Don't get lost in the lingo.
Credit Union
A financial instituiton that is owned by members for the benefit of members.
Debit Card
A debit card is linked to your bank account and only lets you spend money that you actually have.
Debt Consolidation
The combination of multiple existing debts into one loan and therefore one repayment.
Discharge Fee
A fee charged by a mortage lender to cover the adminstration costs of closing/discharging a loan.
Loan to value ratio (LVR)
The Loan to Value Ratio is the ratio of the loan amount compared to the property's value. For example, if the property is valued at $600,000 and the loan amount is $300,000 the LVR is 50%.
Refinancing
Taking out a new loan to pay off an old one, for example if the new loan was at a lower interest rate therefore saving you money
Secured loan
A personal loan where collateral is required e.g. a car or residential property.
Unsecured Loan
A personal loan where no collateral is required.
AFSL
Australian Financial Services Licence
Documents to prove your identity (POI)
Driver licence, birth certificate, passport, Medicare card, Pensioner concession card. Check with our team if you'd like to use any other document.
Principal and Interest Loan
The borrower's payments cover the interest payable on the loan amount in addition to a repayment of a proportion of the original loan (the principal).
Bonus Rate
A special interest rate on a savings account that is higher than the standard rate. Conditions usually apply to be eligbile for the bonus rate.
Comparison Rate
A useful tool that calculates for you the true cost of a loan including fees and charges so you can compare apples with apples.
Fixed Interest Rate
Your home loan is locked into a rate for a term set with the Credit Union, which will be between 1-5 years.
Offset account
An offset account is a transaction account which is linked to your loan and also helps you reduce the interest you pay. Your loan account balance is reduced by the balance of your offset account for the purpose of calculating interest. For example, if you had a loan balance of $25k, and $10k in your offset account, you would only pay interest on $15k of your loan balance.
Online Savings Account
A savings account where you can access your money via internet, smartphone app or phone banking.
Redraw
You can decide to make extra payments on your loan and also have the ability to access these funds if you need to.
Split loans
You can choose to put part of your loan into a fixed interest rate and apply the variable interest rate to the remaining part of the loan.
Variable Interest Rate
The interest rate you pay on your loan is reliant on the market and can fluctuate as the market changes.
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Not sure what's the best fit for your needs? No worries. Get in touch with one of our banking specialists today.