Beginner's Guide to Home Loan Cashback Offers

What a Home Loan Cashback Offer Is

A home loan cashback offer is a cash payment made by a lender to a borrower who takes out an eligible home loan product. The payment may arrive as direct cash, a gift voucher, or in some cases rewards points. Offers are typically time-limited and subject to eligibility criteria, credit approval and standard terms and conditions, and any offer may be withdrawn or varied at any time.

In Double Bay, where property values sit well above the city median and refinancing activity remains steady among owner occupiers and investors alike, cashback offers present one consideration among several when comparing loan products. The cashback itself does not change the underlying interest rate, loan features, or ongoing service quality.

Consider a buyer who refinances a $750,000 owner-occupied loan from one major bank to IMB Bank. Under IMB's current offer, that borrower would receive $3,000 cashback provided the loan-to-value ratio sits at or below 80 percent and the application meets all other eligibility conditions. The cashback is paid after settlement, typically within 60 days depending on the lender.

Refinance Cashback Offers Currently Available

Bank of Queensland offers $2,000 cashback for refinances of a minimum home loan balance of $400,000 with a maximum LVR of 80 percent, settling within 120 days of the loan application date. The offer is not available to borrowers refinancing from BOQ or the BOQ Group, which includes BOQ Specialist, ME Bank and Virgin Money.

ME Bank provides $3,000 cashback for refinances with minimum new lending of $700,000 and a maximum LVR of 80 percent. Available to owner occupiers and investors, applications must be received between 1 May 2026 and 28 August 2026 and settle within 120 days of the application date. The offer excludes owner-occupied loans with interest-only repayments and refinances from ME Bank, BOQ, BOQ Specialist and Virgin Money Australia. Only one cashback is payable per customer. The cashback is paid within 60 days of settlement into a SpendME transaction account held by at least one borrower on the application.

Greater Bank offers up to $3,000 cashback, with $2,500 for home loans between $250,000 and $499,999 and $3,000 for home loans of $500,000 or more. Maximum LVR of 80 percent. Applications must be submitted online. The offer excludes refinances from Greater Bank or Newcastle Permanent and is valid until further notice.

IMB Bank offers up to $4,000 cashback, scaled by loan size. Borrowers receive $2,000 for loans between $250,000 and $499,999, $3,000 for loans between $500,000 and $749,999, and $4,000 for loans of $750,000 or more. Maximum LVR of 80 percent. Limit of one cashback per eligible application per 12-month period. The offer is valid until further notice.

Newcastle Permanent offers up to $3,000 cashback, with $2,500 for loans between $250,000 and $499,000 and $3,000 for loans of $500,000 or more. Maximum LVR of 80 percent. The offer excludes refinances from Greater Bank and is limited to one cashback per eligible application per 12-month period. Valid until further notice.

Reduce Home Loans provides $3,000 cashback for refinances with a maximum LVR of 80 percent. The offer is valid until further notice.

BankVic offers up to $4,000 cashback with limited eligibility. Current police employees or retired police who are BankVic members receive $4,000, and other current BankVic members receive $3,000. Minimum loan amount of $350,000 and maximum LVR of 80 percent. Available for refinances or purchases. Eligible membership extends to serving police, health, emergency service and government department workers and their families. The offer is valid until further notice.

BankWAW provides a $2,000 gift voucher for eligible refinancers. The voucher must be used at businesses in the BankWAW region, covering north-east Victoria and southern New South Wales. The full amount is repayable if the loan is refinanced or discharged within 24 months. Valid until further notice.

Credit Union SA offers $2,000 cashback for purchases or refinances with a minimum borrowing amount of $300,000 and a maximum LVR of 80 percent. Available only to current or retired employees of the South Australian Education Community, students in education studies, or their eligible immediate family members. Valid until further notice.

ANZ offers $3,000 cashback for eligible first home buyers taking out select ANZ home loans of $250,000 or more to purchase or construct a property. The offer is available until further notice.

Rewards Points Offers

Commonwealth Bank offers up to 300,000 Qantas Points for eligible Digi Home Loan applications of $300,000 or more with a maximum LVR of 80 percent. Applications must be submitted online between 1 September 2025 and 30 September 2026 and the loan must settle by 31 December 2026. The offer is available for new owner-occupier and investor loans and refinances from another lender.

