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FAQs

Managing your loan

You can add, amend, and delete direct debit details on your account under the 'Manage' tab in your Firstmac Money account. Alternatively, call our Customer Care Team on 13 12 20 (Monday to Friday between 7am to 7pm AEST) and we will update your Direct Debit immediately.

You can set up a Pay Anyone account using our online money management service Firstmac Money. Just log in to your account and hover your cursor over the “Manage” tab, and then select “Personal Payees” from the drop down list. As a security measure, we will send you an SMS activation code that must be entered before you can send any money to the new payee.

If you don’t have a mobile phone signal to receive the SMS activation code, please contact our Customer Care Team on 13 12 20 (7am-7pm Monday to Friday) and we will send you a form to set up a new Pay Anyone account.

To access Firstmac money visit https://money.firstmac.com.au/Account/Login or click the Login icon in the top right hand corner of the website. If not, give us a call on 13 12 20 from 7am to 7pm AEST Monday to Friday and our staff can set you up.

To access your current interest rate please log into Firstmac Money. Select the "Accounts" tab, then click on "Account/ BSB Details" (written in small text on the right hand side of the screen, next to the available balance figure.) A pop up will appear showing your current interest rate and other repayment details.

You can check your offset sub-account balance using our online service Firstmac Money, by clicking on the “Accounts” menu and selecting the account. If you are making weekly or fortnightly payments, the available offset sub-account balance may include some money that you need to leave in the account for your next monthly repayment. Alternatively, you can contact our Customer Care team on 13 12 20 (7am to 7pm AEST Monday to Friday). We’ll be happy to help.

You can setup a Pay Anyone account using our online finance management service Firstmac Money. Just log in to your account and hover your cursor over the "Manage" tab, and then select "Personal Payees" from the drop down list. As a security measure, we will send you an SMS activation code that must be entered before you can send any money to the new payee.

If you don’t have a mobile phone signal to receive the SMS activation code, contact our Customer Care team on 13 12 20 (7am-7pm AEST Monday to Friday) and we will send you a form to set up a new Pay Anyone account.

If you’re making Interest Only repayments, then your repayments will be monthly. If you’re making Principal and Interest repayments, then you have the option to choose between weekly, fortnightly, or monthly payments. To discuss your repayment options further, please contact Customer Care team on 13 12 20 (7am -7pm AEST Monday to Friday). We’ll be happy to help.

Customers with Principal and Interest accounts can view their next repayment amount using our Firstmac Money service, by clicking on the “Accounts” menu and selecting the loan account. Viewing your next repayment amount online is not available for Interest Only accounts. All customers can find out their next repayment amount by contacting our Customer Care Team on 13 12 20 from 7am to 7pm AEST Monday to Friday. We’ll be happy to help.

Yes, you can redraw from your variable loan or offset-sub account, as long as you have funds available. Note if you are making weekly or fortnightly payments, the available balance may include some money you need to leave in the account for your next monthly repayment. You cannot redraw funds from a fixed loan.

Additional repayments into a fixed home loan are allowed up to a maximum of $10,000 per annum. There is no redraw or offset available unless there is a variable split.

With fixed rates there can be a rate-break fee. It depends upon how your fixed rate compares with the current rate. If you want to break a fixed rate agreement after rates have gone down, there will be a cost. If they have gone up, there may be no cost.

As nominated by you on your direct debit form returned with the documents pack, in accordance with your loan aggreement. Our Customer Care team will also confirm your repayment dates when calling you at loan settlement.

Yes, you can split your home loan to have both variable and fixed interest rate components. Please call or email our Customer Care team on 13 12 20 (customercare@firstmac.com.au) to discuss splitting your loan.

A monthly Principal and Interest repayment is calculated with reference to the loan term, the interest rate and the amount of debt outstanding.

Each repayment is calculated to cover the interest amount charged and the remainder will reduce the principal/balance of the loan. Fortnightly and weekly loan repayments are based half or quarter of the monthly repayment amount.

Please call our Customer Care on 13 12 20 between 7am to 7pm (AEST) Monday to Friday to set your repayment. This can be the minimum repayment required, or a higher sum of your choice.

If you have a Principal and Interest loan, you can select weekly, fortnightly or monthly repayments. If you have an Interest Only loan, repayments must be made monthly.

Yes, please call Customer Care on 13 12 20 between 7am to 7pm AEST Monday to Friday to arrange the payout of your home Loan. Our team will provide you with indicative payout figures and guide you through the process.

There are no fees associated with accessing or using your online Firstmac Money account. This includes viewing transactions, transferring funds, or scheduling payments. You can also download interim statements for free under the 'Manage' tab in Firstmac Money.

Customer Care

A Target Market Determination is a document which sets out the target market for a financial product, as well as information regarding the distribution of that product. We’re required to have Target Market Determinations for each of our products under the Treasury Laws Amendment (Design and Distribution Obligations and Product Intervention Powers) Act 2019. Please contact us if you would like a copy of the Target Market Determination for any of our products.

