Data › APRA monthly banking statistics › March 2026
APRA Monthly Briefing · Mar 2026
Australian banks in March 2026: $5.86 trillion of assets, lending up 0.8%, deposits up 0.5%
System Assets $5.86tn +0.07% MoM · +7.01% YoY119 ADIs reportingSource · APRA MADIS
This monthMarch
Funding gap widens $14.3bn as lending outruns deposits. Lending grew +$31.9bn in March against +$17.6bn of new deposits; the funding gap now sits at $606.8bn - this month alone is nearly half of the past year's move. Households mirrored it: housing lending +$13.9bn vs +$7.5bn of new household deposits. Consumer credit (cards + personal) grew +0.69% - above its +0.24% typical month.
The numbers · tap a row for detail
Total lending$4.01tn+0.80%above avgHousing lending$2.46tn+0.57%in lineOwner-occupier housing$1.66tn+0.37%below avgInvestor housing$800.5bn+0.98%above avgBusiness lending$1.23tn+1.27%above avgCredit cards$28.2bn+0.26%above avgPersonal lending$68.1bn+0.87%above avgTotal deposits$3.40tn+0.52%below avgHousehold deposits$1.73tn+0.44%below avgBusiness deposits$901.4bn+0.18%below avgFI, government and community deposits$773.1bn+1.11%above avgFunding gap$606.8bn+$14.3bnacceleratingWholesale funding$1.23tn+3.09%above avgNCDs$208.9bn+0.81%above avg
System & Big 5
Where the money moved this month - each card shows the system total, the move against a typical month, and which of the Big 5 drove it.
Total lending$4.01tn system
Macquarie led at 2.4× system pace
▲ +$31.9bn MoM (+0.80%)prior month +0.55% · past 12 mo +8.07%
typical month+0.65%above avg
Month-on-month · Big 5 + rest of system
Macquarie has led on pace for every one of the 6 months measured
Big-5 share 76.7% · past 12 mo +$299.6bn (+8.07%) · households 64% · business 31%
Total deposits$3.40tn system
NAB took 51% of the system's +$17.6bn move
▲ +$17.6bn MoM (+0.52%)prior month +0.44% · past 12 mo +8.53%
typical month+0.68%below avg
Month-on-month · Big 5 + rest of system
Macquarie has led on pace for 4 months running · NAB up from 4th to 2nd
Big-5 share 79.4% · past 12 mo +$267.4bn (+8.53%) · households 51% · business 26% · financial institutions, government and community 23%
Household deposits$1.73tn system
Macquarie led at 5.3× system pace · ANZ moved against system
▲ +$7.5bn MoM (+0.44%)prior month +0.36% · past 12 mo +8.38%
typical month+0.68%below avg
Month-on-month · Big 5 + rest of system
Macquarie has led on pace for every one of the 6 months measured · CBA up from 4th to 2nd
Big-5 share 78.5% · past 12 mo +$133.7bn (+8.38%)
Housing lending$2.46tn system
Macquarie led at 3.7× system pace
▲ +$13.9bn MoM (+0.57%)prior month +0.39% · past 12 mo +6.87%
typical month+0.56%in line
Month-on-month · Big 5 + rest of system
Macquarie has led on pace for every one of the 6 months measured
Big-5 share 80.4% · past 12 mo +$158.3bn (+6.87%) · OO 67% · INV 33%
Owner-occupier housing$1.66tn system
Macquarie led at 5.5× system pace
▲ +$6.1bn MoM (+0.37%)prior month +0.34% · past 12 mo +6.09%
typical month+0.49%below avg
Month-on-month · Big 5 + rest of system
Macquarie has led on pace for every one of the 6 months measured
Big-5 share 78.3% · past 12 mo +$95.4bn (+6.09%)
Investor housing$800.5bn system
Macquarie led at 2.2× system pace
▲ +$7.8bn MoM (+0.98%)prior month +0.51% · past 12 mo +8.53%
typical month+0.68%above avg
Month-on-month · Big 5 + rest of system
Macquarie has led on pace for every one of the 6 months measured
Big-5 share 84.8% · past 12 mo +$62.9bn (+8.53%)
Credit cards$28.2bn system
CBA led at 6.7× system pace · NAB, ANZ, Macquarie moved against system
▲ +$73m MoM (+0.26%)prior month +1.25% · past 12 mo +0.30%
typical month+0.04%above avg
Month-on-month · Big 5 + rest of system
CBA has led on pace for 2 months running
Big-5 share 94.6% · past 12 mo +$84m (+0.30%)
Personal lending$68.1bn system
ANZ led at 1.7× system pace · NAB moved against system
▲ +$0.6bn MoM (+0.87%)prior month +0.78% · past 12 mo +4.05%
typical month+0.33%above avg
Month-on-month · Big 5 + rest of system
ANZ has led on pace for 2 months running
Big-5 share 81.6% · past 12 mo +$2.6bn (+4.05%)
Financial institution, government and community deposits$773.1bn system
Macquarie led at 3.1× system pace · CBA moved against system
▲ +$8.5bn MoM (+1.11%)prior month +0.60% · past 12 mo +6.22%
typical month+0.51%above avg
Month-on-month · Big 5 + rest of system
Macquarie led on pace this month, taking over from CBA · CBA down from 1st to 5th
Big-5 share 76.6% · past 12 mo +$45.3bn (+6.22%) · financial institutions 79% · government 15% · community service organisations 6%
Who’s growing where
The same books cut by segment - per-bank month-on-month growth RATES (fair race across book sizes), plus how each bank funds itself.
