The bank, which operates under a well known regional brand and its Adelaide arm, is still dealing with the fallout from regulatory action taken in late 2025 over anti money laundering and counter terrorism controls. Regulators required the lender to hold an extra $50 million in capital and tighten its risk management after a review uncovered weaknesses across the organisation, following an investigation into suspicious activity at one of its community branches that led to multiple arrests.
Against this backdrop, a breakdown in the bank’s commission payment platform meant mortgage referral partners were not properly paid for loans settled in December and January. Home loan brands linked to airlines, insurance groups and online mortgage platforms, such as those powered through a fintech lender, depend on these payments whenever a referred customer settles a Bendigo funded mortgage. The bank says it has been working through inaccurate commission reports and missed runs, and several partners are reportedly still catching up on reconciliations and monitoring each payment cycle more closely than usual.
The lender has already earmarked around $80 million over three years to upgrade systems that detect and prevent financial crime, and it expects compliance costs to keep climbing as it responds to regulator scrutiny. At the same time, the commission outage has put pressure on its broader mortgage distribution strategy, particularly partnerships where more than $2 billion in home loans are funded through the bank’s balance sheet. Some partners appear less severely affected than others but the incident adds to a run of negative headlines, coinciding with leadership changes at the consumer banking arm and a share price that has slipped more than 5% this year. For now, it looks like the bank is trying to convince markets and partners that its technology and governance issues are under control, even as external reviews and investigations continue.
