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Credit Simple

How to fix your credit score in 5 easy steps

Now that Australian banks are including positive credit behaviours in their reports to the credit bureaus, it’s much easier than it used to be to fix your credit score. So even if a few late payments or even a default knocked you back a few points, there are ways to work your way back into better credit territory. Here are the steps you’ll need to take to fix your credit rating and get it pointing in the right direction. 1.…

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Knowing what affects your credit score will give you the power to improve it

In the old days, only negative borrowing patterns – think late payments and defaults – could affect your credit score, also known as your credit rating. However, just recently, Australia joined the 21st century and implemented a scheme called Comprehensive Credit Reporting (CCR). That means positive borrowing patterns – like making your payments on time – can help your score tick back upward. The positive and negative factors that affect your credit score Before we jump into the nitty gritty,…

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How to compare home loans

Want a more efficient and effective way to compare home loans? Just follow these steps: 1) Identify the non-negotiable features you need. Google those features and shortlist the banks that offer them. Forget about the others, as there’s no reason to spend time of offers that don’t suit your needs. Case Study A 10% home loan deposit is below the 20% threshold for most loans. Kath googled the feature low-deposit home loans and saved the links to all relevant home…

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What is a good credit score in Australia?

What is a good credit score in Australia? Your credit score, which is sometimes referred to as your credit rating, will generally range from 0 to either 1,000 or 1,200 depending on the credit bureau calculating it. In all cases, the higher the score, the better. To make it easier to visualise, we’ve provided the table below to help you understand what constitutes a good credit rating in Australia – bureau by bureau. If you want to see how your…

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What home loan features do you actually need?

Here is a list of the most common home loan features lenders offer with their home loans. We explain some of these features in more depth on their own page if you want to learn more about them. You might not need all of these features, so don’t overlook a loan with an attractive interest rate and fee structure for flashy features you might not even need. With that out the way… Here’s your list of home loan features Offset…

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Home loan fees you may encounter

Most home loans come with their share of fees. Don’t fret over the length of this list, as you probably won’t be subject to all of them. You may even be able to convince your lender to nix a few. It’s also not an exhaustive list as every lender has its own fee schedule. Important Make sure you understand your lender’s specific fee schedule as it can differ from lender to lender. Without further delay… your list of the most…

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Low interest rates
What’s the impact of record low interest rates?

By Stephen Koukoulas, Economist Interest rates in Australia are at record lows. It is not just the 0.75 per cent official rate set by the RBA which is at a rate never seen before, but interest rates for borrowers and savers have also never been lower. The reasons for these low interest rates boil down to a simple fact – the economy is weak. That sluggish pace of growth, which was at a decade low in the middle of 2019,…

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man watering money tree
Here’s how to grow your business if you want to take it to the next level

So business is booming and you’re not content to just maintain the status quo…. you want to grow your business into something bigger. Well, strap in because you’re in for an exciting ride that will expand your skills, test your mettle and ideally put your business on the trajectory toward bigger success. Here are some tips that any small business, sole trader or freelancer can use to grow their business, regardless of industry. Decide how you want to grow There…

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Comprehensive Credit Reporting is a boon for Australians

Just as we hoped, Comprehensive Credit Reporting (CCR) has improved the credit scores of millions of Aussies. Late last month, the Big Four banks shared the remaining 50% of lending data with the credit bureaus, marking the biggest milestone in the history of the new reporting regime. Literally overnight, nearly half of all Aussies using Credit Simple received an improved credit score. What is Comprehensive Credit Reporting? CCR is a reporting scheme that takes all of a borrower’s credit history…

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Consumer watchdog sets its sights on the home loan industry

The Federal Government has just directed the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) to launch an inquiry into home loan pricing, to find out what’s holding consumers back from pursuing better offers. The inquiry seeks to answer the following questions: How exactly do lenders make their pricing decisions? How do lender choices and consumer biases affect how consumers gather, interpret and act on home loan information? To what extent does all of this factor into consumers paying more than they…

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