Licensee Credit Guide

This document provides information about the services we provide. We are licensed to arrange loans and leases under the National Consumer Credit Protection Act 2009 (NCCP Act).  The NCCP Act regulates the activity of lending, leasing, and finance broking.

Services we provide

Regional Finance Solutions is an Australian owned and operated organisation, dedicated to providing their clients with an integrated range of financial services and products.  Regional Finances Solutions currently has a network of mortgage specialists to assist clients credit products including personal loans, home loans, investment loans, commercial and agribusiness loans, and equipment finance.

Our panel lenders

We source finance from a panel of financiers. The financiers named below are the six financiers with which we conduct the most business.

• Regional Australia Bank 14.69%
• Summerland Bank 11.44%
• National Australia Bank 8.12%
• CBA 5.70%
• Westpac 5.36%
• Connective Essentials 4.27%

Your best Interests

Our broker's priority is to you, their customer. We require our brokers place your finance needs above those of anyone else.

Our brokers are required to be transparent about products, your options, applicable fees, and charges as well any conflicts of interest. They will communicate in simple to understand language and act with the highest standards of integrity. They are committed to ensuring the product selected will meet your needs, requirements and be in your best interests at the time of assisting you obtaining finance.

Credit Guide

This Credit Guide contains important information about us, the services we provide and the activities of the credit representative operating under our credit licence. It also contains:

•    information about fees and charges that may be payable by you to us
•    commissions that we may receive when we are acting as a credit representative
•    commissions that we may pay to third parties for introduction of business, and information about what you should do if you have a complaint or dispute regarding our services and activities.

We are required to provide this document to you as soon as practicable after it becomes apparent that we are likely to provide credit assistance to you. We provide "credit assistance" when we:

1.    Suggest or assist you in applying for:
       a.  a particular loan with a particular lender
       b.  an increase to an existing loan with a particular lender, or
2.    Recommend that you remain in an existing loan contract.

Preliminary Assessment

Prior to providing credit assistance to you, we must assess whether the particular loan is "unsuitable". A loan will be "unsuitable" based on the information you provided to us if:

1.    You will be unable to repay the proposed loan or will only be able to repay the proposed loan with substantial hardship, or
2.    The proposed loan does not meet your requirements and objectives.

We are required to document our findings that the proposed loan is not unsuitable by way of completing a Preliminary Assessment. The Preliminary Assessment will set out your:

•    requirements and objectives
•    financial and relevant personal situation, and
•    ability to repay the proposed loan.

We are also required to take reasonable steps to verify information provided by you to us.
This verification may include:

•    requesting you for copies of documents that demonstrate your financial situation - in some cases we may also need to sight original documents, and
•    contacting third parties to assist in verifying the information that you provide.

Obtaining a copy of the Preliminary Assessment

*The Credit Day is the date the credit contract is settled, or the credit limit is increased.

There is no charge for requesting or receiving a copy of the Preliminary Assessment.

Fees and charges that are payable by you in relation to our credit assistance

We may charge a fee for providing credit assistance to you. If applicable, details about the fees payable by you will be set out in a Credit Quote which we will give you prior to submitting your loan application.

Other fees and charges

You may have to pay other fees and charges (such as application fees, valuation costs and other applicable fees) to the lender or other parties. You should review the particular loan contract documentation for further details of any such fees and charges.

How I get paid

Our aggregator receives commission from the lenders, then pays commission to our licensee. Our licensee then pays us commission in relation to loan contracts (such as home and investment property loans) for which we act as the credit representative in providing credit assistance.

An upfront commission is payable by lenders in relation to settled (drawn-down) loans and is calculated as a percentage of the loan amount. It is usually paid after settlement of the loan.

Trail commission is payable by lenders in relation to settled (drawn-down) loans. It is calculated monthly on the outstanding loan balance and is paid in arrears.

The upfront and trail commissions that we are paid by lenders are not payable by you. Details of commission to be received will be included in the Summary of Requirements and Credit Proposal document that we will provide you with when credit assistance is provided.