Housing: owner-occupier vs investor
Mortgage books only, split by borrower purpose.
Investor grew 2.7× owner-occupier pace · Macquarie led at +2.21%
Owner-occupier·Investor· bars = MoM %
system pace: Owner-occupier +0.37% · Investor +0.98% MoM
Lending: household vs business
Household = mortgages + credit cards + personal lending. Mortgages alone appear under Housing lending.
Business grew 2.2× household pace · CBA led at +1.80%
Household·Business· bars = MoM %
system pace: Household +0.57% · Business +1.27% MoM
Deposits: household vs business
Household = deposits held by natural persons; business = non-financial corporations.
Household grew 2.5× business pace · Macquarie led at +2.33%
Household·Business· bars = MoM %
system pace: Household +0.44% · Business +0.18% MoM
Funding mixdeposits vs wholesale
ANZ leans most on wholesale markets (30.7% of deposits plus wholesale) · CBA is the most deposit-funded (80.5%)
Deposits·Wholesale
system: deposits 73.4% · wholesale 26.6% · wholesale = short-term + long-term borrowings (NCDs are inside both)
Beyond the Big 5
The other ~110 ADIs - roughly a quarter of system lending the majors’ cards don’t show: regionals, foreign branches, mutuals and neobanks.
Beyond the Big 523.3% of system lending
Biggest individual movers among lending books over $5.0bn: Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation −$1.5bn · JPMorgan Chase Bank +$1.1bn · Bendigo and Adelaide Bank +$0.9bn
Peer groups · lending month-on-month · 12-mo share shift
share of system lending: Regional Banks 10.5% (−0.47pp yr) · Foreign Banks 8.6% (+0.13pp yr) · Mutuals 3.8% (+0.04pp yr) · Neobanks 0.4% (+0.05pp yr)
Funding gap
Lending minus deposits. When loan books grow faster than deposits, the difference has to be funded somewhere else - NCDs (short-term money-market paper) are one of the main plugs.
System funding gap$606.8bn now
Widened +$14.3bn in the month - this month alone is nearly half of the past year's +$32.2bn move
▲ +$14.3bn MoM (+2.42%)prior month +1.14% · past 12 mo +5.61%
typical month+0.48%accelerating
driver: lending +$31.9bn vs deposits +$17.6bn
Big-5 gap month-on-month
gap $606.8bn · past 12 mo +$32.2bn · prior month +$6.7bn
Household funding gap$828.0bn now
Widened +$7.1bn in the month - this month alone is about a quarter of the past year's +$27.3bn move
▲ +$7.1bn MoM (+0.86%)prior month +0.53% · past 12 mo +3.41%
typical month+0.29%widening
driver: household lending +$14.6bn vs deposits +$7.5bn
Big-5 gap month-on-month
gap $828.0bn · past 12 mo +$27.3bn · prior month +$4.3bn
Wholesale funding$1.23tn system
Macquarie led at 3.2× system pace
▲ +$36.9bn MoM (+3.09%)prior month +0.13% · past 12 mo +2.69%
typical month+0.23%above avg
Month-on-month · Big 5 + rest of system
Macquarie has led on pace for 4 months running · NAB up from 4th to 2nd
Big-5 share 73.6% · past 12 mo +$32.3bn (+2.69%) · short-term 39% · long-term 61% · securitised assets on balance sheet $691.6bn
Negotiable certificates of deposit$208.9bn system
CBA added +$2.1bn - more than the system's entire net +$1.7bn move
▲ +$1.7bn MoM (+0.81%)prior month −0.68% · past 12 mo +6.85%
typical month+0.60%above avg
Month-on-month · Big 5 + rest of system
Big-5 share 53.9% · past 12 mo +$13.4bn (+6.85%) · NCDs 17% of wholesale
NCDs are short-term IOUs banks issue to investors, usually under a year - a rising balance means more lending funded from money markets rather than customer deposits.
Cite this pagewritten 2026-10-31
Open Market Intel, "Australian banks in March 2026", from APRA Monthly Authorised Deposit-taking Institution Statistics, March 2026. https://openmarketintel.com/data/apra/2026-03
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Source figures are APRA's, published under Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Australia at apra.gov.au.