Please call our Payments team on 1300 784 434 between 7am to 5pm AEST Monday to Friday for further assistance.

You can call Customer Care on 13 12 20 option 3. Our Customer Care team are based in Brisbane and Manila, and is available from weekdays 7am to 7pm (AEST).

Australia is moving to a new system of Comprehensive Credit Reporting (CCR) which will give lenders a clearer picture of each applicant’s finances.

The new system has been put in place by the Federal Government so that lenders can make better decisions about who they give a loan to.

Learn more about Comprehensive Credit Reporting (CCR)

Firstmac Money is secured by Geotrust. SSL certificates from Geotrust® are the ultimate security and trust solution delivering both 256-bit encryption and the True Site™ trust mark providing third-party website identity validation. The presence of SSL means you can rest assured that communications (e.g. credit card numbers) between your browser and this site’s web servers are private and secure when the SSL session is activated.

Firstmac welcomes all feedback from all our customers. If you have a concern that can’t be resolved straight away, we will investigate your case and keep you informed of the progress.

If you have a complaint, please contact Firstmac at: customerrelations@firstmac.com.au

Firstmac has an Internal Dispute Resolution (IDR) process to investigate and respond to all customer complaints within 45 days. Our IDR process is detailed below.

Referral

When we receive a complaint, the matter is referred to a manager with the appropriate knowledge and authority to undertake the investigation.

Investigation

The manager completes a thorough investigation of your complaint and sources any supporting documentation if required. Once their investigation is completed, full details and results are returned to the Customer Relations team for assessment.

Response

Once we receive the completed complaint investigation, we will then provide the outcome of the investigation and the reasons for reaching that decision to you in the same way you contacted us whether that’s by post, fax, email (if submitted via our website), or telephone.

If you aren’t satisfied with our response to your complaint, you have the option to contact the Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA) with your concerns.

Before you contact AFCA, you must give Firstmac the opportunity to investigate and respond to your complaint.You can contact the Australian Financial Complaints Authority at www.afca.org.au or on 1800 931 678.

By calling in and speaking to someone in our Payments team on 1300 784 434. You will need to complete a hardship application and return it with the relevant supporting documents within 28 days.

When we receive your hardship application we will contact you within 5 days. Depending on your personal circumstances, it may take up to 4 weeks to have a final outcome on your hardship application commencing from when we receive your hardship application, complete with the relevant supporting documents.

High Livez

An investment in Firstmac High Livez ARSN 147 322 923 (Fund) entails risk, the following is a non-exhaustive summary of some of the risks applying to an investment in the Fund. Prior to making an investment in the Fund you should carefully read the product disclosure statement and consider obtaining professional financial advice.

Auto ABS Risk

Market risk Auto ABS is a type of Asset-Backed Security that is secured by automobile consumer and commercial loans. Similar to RMBS risk (above) whether principal and interest is paid on an ABS note partly depends on whether the underlying borrowers default on the loans.

Capital risk

The repayment of capital is not guaranteed. Consequently, you could lose some or all of your money invested in the Fund.

Credit risk

This risk relates to the Fund's exposure to movements in credit risk ratings of issuers of the fund's assets. Credit risk ratings are an assessment of an issuer's ability to meet its financial obligations. If credit risk ratings change, this may reduce the value of the Fund's assets which may in turn reduce the overall value of the Fund.

Interest rate risk

The risk that the capital value or income of an investment may be adversely affected when interest rates rise or fall. In particular, the income of a RMBS can fluctuate significantly in reaction to changes in interest rates. RMBS transactions are typically floating rate in nature paying a fixed margin over BBSW. Reductions in BBSW will result in a lower income. The capital value of RMBS can fluctuate significantly in reaction to changes in fixed margins available in the market.

Market risk

Generally, the investment return on a particular asset is correlated to the return on other assets from the same market, region or asset class. Market risk is impacted by broad factors such as interest rates, political environment, investor sentiment and certain events may have a negative effect on the price of all types of investments within a particular market. These events may include changes in economic, social, technological or political conditions, as well as market sentiment, the causes of which may include changes in governments or government policies, political unrest, wars, terrorism, pandemics and natural, nuclear and environmental disasters. The duration and potential impacts of such events can be highly unpredictable, which may give rise to increased and/or prolonged market volatility.

RMBS risk

RMBS is a type of Asset-Backed Security that is secured by a pool of residential mortgages. Whether principal and interest is paid on an RMBS note partly depends on whether the underlying borrowers default on the loans held by the RMBS trust. If the underlying borrower does default on their loan, the following steps will usually occur:

  • Possession taken of the residential property,
  • Sale of the residential property RMBS risk
  • Any shortfall is submitted as a claim to mortgage insurers If mortgage insurers
  • If mortgage insurers are unable to pay the claim (for example deteriorated financial capacity arising from extreme adverse financial conditions) then the shortfall would be absorbed by the net interest margin of the RMBS trust
  • If the net interest margin is insufficient then the cash reserve, if any, would be used to meet the shortfall
  • If the cash reserve is insufficient then the principal of the lowest Class notes is reduced
  • If the lowest Class note is insufficient then the principal of the lowest Class notes is reduced
  • If that Class note is insufficient then the principal of the next lowest Class note is reduced and so on. The highest Class notes will have a lower interest rate because of their security position at the top of the principal and interest priority order. The lower Class notes will have a higher interest rate because of their security position in the principal and interest priority order.

