If you have been in the mortgage broking industry for any length of time, you have had this conversation dozens — perhaps hundreds — of times.
Your client is preparing for a home loan application. Their borrowing capacity is being assessed. Sitting on their credit file, reducing their serviceability, is a credit card or two with limits they rarely use. The recommendation is straightforward and correct: cancel those cards before we submit. It strengthens your application, improves your borrowing capacity, and gives you the best possible chance of approval.
The client follows your recommendation. The loan is approved. Settlement occurs. And then — typically within six to twelve months — that same client walks into a bank and applies for a new credit card. Without you. Without a comparison. And almost certainly without getting the best deal available.
This is not a hypothetical scenario. It happens in practically every broker's book of clients, at scale, continuously. The question is: what are you doing to intercept it?
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70% of Australians hold at least one credit card |
12 months average time before clients re-apply for a credit card post-settlement |
1 referral can reactivate a dormant client relationship and generate ongoing commissions |
Source: SquareUp
Post-settlement client engagement is one of the most underutilised strategies in Australian mortgage broking. Most broker businesses focus the vast majority of their energy on pre-settlement activity — pipeline management, credit assessment, and deal execution. Once the loan is written, the relationship is maintained only loosely, if at all.
This is a significant strategic gap. Because post-settlement is precisely when clients begin making financial decisions — often significant ones — without any professional guidance. Credit cards are a prime example, but so are personal loans, insurance products, and utility services.
The broker who stays engaged with clients in the twelve months following settlement does not just protect their trailing commissions — they create meaningful, recurring revenue opportunities from a client base they have already paid to acquire.
"Cancelling a client's credit card at application is good recommendation. Referring them to the right card twelve months later — through your platform — is great business."
CIMET's CaaS — Comparison as a Service — platform gives mortgage brokers a simple, compliant way to refer existing clients for credit card products — at the right time, through the right channel, with the right positioning. Rather than pointing clients toward a single bank, your referral link connects them to a live comparison engine that surfaces a range of competitive offers from participating providers. That is the difference between a referral and a genuine service.
The workflow is designed to integrate naturally into any broker's post-settlement engagement strategy:
The entire referral is positioned as a continuation of the service you have already provided — not a new sales pitch. That framing matters enormously. Clients respond far more positively to "here is the next step in managing your finances well" than they do to an unsolicited product recommendation from someone they have not heard from since settlement.
CIMET's CaaS model embeds enterprise-grade comparison technology directly into your client journey — so your business can offer market-wide comparisons across utilities, financial products, and telecommunications without building, maintaining, or managing the infrastructure yourself. You focus on your clients. CIMET handles the comparison engine, provider relationships, and fulfilment. That is Comparison as a Service.
One concern brokers sometimes raise is compliance. Referring clients for credit card products sounds, on the surface, like it might require an additional licence or trigger advice obligations. In the referral model CIMET operates, this is not the case.
CIMET's platform is structured as a comparison and referral service. Brokers are not providing credit advice on credit card products — they are directing clients to a platform where the comparison is handled by qualified specialists. The referral arrangement operates within standard referral fee structures that are well-established in the industry and fully disclosed to clients through CIMET's own processes.
Your role is to make the introduction. CIMET handles the rest. Your client gets a better deal than they would walking into a bank blind. And your business earns revenue from a client relationship you have already invested in.
There is a dimension to this strategy that goes beyond the referral commission itself — and it is arguably more valuable in the long run.
Every post-settlement touchpoint you make with a client strengthens your position as their trusted financial partner. Clients who hear from their broker regularly — with relevant, helpful communication — are significantly more likely to return to that broker when they next need finance. They are also significantly more likely to refer friends and family.
The credit card referral, executed well, is not just a revenue event. It is a relationship-maintenance strategy that keeps you front of mind, demonstrates ongoing value, and dramatically increases the lifetime value of every client in your book.
Brokers who adopt this approach report not just incremental commission income, but measurably higher rates of repeat business and client-referred leads. The credit card touchpoint becomes a gateway to the next home purchase, the investment property, and the referral network.
"A client who hears from you at twelve months post-settlement is three times more likely to return to you at three years — when they are ready to upgrade, invest, or refinance."
The most expensive client to acquire is a new one. The most profitable is the one you already have — because the trust cost has already been paid. CIMET's credit card referral model gives mortgage brokers a structured, repeatable way to generate ongoing revenue from existing relationships, without any acquisition spend.
If you manage a book of 150 settled clients, and even 20% of them take you up on a credit card comparison within twelve months of settlement, you have created a recurring revenue engine that operates almost entirely on the goodwill you have already earned.
Partner with CIMET and start monetising the relationships you have already worked so hard to build.
Visit cimet.com.au to become a partner today.
Disclaimer: The content provided is for informational purposes only and is based on publicly available information. While reasonable efforts are made to ensure accuracy, readers should independently verify all details with relevant providers or official sources. CIMET may receive a commission from selected providers when users engage with or switch services through its platform. Not all plans or providers available in the market may be included, and availability can vary depending on location, eligibility, and individual circumstances. This content does not constitute financial, credit, legal or professional advice.