Beware of Bank Impersonation Scams – learn more
Sometimes banking and finance jargon can be hard to understand, we've defined key terms to make banking easy. Below is our A-Z glossary of banking terms.
A
Additional cardholder
An additional cardholder is a person who has a secondary card that is linked to the primary cardholder’s credit or debit card account.
Additional repayments
Additional repayments are any amount you pay in excess of your regular minimum repayments.
Account balance
An account balance is the amount of money someone has in their account.
Account Based Pension
A retirement income stream that comes from your superannuation balance.
Account keeping fee
Some banks and lenders charge ongoing fees to maintain your account. These are known as account keeping fees.
Age Pension
An age pension is a support payment made by the government to eligible Australians who have reached retirement age.
Allocated Pension
See account-based pension.
AML-CTF (Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Act)
AML-CTF is Australian legislation that regulates financial and gambling sectors to fight money laundering and terrorism financing.
Arrears
The amount that is still owed and is past the due date.
ATM card
A plastic card that gives you access to your money via an Automatic Teller Machine (ATM).
Attorney
Attorney (in Australia) generally means a person authorised under a Power of Attorney to act on the Principal’s behalf in respect of financial and legal matters.
Australian business number (ABN)
An ABN is a unique 11-digit number issued by the Australian Tax Office (ATO) to identify your business.
Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA)
AFCA is an external dispute resolution scheme for consumers who are not able to resolve complaints with financial institutions. AFCA can assist in reaching agreements with financial institutions and consumers.
Australian Securities & Investments Commission (ASIC)
ASIC is Australia's integrated corporate, markets, financial services and consumer credit regulator. ASIC is an independent Australian Government body.
Automatic Teller Machine (ATM)
An ATM is a machine that allows you to withdraw or (in some instances) deposit cash.
Auto Transfer
The periodic payments that you set up from your account
B
Balance
The amount in your bank account
Bank@Post
A service provided by Australia Post on behalf of financial institutions that allows you to make withdrawals, deposits and balance enquiries at participating post offices.
Bank account
A product that gives you access to your money, allowing you to withdraw or deposit money and in some cases earn interest on your money.
Bank fees
Charges made by banks on certain transactions
Bank draft
A bank draft is like a bank cheque. It is a payment instruction that guarantees payment of funds from your financial institution. It can be made out in a foreign currency. See cheque.
Bankruptcy
Bankruptcy is where a person legally declares that they cannot pay their debts.
Borrower
A borrower is a person who borrows money from a financial institution. For example, someone who takes out a loan.
BPAY®
BPAY is a bill payment system that allows you to pay your bills through online, mobile or telephone banking.
Branch
A bank branch is a physical retail location where you can manage your money in person.
Bridging Loan
A bridging loan is a short loan, typically used when someone is selling their property and looking to buy a new property (to cover the intervening period).
BSB
A Bank State Branch (BSB) is a unique six digital number that is used to identify your bank and branch.
C
Card issuer
A card issuer is a financial institution that provides cards and, in some cases, manages credit.
Cash
Cash is money in the physical form (in notes or coins).
Cash advance
A cash advance is when you withdraw money using your credit card.
Cheque
A cheque is a document that instructs the bank to pay a specified amount to the person named on the cheque.
Cheque account
A cheque account is a transactional account that withdraws funds from your everyday banking account, and from which cheques can be drawn.
Cleared funds
Cleared funds are deposits that have been verified by your bank and are available to be immediately used.
Commission
A commission refers to a payment made, or profit made during a sale of a product/service. It is usually a percentage of the profit from the sale.
Comparison rate
A comparison rate is the interest rate plus most fees and charges relating to a loan.
Contract
A legally binding agreement between two or more parties
Credit
Credit is an agreement that allows a person to borrow money which will later be paid back, usually with interest.
Credit card
A credit card is a physical plastic card that allows cardholders to access/spend the money that they’ve borrowed.
Credit file
A credit file (sometimes called a credit report or credit history) is a record of any time you’ve ever applied for credit or a loan, even if you weren’t approved, your repayment history and whether you’ve ever had any payment defaults (among other things).
Credit limit
A credit limit is the maximum funds a person can borrow.
Credit rating
Your credit score is based on personal and financial information about you that's kept in your credit report.
Customer Identification Process
A standard requirement for a person to provide identification documents for the purpose of seeking banking services.
Customer-owned bank
Customer-owned banks, sometimes referred to as mutual banks, are banks that are owned by their customers.
D
Debts (liabilities)
Debt, sometimes referred to as liabilities, is any obligation owed to a lender.
Debit
A debit is money going out of a savings account.
Debit card
A debit card is a physical plastic card that allows cardholders to access their own money.
Direct debit
Direct debits allow you to authorise a merchant or business to automatically debit (deduct) from your transaction account or Visa Card.
Direct Entry
Direct entry is the traditional batch-based payment service.
Debt to Equity Ratio
The debt-to-equity ratio is a measurement that indicates the proportion of total debt to an individual’s total equity. It is often used by financial institutions to assess the risk of a borrower.
Deposit
Depositing is putting money into your account.
Dormant account
At Qudos Bank, an account can be classified as a dormant account if there have been no customer initiated transactions for 12 months and we have followed certain procedures required by our Constitution.
E
Electronic banking
Electronic banking is a collective reference to Telephone, Mobile and Online Banking.
EFTPOS
EFTPOS stands for Electronic Funds Transfer at Point Sale. It is a system that uses payment cards such as debit or credit card to electronically transfers fund at a point of purchase.
ePayments code
ePayments Code is the code issued by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission in September 2011 (as amended from time to time) which regulates consumer electronic payments.
