Contents

Definitions

ACCC means Australian Competition and Consumer Commission.

AFCA means Australian Financial Complaints Authority.

AFIA means Australian Finance Industry Association Limited ACN 000 493 907.

AFIA Finance Industry Code Compliance Committee (CCC) means the independent committee appointed by the AFIA Board to monitor and investigate compliance by Code Members with this Code.

ASIC means Australian Securities and Investments Commission.

Australian Credit Licence (ACL) has the meaning given in section 35(1) of the National Consumer Credit Protection Act 2009.

Authorised Credit Representative (ACR) means a credit representative as defined in sections 64 and 65 of the National Consumer Credit Protection Act 2009.

Balloon Payment (also known as a lump sum payment) means the payment agreed before the start of your loan that you make as the final payment at the end of your loan. This payment is normally larger than your regular repayment amount (hence the reference to balloon).

Business Day means a day which is not a Saturday, Sunday or a public or bank holiday in the place where the relevant act is to be performed.

Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) arrangement (as defined in section 13D(3) of the National Credit Code) is an arrangement or series of arrangements:

a. under which a person (the merchant) supplies goods or services to a Consumer and

b. under which a third person (the BNPL provider) directly or indirectly pays the merchant an amount that is some or all of the price for the supply in paragraph a.; and

c. includes a contract between the BNPL provider and the Consumer under which the BNPL provider provides credit to the Consumer in connection with the supply in paragraph a.

For the purposes of the definition of BNPL arrangement, and to avoid doubt:

  • it does not matter whether any fees or charges are payable by the consumer or the merchant in connection with the arrangement or series of arrangements; and
  • it does not matter whether the payment by the BNPL Provider occurs before, at or after the time when the goods or services are supplied by the merchant to the consumer; and
  • it does not matter whether the contract referred to in paragraph c. of the definition is a continuing credit contract; and
  • it is not necessary for the arrangement or series of arrangements to include any contract to which the merchant, the consumer and the BNPL provider are all parties.

Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) contract is a contract that is part of a BNPL arrangement (as defined above).

By-Laws means the AFIA Finance Industry Code of Practice By-Laws approved by the AFIA Board, as amended from time to time.

CCC Terms of Reference means the AFIA Finance Industry Code Compliance Committee Terms of Reference.

Chattel Mortgage means a finance agreement that is not regulated by the NCCP Act and provides money to purchase an asset which is used as security for the loan.

Code means this AFIA Finance Industry Code of Practice.

Code Member means an AFIA Member that has been accredited to this Code. Accreditation is completed by the CCC, which approves an AFIA member as a Code Member in accordance with the By-Laws and the CCC Terms of Reference.

Commercial Property means real estate (buildings or land) intended to generate a profit, either from capital gains or rental income.

Constitution means the Constitution of AFIA as amended from time to time.

Consumer means a natural person or strata corporation to whom credit is provided, or who applies for credit, where the credit is regulated under the National Consumer Credit Protection Act 2009.

Credit Report is a record about your credit activities. This information is managed by a credit reporting agency and may also include a credit rating, which is based on your credit history.

Customer means a Consumer or Small Business customer covered by this Code to whom we provide our products and services.

Effective Date means 1 October 2026

Farmer has the meaning in section 4 of the Farm Debt Mediation Act 1994 (NSW) and means a person (whether an individual person or a corporation) who is solely or principally engaged in a farming operation and includes a person who owns land cultivated under a share-farming agreement and the personal representatives of a deceased farmer.

A farming operation is defined in section 4AB of the Farm Debt Mediation Act 1994 (NSW) as meaning a business undertaking that primarily involves one or more of the following activities:

a. agriculture (for example, crop growing and livestock or grain farming)

b. aquaculture

c. the cultivation or harvesting of timber or native vegetation

and/or any activity involving primary production carried out in connection with an activity referred to in paragraphs a. to c.

Fringe Benefits Tax or FBT is a tax paid by employers on certain benefits provided to their employees, or to their employees’ family or other associates. FBT is separate to income tax and is calculated on the taxable value of the fringe benefit.

Finance Lease means a financing agreement which provides a right to use and control an asset but does not convey to the lessee any ownership right or option to acquire the asset, and under which the lessee bears the risk in the underlying value of the asset at the end of the contract.

