How Virgin Money is building loyalty through competitive home loans
You might best know the ‘Virgin’ brand for its competitive airline and velocity rewards program, but Virgin Money is quite different. For one, it is 100% owned by Bank of Queensland (BoQ), which is one of Australia’s largest challenger banks.
At one stage, Virgin Money amassed a home loan portfolio in excess of $4.5 billion, however it saw a $1.27 billion contraction in 2024 and a further $1.37b in 2025, placing its home loan portfolio somewhere in the $2b range, compared to BOQ's overall home lending portfolio of around $54b.
In 2025 Virgin Money temporarily suspended new home loan applications to overhaul its product offerings - as such as the 'Reward Me' home loan series is no longer available.
Besides home loans, Virgin Money also offers savings and transaction accounts, credit cards, superannuation and insurance.
Compare Virgin Money Home Loan Rates
Virgin Money offers a variety of variable and fixed-rate home loans for owner occupiers and investors across a range of loan-to-value ratios (LVR) up to 95%. Borrowers also have the option to pay interest-only (IO).
Here’s a snapshot of Virgin Money’s home loans for owner occupiers:
| Lender | Home Loan | Interest Rate | Comparison Rate* | Monthly Repayment | Repayment type | Rate Type | Offset | Redraw | Ongoing Fees | Upfront Fees | Max LVR | Lump Sum Repayment | Extra Repayments | Split Loan Option | Tags | Features | Link | Compare | Promoted Product | Disclosure |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
5.84% p.a. | 5.86% p.a. | $2,947 | Principal & Interest | Variable | $0 | $350 | 80% | |||||||||||||
6.09% p.a. | 6.38% p.a. | $3,027 | Principal & Interest | Variable | $0 | $350 | 60% | |||||||||||||
5.99% p.a. | 6.01% p.a. | $2,995 | Principal & Interest | Variable | $0 | $350 | 80% | |||||||||||||
6.14% p.a. | 6.43% p.a. | $3,043 | Principal & Interest | Variable | $0 | $350 | 70% | |||||||||||||
5.99% p.a. | 6.01% p.a. | $2,995 | Principal & Interest | Variable | $0 | $350 | 60% | |||||||||||||
6.24% p.a. | 6.26% p.a. | $3,075 | Principal & Interest | Variable | $0 | $350 | 60% | |||||||||||||
5.94% p.a. | 5.98% p.a. | $2,978 | Principal & Interest | Variable | $0 | $530 | 90% |
| Promoted | Disclosure |
Virgin Money home loan features
There are two overarching product lines found across Virgin Money's home loans: Lite, and Loaded. As the names suggests, the Lite home loan is a no-frills product while the Loaded home loan has more features.
Offset Account: The Loaded home loan comes with an offset account to help reduce interest costs over time.
Redraw Facility: If you’re ahead on your minimum repayments, you can redraw those funds at any time at no extra charge, with a minimum redraw amount of $100.
Split Borrowings: You can split your home loan across both variable and fixed interest rates, which may provide a good mix of flexibility and certainty.
Choice of Payment Frequency: If you’re making P&I payments, you can choose monthly, fortnightly, or even weekly payments. IO payments can only be made monthly. Fortnightly payments could reduce the interest paid over the life of the loan, as you have an extra payment period every year as opposed to monthly payments.
Extra Repayments: Borrowers can repay an extra $10,000 per year on fixed loans, and unlimited on variable-rate products.
Rate Lock: Allows fixed-rate customers to lock in an applicable interest rate for up to 90 days and helps protect them from any potential rate increases.
Virgin Money Rewards loyalty program
Virgin Money home loan customers can earn points by paying their repayments on time.
- Lite Home Loan: Earn 1,000 points per month, per customer.
- Loaded Home Loan: Earn 2,000 points per month, per customer PLUS 2,000 points for every $10,000 settled as a settlement bonus. On a $600,000 home loan that's up to 120,000 points.
Customers with a Virgin Money Go Account will earn Virgin Money Points on everyday purchases if meeting the monthly criteria, and can choose to use those points to redeem for cash back into their linked transaction or savings account.
Points can be redeemed on gift cards, hotels, and flights, as well as transferred to Velocity points. The current earn rate is 1 VMA point for 0.5 Velocity points.
These details are correct at the time of writing and subject to change.
Virgin Money home loan fees
Below is a range of fees that may apply when apply for, settle, or maintain a Virgin Money home loan:
- Package fee: A $295 annual fee applies on Loaded home loans. It may be waived if you have other loans with Virgin Money.
- Settlement fee: $150 applies on Lite home loans to settle your home loan and prepare your documents.
- Switch fee: $300 may apply if you want to switch the particulars of your home loan e.g. fixing the rate, switching to interest-only and so on.
- Top up: $150 may apply if you want to increase your loan amount.
- Rate lock: $750 applies if you want to lock in your rate when applying for a fixed-rate home loan. Applies for 90 days.
- Discharge: A $350 security release fee applies if you discharge the mortgage, which could happen if you refinance.
Other fees may apply, including a late payment fee, valuation, and so on.
These details are correct at the time of writing and are subject to change.
Potential drawbacks of a Virgin Money home loan
- Steep rates and fees for an offset account: To get an offset account, you will need to apply for a Loaded loan, of which there is a $295 annual fee plus an interest rate premium. Some lenders include offset accounts on their basic home loans, and you will need to weigh up if the long-term cost savings are worth it here.
- High hurdles for Loaded loan: This product line has a minimum loan size of $400k, a maximum LVR of 60%, plus an annual fee and interest rate premium. You will need to weigh up if the offset account and rewards points bonus are worth it.
- Steep rate increases for higher LVRs: Unlike some other lenders, Virgin Money's interest rate premiums for high-LVR products are quite steep.
- High rates for small loans: If you don't need a big loan or if you're buying a modest property, the interest rates on loans under $150k are very steep. This in-effect limits late-stage refinancing or borrowing for apartments or cheaper regional areas.
- May not lend to high density/apartments: The minimum floor plan size to be eligible is 50 square metres, likely exclusive of car parks and balconies. This likely means you won't be able to get a loan for a studio or even many one-bedroom apartments.
- Doesn't cater to low-doc borrowers: Virgin Money is a relatively conservative, digital-focused offshoot of BOQ and likely wants full-doc borrowers on its books. If you're self-employed you'll want to have at least two years of BAS to back up your application.
How to apply for a Virgin Money home loan
Eligibility criteria
Virgin Money has a few requirements you must meet in order to qualify for any of its home loans, including:
You must be 18 years of age or over
You must be an Australian citizen or permanent resident
You must have a regular source of income
You must be an individual applicant (no trusts or companies)
Documents needed
Photo ID - Drivers Licence or Passport.
Birth Certificate, Debit Card, Credit Card, or Medicare Card.
2 most recent payslips, or last 3 full consecutive months' bank statements showing regular salary credits with name of employer evident.
If refinancing: Refinancing statement of existing loan account, details of all costs and fees relating to payout figures or fees, plus copy of current home insurance policy.
If purchasing property: Copy of contract of sale, details of solicitor/conveyancer, proof of deposit for property