Bankwest's broker awards have landed in New South Wales.
More than three hundred brokers descended upon The Calyx in Sydney's Royal Botanic Gardens on Thursday night for the 2025 Bankwest Broker of the Year Awards.
Decked out in their finest whites, and surrounded by a rainbow of flowers, champagne and a live saxophone player, the state awards are meant to serve as both recognition and celebration of brokers' hard work.
"I think, as it's proven, the service that brokers give to clients is welcome, and we're delighted to continue partnering with brokers," Ian Rakhit, Bankwest general manager of the third party, told Australian Broker at the event.
Rakhit added that while Australia's reliance on brokers has grown in recent years — with approximately 76% of borrowers Down Under going to brokers for their financial needs — Bankwest leans on the broker channel even more. Rakhit said 92% of Bankwest's loans are written by brokers.
"My view is, brokers give choice; they give convenience; they give best interest duty. They really give a level of service to customers who allow a bank like ourselves, of our size, the ability to distribute our products in a really effective way," he said.
As for advice to brokers, Rakhit said, "please come and talk to us. We've got exceptional tools that will help you choose if we're the right solution for your customers. We have phenomenal BDMs, as evidenced through all of the surveys. We have a great process. We have a great end-to-end journey during application. You'll find that our in-life service to you as a broker for your customers long term is exceptional."
Thursday's event marked the final celebration in the online bank's 2025 state awards, which took place across Australia between March and April. Additional broker of the year awards were also handed out in Queensland, South Australia, Victoria and Western Australia.
"We want to be the best broker network in Australia" Lisa Daff, Bankwest's NSW state manager, home buying distribution, told the packed crowd in Sydney, as they nibbled on mini burgers and other finger foods.
Harry Tsouskas, senior lending advisor at Lending Association, took home the coveted broker of the year award for New South Wales. Bankwest said Tsouskas excelled in all categories that brokers were judged on, including business, quality of submissions and customer experience.
Meanwhile, Dean Papas, senior lending advisor at Lending Association, won the Hall of Fame Award and will be inducted into Bankwest's Hall of Fame. Additional winners were B Money with the Broker Support Team of the Year Award; Michael Xia with the Newcomer of the Year Award; Laith Hana with the Customer Experience Award; Don Nguyen with the High Quality Deal Submission Award; Moneywise Lending with Office of the Year Award (for less than 5 writers); and Lending Association with Office of the Year (for 5 or more writers). The Office of the Year Award (for 25 or more writers) was jointly given to Home Loan Experts and Nectar Mortgage.
Bankwest's 2025 Broker of the Year State Awards in Sydney. From left, Ian Rakhit, Bankwest general manager of the third party; Harry Tsouskas, senior lending advisor at Lending Association, winner of the 2025 NSW Broker of the Year Award; Lisa Daff, Bankwest NSW state manager; and Jason Chan, Bankwest managing director.
Rakhit said business at Bankwest, which is a division of Commonwealth Bank (CBA), is better than ever, despite the Reserve Bank of Australia's (RBA) decision to hold the official cash rate (OCR) at its recent meeting.
Mortgage holders and investors alike were hoping for some added relief on their interest rates amid a rising cost of living.
But Rakhit said "there's definitely more activity [at Bankwest]. I don't know whether it's the interest rate moves, whether it's more confidence, or what's actually driving it — whether it's purchases or refinancing, or just drawing more money off their loan. But we're definitely up on volume during March compared to February.
The executive added that Bankwest is focused on residential lending. But there's also been a noticeable increase in investment loans in recent months. "I think Australians like property, and therefore investment is a way to create wealth through property," he said.