Guarantor means an individual who gives a guarantee and/or indemnity to secure a Loan.

Hire Purchase is an agreement between a borrower and a lender to buy a vehicle or equipment over an agreed period.

Household Expenditure Measure means a standard benchmark developed by the Melbourne Institute and used by some lenders to estimate a loan applicant’s annual expenses.

Insurance Premium Funding Product means a loan which has a Term and where:

a. the finance is provided (or to be provided) for a purpose that is wholly or predominantly to fund Insurance Premiums; and

b. the finance provided (or to be provided) is:

i. unsecured (with or without a guarantee), or

ii. secured by any form of security that is not a mortgage over land in registrable form.

Intermediary means people or entities with whom we have a written agreement who are involved in the distribution of our products or who refer you to us. In this Code, Intermediaries cover (but are not limited to) brokers, aggregators, advisers, motor dealers, introducers, and referrers.

Large Corporate Customer means a customer that is:

a. listed on an Australian or overseas stock exchange; or

b. a partnership or joint venture with more than 20 partners or venturers; or

c. an APRA-regulated entity; or

d. an Australian Financial Services Licensee or Australian Credit Licensee; or

e. a corporate collective investment vehicle; or

f. a member of a business group that includes any of the above.

Loan means a loan offered or provided to a Customer by a Code Member.

Loan Amount means the total amount of credit or finance made available, or to be made available, under a loan contract.

Low Cost Credit Contract (LCCC) means a contract where:

a. credit is or may be provided under the contract; and

b. the contract is a BNPL contract or a contract prescribed by the NCCP regulations; and

c. the period during which credit is or may be provided under the contract is no longer than the period (if any) prescribed by the NCCP regulations; and

d. the contract satisfies any requirements prescribed by the NCCP regulations that relate to fees or charges that are or may be payable under the contract;

e. the contract satisfies any other requirements prescribed by the NCCP regulations.

An LCCC provider may follow the modified responsible lending obligations and must meet certain fee cap conditions.

Motor Dealer means a person or business who carries on the business of buying, selling or exchanging motor vehicles, and does not include a credit provider.

NCCP Act means the National Consumer Credit Protection Act 2009, as varied from time to time.

Novated lease means a finance lease or an operating lease that has been novated via a tripartite agreement between the lessor, the lessee and the lessee’s employer (who is a client of the lessor), with the employer becoming the lessee for the duration of the novation agreement.

Novated Lease Interest Rate means the compound interest rate (where interest is applied or compounded on a monthly basis) that is used to determine your novated lease repayments by reference to the net amount financed, the number and pattern of finance payments and the residual value.

Operating Lease means a financing agreement that provides a right to use and control an asset but does not convey any ownership right or option to acquire the asset, and under which the lessor bears the risk in the underlying value of the asset at the end of the contract.

Product Disclosure Statement (PDS) has the meaning set out in section 1012C of the Corporations Act 2001.

Residual Value (also known as a residual payment) means the estimated value of a vehicle at the end of the lease term taking into account the depreciation in the value of the vehicle over time.

Retailer means a person or business that sells goods or services to the public.

Security means an asset pledged by a borrower to the lender to secure a borrower's obligations to the lender under the contract. For a Consumer, it may be property or a vehicle, or the asset that is acquired with the proceeds of the loan. For a Small Business customer, it may be property, inventory, account receivables or another asset used as collateral for a loan.

Small Business means a business that:

a. employs fewer than 100 people at the time the contract is signed; or

b. has a turnover for the last income year of less than $10,000,000; and

c. the upfront price payable under the contract does not exceed $5,000,000.

Target Market Determination (TMD) has the meaning set out in section 994B of the Corporations Act 2001.

Term Loan is a loan for a specific amount that the borrower repays in instalments according to a specified repayment schedule for a defined period. The interest rate can be either fixed or variable (also known as a floating rate) for the term of the loan.

Upfront price payable is the amount disclosed to a Small Business customer for the supply of the product at or before the time the contract is entered into. It does not include any fees or charges for something that may or may not happen during the contract. For example, for a business loan contract the upfront price includes the amount borrowed (principal), the interest rate and any establishment fee disclosed when the contract is entered into, but not loan default fees as these fees are contingent on the borrower defaulting.