of how you show that.

Records need to be kept as you go

RG 273 expects brokers to keep records of their inquiries into the consumer’s circumstances and how they assessed the products they recommended (RG 273.162). It notes that contemporaneous notes capture your reasoning better than notes written at the end (RG 273.169). That suits outsourcing well: a processor who files documents and logs every client contact in the CRM the same day makes your file stronger, not weaker. The broker still writes the reasoning for the recommendation. A short compliance review of a few files each month, done by you or your licensee, shows the process is working.

Where support work becomes credit assistance

ASIC’s RG 203 says you give credit assistance if, while dealing directly with a consumer, you suggest they apply for a particular credit contract with a particular credit provider, or you help them apply for one (RG 203.58). That’s the practical test for your assistant’s job description. Chasing a payslip is support work. Telling a client “Lender X would suit you better” is not.

Training rules apply to anyone giving credit assistance

ASIC’s RG 206 says representatives who provide third-party home loan credit assistance need at least a Certificate IV in Finance and Mortgage Broking and at least 20 hours of CPD a year (RG 206.23). Your compliance obligations don’t shrink when you outsource. If you want an offshore team member to move into client-facing broking work, that’s a licensing and training decision for you and your licensee, not a job title change.

This is general information, not legal or compliance advice. Confirm your own obligations with your licensee, aggregator or a qualified credit adviser.

What should Australian mortgage brokers check with their aggregator first?

Your aggregator or licensee usually controls the systems your hire will use, so speak to them before you advertise the role. Ask:

• Do they allow offshore staff to access the CRM and submission platform, and under what conditions?
• Does each team member need their own login, and can access be limited by role?
• What do they require for data storage, devices and multi-factor authentication?
• Do any lenders on the panel restrict who may log in to their portals?
• What supervision and file review do they expect for non-broker staff?

Get the answers in writing. They become the access rules in your hire’s onboarding plan.

Data security and information security

Privacy matters too. Client files are full of personal and financial information. The OAIC’s APP 8 guidelines explain that, when personal information is disclosed to an overseas recipient, an APP entity generally needs to take reasonable steps to make sure it’s handled in line with the APPs, and stays accountable if it isn’t. The guidelines also note that giving information to an overseas contractor can be a use rather than a disclosure where you keep effective control of it. Logins you own, on systems you control, help. In practice, good information security for offshore loan processing means a named login for each person, multi-factor authentication, role-based access to the CRM and lender portals, client documents kept in your systems rather than on a personal device, and access removed on the day someone leaves. Our offshore staff security checklist covers the setup.

In house or outsourced loan processing: who should you hand it to?

You have four realistic options. The right one depends mostly on how steady your volume is.

Option	Typical cost	Best for	Watch out for
Do it yourself	Your evenings	Very low volume	Caps how many loans you can write
Local hire	$100,000 a year plus 12% super (Tarino’s typical figure)	Brokers who want someone in the office	Highest cost; hard to fill
Managed offshore agency	Salary plus A$1,099 per person per month and A$1,200 per hire (one published rate)	Brokers who want the agency to run payroll and HR	Ongoing margin for as long as the person stays
Direct offshore hire through Tarino	About $1,600 a month salary (Tarino’s typical figure) plus one $5,000 fee excl. GST	Steady weekly volume	You manage the person day to day

Super for the local figure uses the 12% super guarantee rate the ATO lists from 1 July 2025.

In year one, a direct hire on Tarino’s typical salary comes to about $19,200 in salary plus the $5,000 fee, or $24,200 before equipment and Philippine statutory costs. The agency rate above adds $14,388 in fees in year one ($1,099 x 12 plus $1,200), on top of the salary, and $13,188 every year after. Against the local figure of $100,000 plus 12% super, or $112,000, that is a cost saving of about $87,800 in year one on Tarino’s typical figures, before equipment and Philippine statutory costs. Put another way, a direct offshore hire costs just over a fifth of a local hire in year one, which is why outsourcing can reduce the cost of building an internal team. Watch for hidden costs on any option: equipment, software seats, a backup internet connection and, for agencies, what the monthly fee does and doesn’t include. Run your own numbers in the cost calculator.

There’s also a fifth option for overflow: loan processing outsourcing to a per-file processing service. Outsourced loan processing on a per-file basis suits irregular volume. Once you’re consistently submitting several deals a week, a dedicated person who knows your lenders, templates and clients usually gives you more back. The two can work together: a per-file service absorbs peak periods, while your own processor adds steady processing capacity, and you can add a second hire when demand grows.

Which role should you hire first?

For most brokerages it’s a loan processor. Processing is where the hours go, and it’s the cleanest fit for the back-office lane. The mortgage brokers industry page covers the other common roles, such as settlement officers and client services support.

Write the job description around outcomes you can check:

• Every new lead has a document checklist sent within one business day
• Submissions reach you complete, with a checklist of anything outstanding
• Every client contact is logged in the CRM on the day it happens
• Conditions and settlement dates are tracked, with no surprises in the last week

Then put the escalation rule at the top: product questions, lender choice and anything that sounds like advice go to the broker.

How do you set it up so it works?

Map the process before day one. Write down how a file moves from enquiry to settlement in your business, including who does what. Your hire follows it, and it doubles as evidence of your procedures.

Give role-based access. Their own CRM login, their own email, no shared passwords. Restrict anything they don’t need.

Review files weekly at the start. Check a few files end to end in the first month. Your licensee’s monitoring expectations apply to your team’s work, so build your review into the week.

Put responsibility in writing. Whether you hire your own processor or use an outsourcing provider, write down who is responsible for compliance at each step: who checks the documents, who reviews the file, who signs off the submission and who keeps the records. It also helps you show your licensee how the work is supervised.

Build in quality control. Every loan file carries compliance risk, so give your processor a checklist for each lender and a second check before anything reaches you. A second set of eyes working from a checklist helps reduce human error in compliance checks and keeps files audit-ready.

Keep the pipeline visible. Ask your processor to keep the status of every loan application current in the CRM, so you have visibility across all files in progress without chasing anyone.

Use your hours. The Philippines is two hours behind AEST, so your hire can work your business day and be on the same calls as you.

Our first 30 days checklist walks through onboarding in more detail.

How does outsourcing affect client relationships?

Done well, it improves the client experience. Clients notice slow follow ups and repeated requests for the same document. A processor who sends the checklist the day the lead arrives, chases what’s missing in one clear message and keeps the client updated makes the broker look organised.

Turnaround times on your side improve too, because files reach you complete and you aren’t rebuilding a submission at night. Lender assessment times are outside your control, so set client expectations on those separately. For smaller brokerages, one processor often frees the broker for business development and more clients, which is where more loans come from.

Keep the relationship itself with the broker. Introduce your processor by name, explain what they handle, and make it clear the client can always reach you.

How does Tarino help?

Tarino recruits. We build a pool of 1,000+ candidates for each role, screen them through CV checks, video screening, a practical assessment and a structured interview, and send you a shortlist of 3 to 4 finalists, typically within about 2 weeks. For broking roles, the practical task is broking work, such as checking a document pack against a checklist or preparing a submission summary.

You hire and pay the person directly. Our fee is $250 upfront plus $4,750 when you hire, $5,000 excl. GST in total, with the $250 credited back when you hire. There are no monthly fees. Each placement has 6-month replacement cover for the same role. If you’d rather not run Philippine payroll yourself, Tarino EOR handles the contract and payroll for $387 per employee per month. See pricing for the detail.

If you want to work out which tasks to hand off first, book a 30-minute call and we’ll go through your process with you.