How to protect your business and your customers from scams
When you pay a supplier or service provider, are you certain you’re paying the right account? You’ve got to be super careful these days, as scammers are compromising inboxes and requesting payments to a new account. Here’s how to protect your business and its customers. It’s Scams Awareness Week 2021, and over the past year […]
Open banking is ramping up, so how are lenders using your data?
Open banking is here and it’s charging full steam ahead. So just how are lenders and fintechs using your shared data in this brave, new, data-fuelled world? A new report has shed some interesting insights. With all that’s gone on over the past two years, one of the nation’s biggest banking overhauls in recent memory […]
Wheels in motion: RBA paves the way for early cash rate rise
Mortgage holders are facing a sooner-than-expected cash rate rise after the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) revised its outlook due to the economy bouncing back strongly from the Delta outbreak. So just how soon can we expect a rate rise? As widely predicted, the RBA on Tuesday kept the official cash rate at the record […]
Netflix and too chill: house hunters cutting corners on inspections
More than half of Australian house hunters spend the same amount of time inspecting a property as they do watching an episode on Netflix, according to new research. We get it. You see a house you like and you immediately want to buy it, warts and all. But take a breath, as FOMO can be […]
Are you relying on a personal credit card for business expenses?
We’ve all been guilty of the odd credit card mix-up from time to time – it happens! But if you’re consistently relying on a personal credit card to pay your business expenses – like 4-in-10 SME owners – then it’s probably time to explore other funding options. The past 18 months have been tough for […]
Seismic shift: two major banks hike fixed interest rates
Are the days of ultra-low fixed interest rates over? It’s looking increasingly so, with two major banks increasing their fixed rates this week. So if you’ve been thinking about fixing your mortgage lately, it could be time to consider doing so. Do you know how when one tectonic plate shifts, others around it soon follow? […]
How 1-in-10 first home buyers cracked the market 4 years sooner
Almost 33,000 Australians bought their first home four years sooner thanks to two federal government schemes that give first home buyers a leg up into the property market. Could you, or someone you know, be eligible? We love a feel-good news story around here. And hearing that so many first home buyers got a leg […]
SME lending options are on the rise, but how do you access them?
While many SME owners worry about their access to finance, a surge of new lenders and products is rapidly expanding the options available. And brokers have an important role to play for businesses, says the Productivity Commission. Changes to lending markets over the past decade mean there’s now a wide range of business finance options […]
Bar raised for borrowers: tougher home loan serviceability tests
Some borrowers will soon find it harder to get a mortgage after the banking regulator announced tougher serviceability tests for home loans. So who will they impact most? The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) will increase the minimum interest rate buffer it expects banks to use when assessing the serviceability of home loan applications from […]
Is a home loan lending crackdown on the horizon?
The federal treasurer has given the strongest indication yet that a home loan crackdown is coming, stating that “carefully targeted and timely adjustments” may be necessary to avoid troubled waters. So what could a potential lending crackdown look like? Lending standards and fast-rising property prices have been hot topics of late. Interest rates are at […]