Common terms

The ABN is a unique 11-digit identifying number issued to all entities registered on the Australian Business Register (ABR). This number is used by businesses when dealing with other businesses and with the Australian Taxation Office (ATO). . An ABN is needed to register for GST and other elements of the tax system.

An ACL is required if you provide services as a credit provider in Australia. Credit activity is defined in national legislation and includes activity relating to credit contracts, consumer leases, related mortgages and guarantees, and credit assistance services.

Funds paid into the loan over and above the minimum monthly repayment.

An AFSL is a licence for any Australian business involved in the provision of financial services. It is a licence issued by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) as required by the Corporations Act 2001 that allows people or companies to legally carry on a financial services business, including selling, advising or dealing in financial products.

AnyPay is a simple to use account-to-account payment facility that is available through Online Banking.

AnyPay simply debits your nominated account when you decide and credits (deposits) the funds into the other bank account overnight. You can even include a reference to the payment. For example, you can schedule your rent to be paid into your landlord's bank account by ‘bank transfer’ with AnyPay. You can easily schedule the payment to be made today, tomorrow or in the future and simply need to complete the other account details required by the destination bank (BSB and account number).

The fee charged to recover the costs of establishing your loan.

ATMs are machines that can be used to perform selected banking services without the need to visit a branch.

A banking day is a day other than a Sunday or a national public holiday in Australia.

Every time you see the BPAY® logo on your bills, it means that you can pay using the Adelaide Bank BPAY® facility available through Phone Banking and Online Banking. If you know of bills that will need to be paid in the future, you can arrange future dated payments through Online Banking. Enter the information and we'll make the payment automatically on the given date (if it is a non-business day, the payment will be made on the preceeding business day) – great if you're going away on holidays.

A fee charged when a fixed rate is broken (by closing the loan or breaking the contract) to cover the Bank's loss incurred as a result of differences in interest rates between the date the contract is broken and the end of the fixed rate period.

A short-term loan option that allows you to borrow funds to complete the purchase of a new property before you have sold your existing property, without having to make repayments for a set period of time or until the original property sells (whichever occurs first). Also known as an Adelaide Bank Go Between loan.

This six-digit code is the part of a bank account number, which indicates the bank and branch of the account. It is used by banks within Australia to identify the specific bank funds will be sent to. The Adelaide Bank BSB is 610-101.

A business day is a day other than a Saturday, Sunday or a national public holiday in Australia.

An interest rate calculated using a formula regulated by the National Credit Code which takes into account the upfront and ongoing fees, and loan term of a home loan product. As all lenders use the same formula to calculate a comparison rate, it can be used to compare the true cost of each type of home loan.

This is a unique number used to identify you as a customer of Adelaide Bank and can be found on the top right hand corner or your statement. It is used for bank services only and is not to be confused with your account number. Funds cannot be transferred to your Customer Number.

An automatic payment set up to pay your home loan from your bank account with another bank on a regular basis. A direct debit can be set up to occur weekly, fortnightly or monthly and you can nominate for either the minimum required payment to be taken, or an amount of your choice. A request form needs to be completed to set up a direct debit.

Payable for each security attached to a home loan that is partially or fully discharged at your request.

EFTPOS stands for Electronic Fund Transfer at Point Of Sale. It is a method of payment allowing you to pay for purchases by debiting the amount directly from your savings account. In Australia and New Zealand it is also the brand name of the specific system used for such payments. The Australian and New Zealand systems are country specific and do not interconnect.

The difference between your property value and the amount you have borrowed against it. It’s calculated by subtracting the loan amount from the valuation amount.

Exit fees are charged at termination of a home loan that is not a break cost fee or a discharge fee (i.e. deferred establishment fees). Exit fees were abolished for new residential home loans from 1 July 2011.

An interest rate option where the rate is set at a fixed level for an agreed length of time.

The minimum loan repayment is equal to the monthly interest amount, plus any monthly service fee applicable for an agreed period of time.

Legal fees are paid by the borrower when the Bank engages a legal representative to act on its behalf in connection with the preparation of the loan contract and/or security.

An insurance that we may require you to pay that insures us against loss on your home loan.

If you default under your mortgage, resulting in the sale of the security property and the sale proceeds are insufficient to fully repay your loan, the Bank may incur a loss.  We may recover this loss under the lenders mortgage insurance policy.  However, you are still legally responsible for repaying the amount outstanding under the mortgage because you are not protected by the lenders mortgage insurance policy.

Lo Doc loans do not require applicants to provide supporting evidence of income when applying for a loan. Applicants are instead required to sign a declaration of their income, which must be verified by their accountant. This may suit self employed customers who find obtaining the required financial information a long and expensive process.

A ratio based on the percentage of your property’s value that your loan amount accounts for. It is calculated by dividing the loan amount by the valuation amount.

A fee charged on a monthly basis to your home loan to cover the cost of the ongoing maintenance of your loan.

An offset facility allows your savings to offset the interest charged to your home loan. The loan interest is calculated by subtracting the offset balance from the loan balance and only charging interest on the difference between the two.

Online Banking is a service which enables you or an authorised operator (after entering security details) to obtain account balances or make transactions on your accounts using the Internet.

Phone Banking is a service which enables you or an authorised operator (after entering security details) to obtain account balances or make transactions on your accounts using the telephone.

A loan repayment that reduces your loan balance as well as pays off the interest on a monthly basis, ensuring the loan is fully repaid at the end of the loan term.

Redraw is a loan feature that allows the withdrawal of funds from a loan if the borrower has made additional repayments over and above their minimum monthly repayments.

Stamp duty is the tax imposed by the state government on mortgage documents and the property. The applicable laws and amounts vary from state to state, however you can work out how much may apply to your situation using our Stamp duty calculator.

The Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT) operates a worldwide financial messaging network, which exchanges messages between banks and other financial institutions. SWIFT also markets software and services to financial institutions, much of it for use on the SWIFTNet Network.  ISO 9362 bank identifier codes (BICs) are popularly known as ’SWIFT codes‘.

SWIFT does not facilitate funds transfer, rather, it sends payment orders, which must be settled via correspondent accounts that the institutions have with each other. Each financial institution, to exchange banking transactions, must have a banking relationship by either being a bank or affiliating itself with one (or more) so as to enjoy those particular business features.

An interest rate option where the rate can rise and fall over the term of the loan.