The term prime refers to the credit quality of an underlying mortgage and includes only borrowers with clean credit histories with no prior credit defaults.

Auto ABS are Asset-Backed Securities which are secured by a pool of prime automobile consumer and commercial loans.

The Firstmac High Livez is a unit trust which gives investors the opportunity to pool their money with that of other investors to achieve economies of scale.

Residential Mortgage Backed Securities (RMBS) are a type of Note or Bond that is secured by a pool of residential mortgages. An RMBS note is typically registered on Austraclear, a clearing and settlement system used in capital markets, and is able to be traded in the secondary market. An RMBS transaction will usually be issued in two or more separate tranches based on the priority of principal and interest payments.

An investment in the fund gives:

  • Investors the opportunity to pool their money with that of other investors which could achieve economies of scale
  • Lower management costs than some peers
  • Access to investments not normally available to the retail public

We only invest in prime RMBS and Auto ABS assets. The mortgages held in the underlying bonds are geographically spread across Australia. The Investment Committee formally evaluates each bond the funds invests in to manage portfolio risk. We invest across a number of bond issuers ranging from the Big4, credit unions and non-bank financial institutions.

It's a managed fund so we manage the investment choice. That means you just invest in High Livez, and we choose which bonds the fund invests in.

The initial minimum investment amount is $10,000. You must also maintain a minimum balance amount of $10,000.

Yes, you can. Additional contributions of $1,000 or more can be made monthly. Regular contributions are accepted through direct debit. Contact us to find out more.

No, there are no exit fees. However, withdrawals are only allowed monthly. Contact us for the withdrawal process and timelines.

‘When we receive your funds into the Applications accounts, they will remain there until the end of the month. Units in the Trust will be issued on the first day of the following month. Investors should be aware that funds received into the Applications account will not receive interest until Units are issued.

Distributions can either be automatically reinvested into the Trust or credited to your nominated bank account.

You can choose whichever option you prefer, whether to credit the monthly distribution to your bank account or reinvest it into your High Livez account. You can always change it along the way.

You can invest for as long as you like. The suggested investment term is 3-5 years.

The trust is valued monthly and the distributions are paid monthly.

The financial services provided by us and referred to in this FSG are:

  • Arranging the issue of financial products – arranging your application for the issue of Units in Firstmac High Livez – where we act on your behalf;
  • Proving general advice – providing general financial product advice about Firstmac High Livez – where we act on our own behalf; and
  • Investment management – managing the investments within Firstmac High Livez – where we act on behalf of Perpetual.

Potential conflicts may occasionally arise between your interests, our interests, and those of our related parties and other parties (including service providers appointed by us). As the holder of an Australian Financial Services Licence (AFSL), we have statutory and common law fiduciary duties to manage conflicts of interest, and if there is a conflict between your interests and our own interests, give priority to your interests. We have policies, procedures and organisational arrangements in place to manage conflicts of interest. Our Board is responsible for the management and resolution of conflicts of interest arising in relation to the operation of our financial services business.

Contact us and we will email you the Product Disclosure Statement along with the application form.

Term Deposit

You can invest up to AUD $5 million dollars at the rate advertised on the www.firstmac.com.au website. If you have an investment amount larger than this we can provide you with a tailored rate specific to this larger amount.

There are no set up costs applicable.

You can choose to automatically reinvest the original sum plus the interest you have earned

You can add to your original deposit once it matures

You can withdraw the interest you have earned and elect to reinvest the principal, or

Don't reinvest and have the principal and interest paid to an external account

The minimum investment amount is AUD $5,000.

You are not permitted to deposit additional money into a term deposit during the term. However, once the term is completed you can add funds for a new term.

Our standard terms are 30 days, 60 days, 90 days, 6 months, 9 months, 12 months, and 24 months. If you have a specific term in mind, such as 50 days, please advise our support staff and we will review to see if we may be able to provide you with a rate & term that suits you

No, you can open as many separate term deposits as you like.

A Term deposits is a cash investment held at a financial institution for an agreed rate of interest over a fixed amount of time.

Funds transfer

Simply transfer funds from any Australian bank account using the Firstmac BSB (704 997).

Direct debit

Complete the direct debit request when you apply online for a term deposit. For this we require your BSB, account number, and date you would like us to debit your account.

Cheque

Please send to GPO Box 7001, Brisbane QLD 4001

You can't make a partial withdrawal from your term deposit account. However, you can withdraw all your funds during the term if you wish but the interest rate applied will reduce. Please refer to the Firstmac Deposits Product Disclosure Statement.

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