National Australia Bank’s personal banking chief says a push to sell home loans to business banking customers will be at the centre of her strategy to grow lending in an intensely competitive mortgage market.

Ana Marinkovic was appointed to lead NAB’s retail bank just over a year ago, and a dominant business lending division was an “under-leveraged” opportunity. NAB has recorded slower home loan growth than its major rivals almost every month – bar two – over the past three years.