What Is the Difference Between Repricing and Refinancing?
Repricing keeps your loan exactly where it is and changes only the interest rate. You, or your broker, ask the lender's pricing or retention team for a discount, and if they agree the new rate is applied to the existing loan. There is no application, no credit enquiry, no valuation and no settlement.
Refinancing replaces the loan. A new lender assesses you, values the property, pays out the old loan and takes over the mortgage. It takes two to four weeks and typically costs $500 to $1,500 in total, but it opens up every lender's pricing rather than just one.
| Repricing | Refinancing | |
|---|---|---|
| Lender | Stays the same | Changes |
| Time | Usually days | 2 to 4 weeks |
| Cost | $0 | $500 to $1,500 typical |
| Credit enquiry | No | Yes |
| Income reassessed | No | Yes |
| Can release equity or restructure | No, rate only | Yes |
How Do You Ask Your Bank for a Better Rate?
- Know your numbers. Your current rate, balance, and loan-to-value ratio. A lower LVR earns sharper pricing, so if your property has risen in value, say so.
- Know the market. Find what your own lender advertises to new customers for the same loan type, and what competitors offer. That gap is your case.
- Ask for the pricing or retention team, not general service, and ask directly for the new-customer rate.
- Be ready to leave. A reprice request carries more weight when the lender can see a refinance is the alternative.
When you use a broker, this request is lodged for you through the lender's broker pricing channel, with the market comparison attached.
When someone asks me to refinance them, the first thing I do is ask their existing lender to sharpen the rate. It costs nothing, takes days, and sometimes closes most of the gap. Then I put that offer next to the best of 50+ lenders and show both. If staying is better, I say so. If the reprice still leaves you well above the market, you switch knowing you gave your lender the chance.
When Is Repricing Enough?
- The reprice brings you within a small margin of the best available rate, so the remaining gap would take too long to recover switching costs.
- Your income or expenses have changed in a way that would make a new application hard to pass (see mortgage prison).
- You are on a fixed rate with a meaningful break cost.
- Your loan is above 80% of the property value and switching would trigger lenders mortgage insurance.
When Is Refinancing Better Than Repricing?
- The repriced rate is still clearly above what other lenders offer. Use the break-even calculator to test whether the gap recovers the costs.
- You want to release equity, consolidate debts or change the loan structure, none of which a reprice can do.
- You need features your current loan does not have, such as a full offset account.
- Your lender has declined to reprice, or gave a token discount.
How Often Can You Ask for a Reprice?
There is no rule against asking regularly. Lender pricing shifts every few months, and the ACCC's Home Loan Price Inquiry recommended lenders prompt customers with loans more than three years old to review their rate. A check once a year, and again whenever the cash rate moves or your fixed term ends, keeps you from drifting. That drift has a name: the loyalty tax.
General information only. It does not take your objectives, financial situation or needs into account. All lending is subject to lender assessment and approval. Fees and figures are typical ranges at 14 November 2026 and can change. Lend & Loan, Australian Credit Licence 511092.