From time to time, I may receive a non-commission benefit by way of training, professional development, entertainment, gift, conference attendance, sponsorship, or entry into a competition run by a lender or my aggregator, at no extra cost to you. The nature of such arrangements are temporary, and the occurrence and amounts are often not readily ascertainable, however if they are apparent as a result of assisting you with credit assistance, this will be disclosed to you.

Other people we deal with

Our aggregator

We have approval to utilise lenders and their loan products through the services of our aggregator 'Connective Broker Services Pty Ltd ABN 77 161 731 111, our Credit Representatives are authorised under Australian Credit Licence 484980. The aggregator charges us a fee depending on our contract arrangements, consisting of:

• a share of commission that is paid by the particular lender
• a membership fee for our business
• a monthly fee for each of our accredited loan writers.

We have access to a panel of lenders through Connective. Macquarie Bank Limited is a 25% shareholder of Connective. We have access to products including those from Macquarie Bank Limited.

Commissions paid by Connective's lender panel are transparent and do not influence the broker or consumer choice. Connective is committed to quality consumer outcomes in all circumstances.

Referrers and referral fees

We obtain referrals from a range of sources, including accountants, financial planners, real estate agents and other people. If you were introduced or referred to us, we may pay the referrer a commission or a fee.

Details of any commission or fees being paid to the referrer will be included in the Summary of Requirements and Credit Proposal document we provide to you.

Dispute resolution and complaints

We are committed to providing you with the best possible service, however we understand there may be times where you are not satisfied. If this occurs please inform us verbally or in writing with the exact details of your complaint, so we can work towards a prompt and fair resolution.

If we are unable to reach a satisfactory resolution, you can make a complaint in writing to the Australian Credit Licence holder, Regional Finance Solutions Pty Ltd. With regards to complaints resolution, we are mindful of the need to ensure that consumers are treated fairly and with respect during the complaints handling process. Any dissatisfaction with a credit representative operating under the licence will be handled in an efficient, timely and effective manner in accordance with ASIC regulations of Internal Dispute Resolution (IDR).

Regional Finance Solutions Pty Ltd details are:
Attention:  Compliance and Complaints Handling Officer
Phone:  1800 734 346
Email:  finance@regfin.com.au
Website:  www.regfin.com.au
Mail: Regional Finance Solutions Pty Ltd, PO Box 529, Inverell NSW 2360

We hope that you will be satisfied with how we deal with your complaint. However, if your concerns remain unresolved, or you have not heard from us within 30 days, then you can have your complaint heard by an independent party. The complaint can be lodged with the Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA):

Phone: 1800 931 678 (free call)
Email:  info@afca.org.au
Website: www.afca.org.au
Mail: Australian Financial Complaints Authority, GPO Box 3, Melbourne VIC 3001

Time limits may apply to complain to AFCA and so you should act promptly or otherwise consult the AFCA website to find out if or when the time limit relevant to your circumstances expires.

Things you should know

We don't provide legal or financial planning advice. It is important you understand your legal obligations under the loan, and the financial consequences. If you have any doubts, you should obtain independent legal and financial planning advice before you enter any loan contract.

Entertainment and hospitality register

We hold and maintain an entertainment and hospitality register. A copy can be provided on request.

Preferential service offerings and programs

I have access to tiered servicing programs through the lenders listed below. These programs give you, as my customer, access to preferential services. Access to these programs is not based solely on the volume of loans submitted and does not entitle me to any additional commission outside of what I will disclose to you if a loan is submitted to one of these lenders. It should be noted that these preferential services do not provide customer discounts.

I have a preferential service relationship with Connective Essentials.

Further information

For more information regarding this Credit Guide or anything else about our services, just contact us at any time. We're here to assist you.

Representative Credit Guide

We have many appointed credit representatives to provide credit assistance to you.  To view the full list of our representatives please visit:

https://connectonline.asic.gov.au/