Establishment fee
To complete all the necessary paperwork to set up a loan, sometimes a fee is charged. This fee is called an establishment fee.
Equity
Equity is the ownership of assets such as a car or house.
Expenses
Expenses are costs needed for a product or service. For example, the cost of electricity usage is an expense.
F
Fixed rate loan
A fixed rate home loan locks in a specific interest rate for your home loan for a specified amount of time.
Foreign exchange
Foreign exchange is transferring from one currency to another.
Frequent flyer program
A frequent flyer program is a loyalty program that often allows you to earn points when you spend, save, or pay off your loan. Frequent flyer points can be redeemed for international or domestic flights or for physical products.
G
Guarantor
A guarantor is a person who acts as additional security on a loan by agreeing to pay off a borrower’s debt if the borrower fails to pay off their loan.
H
Home Loan
A home loan is an amount of money that a person borrows from a financial institution to buy a property. This amount is repaid over an extended period and generally includes a Mortgage.
I
Income
An income is money received regularly, for example from employment or investments.
Interest
Interest is the charge made to the lender or financial institution when you borrow money.
Interest rate
For loans, this is the amount you pay the lender on top of your principal borrowing. For savings accounts, this is reflect the money you receive for your investment.
Interest only
Interest-only repayments means the borrower does not make repayments on the principal balance, only interest. During an interest only period, your interest only payments will not reduce your loan balance. This may mean you pay more interest over the life of the loan.
Internet banking
Internet banking, sometimes referred to as Online Banking, means an internet banking portal where you can do things like access your accounts, make payments and organise your accounts online.
Investor
An investor is someone who invests their money, examples include shares and investment properties.
J
Joint account
An account with multiple account holders.
L
Lump sum payment
A lump sum payment is when you make a single payment instead of multiple payments or instalments.
LVR (Loan to Value Ratio)
Loan-to-Value Ratio (LVR) is represented as the loan as a percentage of the value of the property you're buying. The bigger your deposit, the lower the LVR will be.
M
Maturity
To be paid at maturity means to pay at the end of the specified term.
Member
At Qudos Bank, a member means someone who holds membership (by way of paid or unpaid shares) in Qudos Mutual Limited trading as Qudos Bank.
Member Access Password
At Qudos Bank, your Member Access Password means the password our Call Centre gives you to facilitate Telephone Banking.
Member Number (also know as Customer Number)
At Qudos Bank, your Member Number means the unique Member number (or Customer Number) we give you when you become a customer of Qudos Bank (we also call this a “RIM”). We generally only allocate one Member number, regardless of the number of accounts you hold with Qudos Bank.
Merchant
Merchant means a business who accepts your Visa card in payment for the supply of goods or services.
Minimum repayment
A minimum repayment is lowest amount required to pay, often referred to in the context of credit card repayments.
Mobile banking
Mobile banking generally means a mobile banking app that allows you to bank electronically using your smartphone, computer tablet or phablet.
Mortgage
A mortgage is generally taken by the lender in conjunction with a home loan and is security over the property for which the money is being borrowed. If the borrower defaults under the home loan the lender has the right to sell the property to recoup their funds.
Mortgage broker
A mortgage broker is a person who acts as an intermediary between you and the credit provider and must act in your best interests when suggesting a home loan for you.
N
Net worth
Net worth is the total value of all assets owned, taking in account liabilities.
NPP Payments
NPP means the New Payments Platform. NPP Payments means payments cleared and settled via the NPP and includes Osko payments and SCT payments.
O
Offset account
Offset accounts work as a transaction account linked to your home loan. The money in that account 'offsets' daily against the outstanding balance of your loan.
Overdraft
An overdraft is a line of credit that gives you access to additional funds if your funds run out.
P
PayID
A PayID is a unique identifier, like a phone number or email address, that you can securely link to your bank account and share instead of your BSB and account number.
Per annum (pa)
Per year.
Personal Identification Number (PIN)
A personal identification number is a passcode used to authenticate access to a system, for example you will need to enter your card PIN when accessing ATM machines.
Personal loan
A personal loan is when a person borrows money from a financial institution for a variety of purposes such as a holiday, car, a hobby. It may be secured or unsecured.
Principal
Principal is the amount of money you borrow from your bank or lender. It also refers to the person granting a Power of Attorney.
Q
Quarter
A quarter is a three-month period of a financial calendar.
R
Refinance
Refinancing evolves making changes to your loan – could be consolidating debt, switch to a different loan type or changing financial institutions.
S
Scams and scammers
A scam is a deceptive or deceitful act where one person deceives or tricks another person into giving them something (usually money).
Split loan
A split rate home loan, allows you to divide your home loan across multiple accounts, each of which may have different interest rates and features.
Stamp duty
Stamp Duty is a tax associated with certain purchases. For example, buying a house, land, or a car.
Statement
A statement is a regular summary of the transactions on a bank account, often received monthly.
Superannuation
Superannuation is money put aside during a person’s working life to be accessed in retirement.
T
Telephone Banking
Telephone banking is a banking service that allows you to manage your money via telephone.
Term deposit
A term deposit is a sum of money deposited in an interest earning account for a fixed term.
Terms and conditions
A Legal document outlining the contractual relationship between the provider of a service and its user
Transactions
Actions taken on your bank account, for example transferring money from your account to another.
Tax file number (TFN)
A tax file number is unique identifier for reference in the tax system.
U
Unauthorised transactions
Unauthorised transactions means a transaction on your account that’s not authorised by the user.
V
Variable rate
A variable rate home loan is a home loan with an interest rate that may change over time.
w
Withdrawal
To take money out of your account.