Qantas Money offers 100,000 Qantas Points per year for up to 30 years upon refinancing an eligible home loan. The offer is valid until further notice.

Tiimely offers up to $3,000 cashback on fixed-rate loans, scaled by loan size. Borrowers receive $1,000 for fixed-rate loans between $500,000 and $1,249,000, $2,000 for loans between $1,250,000 and $1,749,000, and $3,000 for loans of $1,750,000 or more. Available on two- and three-year fixed-rate home loans for owner occupiers and investors. The offer is valid until further notice.

ME Bank LMI Cashback Offer

ME Bank introduced a separate cashback offer from 18 August 2026 for borrowers who require Lenders Mortgage Insurance. This offer is distinct from the ME Bank refinance cashback described earlier. To be eligible, borrowers must be personal customers who are Australian residents aged 18 or over, taking out an EconoME or CompleteME home loan for an owner-occupied or investment property.

The minimum new lending threshold is $400,000, and the LVR must be between 80.01 percent and 95 percent where LMI is payable. The loan must settle within 120 days of the application date. The $2,000 cashback is paid within 60 days of settlement into a SpendME transaction account held in the name of at least one borrower. One cashback applies per customer regardless of the number of borrowers, applications or securities. The offer cannot be combined with any other ME Bank or BOQ Group cashback offer. Borrowers who received a cashback from any BOQ Group brand within the previous 12 months are not eligible.

In a scenario where a Double Bay buyer purchases an investment property near New South Head Road with a 15 percent deposit, the loan would sit above the 80 percent LVR threshold and LMI would apply. That buyer could structure the application to capture the ME Bank LMI cashback provided all other eligibility conditions are met, including settlement within 120 days and the establishment of a SpendME transaction account before the cashback is processed.

Common Eligibility Conditions Across Offers

Most offers require a maximum LVR of 80 percent unless otherwise specified. Most require settlement within a fixed period from the date of application, commonly 120 days. Most lenders restrict eligibility to borrowers refinancing from outside their own group, which means an internal refinance within the same lender or parent company will not qualify.

Cashback payments are generally limited to one per customer or per eligible application within a 12-month period. Where a specific transaction account is required, as is the case with ME Bank's SpendME account, the account must be in place at the time of payment for the cashback to be processed. If the account does not exist or is not held in the name of at least one borrower on the loan application, the payment will not proceed.

Applications submitted close to the settlement deadline carry additional risk. A delay in documentation, valuation, or credit assessment can push settlement beyond the 120-day window, disqualifying the application from the cashback offer even if all other conditions are met. In our experience, borrowers who apply within the first half of the offer period have a better margin for managing delays without losing eligibility.

Conditions That Exclude Borrowers

Common exclusions include owner-occupied loans with interest-only repayments, construction loans in some cases, internal refinances within the same lender group, applications involving foreign income, borrowers who have received a cashback from the same lender group within the prior 12 months, and applications that do not settle within the required timeframe from the date of application.

Owner-occupied interest-only loans are excluded under several offers, including the ME Bank refinance cashback. Investors taking out interest-only loans remain eligible under most offers provided all other conditions are met. Construction loans are excluded under some lender programs, though this is not universal. Where construction finance is required, it is worth confirming eligibility directly with the lender before proceeding.

Borrowers who have received a cashback from the same lender or parent group within the previous 12 months are generally ineligible. This includes cashback offers from related brands within the same banking group. A borrower who received a cashback from Virgin Money in the prior 12 months would not be eligible for the current ME Bank or BOQ offers, as all three sit within the BOQ Group.

Applications that do not settle within the required timeframe from the date of application are automatically excluded. The timeframe is measured from the date the lender receives the application, not the date the borrower submits initial documents to a broker. Settlement must occur within the specified period, typically 120 days, or the offer lapses regardless of whether the loan proceeds.

If you're considering a home loan refinance or looking at options for a property purchase in Double Bay, Bellevue Hill, or the surrounding Eastern Suburbs, call one of our team or book an appointment at a time that works for you. We'll step you through current offers, confirm your eligibility, and structure the application to meet the settlement and documentation requirements without unnecessary delays.

Frequently Asked Questions