How we get paid page header 2022

How we get paid

Canstar is committed to offering consumers a service, at no charge, that is designed to help you navigate the world of finance and find the right products for you.

At Canstar we pride ourselves on being open with you about how we run our business, and in that spirit we are open about how we make money.

The revenue we generate helps us invest back into our business to ensure we have the staff, resources and technology needed to support the increasing numbers of Australians visiting our site.

There are four key ways we get paid.

  1. Lead referrals

Online Partners

You will see we provide links to third party websites on some sections of our website, including in our comparison tables. We refer to these third parties as Canstar’s Online Partners. We offer you the choice to either narrow your search to see results that feature our Online Partners and their links, or to see all products we compare. Consumers can choose to move from the research to the purchasing phase by clicking on these links should they wish to get more information or apply for a product that interests them. We may receive a commission or fee when this happens. Commissions and fees may vary between product providers and are individually negotiated.

This won’t impact the articles crafted by our team of journalists, and it also has no bearing on the results of our Star Ratings, which are grounded in thousands of hours of research. We’re extremely proud that the ratings are never influenced by who pays us.

Canstar Certified Mortgage Brokers

We may provide links in our Home Loan tables to mortgage brokers who have been certified by Canstar according to our certification process.  If a broker successfully completes the Canstar certification process, they may pay Canstar a fee to use the official Canstar Certified Mortgage Broker accreditation badge in their business.  

Canstar may earn a fee from the Canstar Certified Mortgage Broker, or the broker group it is affiliated with, for completed Home Loans arising from referrals via our website Home Loan tables.  Fees payable may vary depending on the broker group’s arrangements with the home loan product provider.  

Home Loans showing Canstar Certified Mortgage Broker referral buttons will be displayed alongside results from Online Partner Home Loans in the Home Loan tables default display and sort order.  

Fees received from the above referral arrangements won’t impact the articles crafted by our team of journalists, or have a bearing on the results of our Star Ratings, which are grounded in thousands of hours of research. We’re extremely proud that the ratings are never influenced by who pays us.

  1. Advertising

We feature some paid advertising, the most common being Sponsored or Promoted products. You can find these in our comparison tables, our articles, email newsletters and across popular pages of the site. Where you see a Sponsored or Promoted product in or near our comparison tables, they will be clearly labelled and may be shown in a fixed position, regardless of the product’s rating, price or other features.

The fees paid for Sponsored or Promoted products can be higher than the lead referral fees described above. We are discerning about the brands we partner with, and are also careful to present advertising that is clearly labelled and highly relevant to our customers.

‘Online Partners’ is the term we use on our website to describe the brands we receive payments from for Lead Referrals and Advertising.

Institutions are also able to subscribe to use our custom audiences. This data is aggregated, anonymous and individuals are not identified.  Canstar will never sell a consumer’s personally identifiable information.

  1. Award licenses

In some cases, Award winners choose to pay to show Award logos in their marketing materials to promote their achievement to the public.

Canstar’s research team determines the winners of our Award programs without any commercial influence. This is what our customers expect and deserve. For more information see how we avoid conflicts of interest.

  1. Database subscriptions

Many financial institutions in Australia subscribe to our databases to access the extensive product information we gather to help automate and streamline their benchmarking and competitor analysis efforts. As part of their subscription, each provider’s product data is analysed in our research and ratings, as well as being displayed in our comparison tables.

We’d also encourage you to read our Financial Services and Credit Guide for additional information about how we’re paid and our business model.

Information updated as at 13 April, 2022.