13 June, 2008

Due to the recent increase in fraudulent VisaCard transactions throughout the world, a $3,000 daily transaction limit has been implemented on all Visa Access accounts. We have made this change to protect Unicredit and our members from the potential of large value losses.

Should you need to have your daily limit temporarily increased to allow for larger purchases, please call Unicredit on (08)9389 1011 during business hours 8.30am to 4.30pm Monday to Friday.

05 June, 2008

The ability to exit a mortgage at minimal cost is becomingly increasingly important as other lenders hike their rates beyond Reserve Bank increases.

With most lenders increasing their standard variable rates beyond the recent series of Reserve Bank increases, dissatisfied customers have begun to assess their options.

A great deal of focus has now been placed on the costs of moving a mortgage if the rate with your current lender becomes uncompetitive. The main barrier to leaving a bank mortgage is the ‘exit’ fee or ‘early termination’ fee, charged for early repayment. This may include a ‘deferred establishment’ fee, with the total cost of exiting the mortgage being as much as 2% of the total amount that was originally funded - not just the amount being paid out.

These exit fees can lock you into a potentially unsuitable product and cost you over the long-term. So while not an up-front cost in establishing a mortgage, exit fees should really be taken into account when choosing your home lender.

As a member-driven organisation, Unicredit recognises that there are legitimate reasons why people need to vary or pay out their mortgage, so we only seek to recover the costs incurred by Unicredit.

For example, while there are staff costs in coordinating mortgage discharge paperwork, these only amount to $125 at Unicredit. Titles are administered in WA by Landgate, which is the old DOLA Government department, who charge $88 to discharge a mortgage. The other cost is just to physically present the papers to Landgate in Midland, and if you do not wish to attend personally, a settlement agent will charge about $67 to attend. These real costs in handling your mortgage should be compared against the exit fees which you may find in the mortgages of other lenders.

While we are upfront about our costs (and have even written a newsletter article about them) with other lenders you may have to do a lot of digging into the loan contract. These fees may not even become obvious until you actually incur them.

At the start of a loan, the last thing you’re thinking of is paying it out, or that your circumstances might change.

It’s when your circumstances change that personal service and a genuinely low fee structure become important. We spend a lot of time each week working with our members on ways to restructure their loans; when they wish to sell their home, buy an investment property or restructure their existing loans between fixed and variable rates.

As our fees are based on real costs, there is no incentive to charge fees first and ask questions later. If a payment is missed we will follow up as quickly as possible, to ensure there isn’t an underlying reason, rather than just levying a penalty fee within days.

We take a long term view in dealing with our members, and it is often through their friends and family that we attract new business. Dealing with our members honestly and fairly produces its own rewards, and as a member driven organisation we can not operate any other way.

With rates increasing, now is a great time to find out how you can benefit by moving your home loan across to Unicredit.

If you take a look at the rates on our website or ask at a branch, I’m pretty confident that the move will be worthwhile. To assist we will even waive the established fee of $200, for all mortgage transfers over $100,000.

If you’d like to restructure your home loan and save money, we can help and that is a lot easier now that mortgage stamp duty has been abolished on owner-occupied homes.

05 June, 2008

05 June, 2008

Financial Advice is about making the most of what you have...

A Bridges Financial Planner can make a difference in any of these situations:

• Choosing the appropriate investments
  
• Ways to increase your super balance
  
• Ways to reduce tax
  
• What to do with an unexpected windfall
  
• Whether gearing or negative gearing to invest would suit you
  
• How to plan for a comfortable retirement
  
• What insurance you need to protect your assets and your family
  
• Setting up a Will or arranging trusts

05 June, 2008

You now have a choice when paying with your Visa Access Card

Currently when you use your Visa Access card to pay for something at a shop, you can press ‘credit’ and sign to accept the transaction. Participating shops will now be able to accept a Personal Identification Number (PIN), to make things quicker and easier.

Of course, you can continue to sign as you’ve always done.

01 July, 2008

The 2008-09 State Budget has announced the long-awaited lowering of stamp duty payable on residential property purchases and transfers.

From July 1, the duty payable on a median-priced house will fall approximately 15%, representing an average saving to homebuyers of $2,828.

This follows last year’s abolition of stamp duty for first homebuyers on properties up to $500,000 (with a partial exemption on properties up to $600,000).

This duty payable on land transfers has often been confused with the much smaller duty payable on mortgage documentation. However, this mortgage duty has now been completely abolished, and will save about $300 on the average mortgage of $239,700.

The removal of this stamp duty makes it even more beneficial to move your mortgage across to Unicredit, or to use your existing home to secure personal borrowings at a much lower rate.

New Stamp Duty Rates on Residential Property

01 April, 2008

With your new account numbers and your old membership number, your account access is more flexible than ever.

In the past, if you wished to have two separate Visa Access accounts, you would need to establish two separate membership identifications, which resulted in two separate monthly statements and two internet banking logins. With the introduction of account numbers, it is now possible to have more than one of each account type under your membership - which has the potential to simplify the banking of those who have multiple memberships.

Simplifying Account Access
When you have more than one account of the one type (e.g. access to two different On Call Savings accounts), account numbers are the key to identifying which account is which.

To help, we have included with your current statement an account summary card, which you can use to keep a note of your account numbers and those of other memberships that you may wish to transfer to. All your account numbers are listed at the end of your statement and you’ll notice that all your savings accounts begin with our BSB number, 036.

Account summary cards with phone banking and sms balance information can also be picked up at your Unicredit branch.

Each individual or organisation must have a unique membership number but you only need to have the one. If you have multiple memberships through joint and single memberships, then speak to your branch about alternatives to simplify your account structure and account access in internet banking.

When Your Member Number is Best
While account numbers allow you to move funds directly to specific accounts within your membership, there are times when sticking with your membership number is best…

Direct Debits:
When you establish direct debit payments with your billers, it is best to continue using your membership number. This allows us the maximum possibility of honouring the payment, should there be insufficient funds in your primary transaction account.

Payroll Splits:
When you provide your ‘bank account details’ to your payroll office, it is still best to stick with your membership number. This allows us a great deal of flexibility to direct your pay into your preferred accounts and save you a lot of time and effort making transfers. For example, you may wish to split $20 into a Christmas Saver account or make regular payments directly to a personal loan account. Things are kept simple for your payroll office and you have flexibility once your money gets here.

27 March, 2007

No application fee – No annual fee

A Visa Debit card provides the flexibility of retail and internet purchases and the convenience of the one account for all your Visa, EFTPOS and cash out transactions.

We’ll even attach a credit limit to the card so you’ll have additional funds available – with no overdraft application fee.*

By combining your savings account with your Visa card you’ll have the simplicity of using your own money with one account balance and statement. Plus your Visa purchases won’t count towards your ten free debit transactions.

With no application fee, no annual fees and no extra fees for rewards programs, Visa Debit is a better option for many of our members. Just ask at the branch or download an application form off the Unicredit website.

:: click here for Unicredit Visa Debit details
:: click here to apply online for a card and credit limit



* All loan applications are subject to Unicredit’s normal lending criteria. Fees and government charges apply, please refer to our Fees and Charges Schedule, available from any Unicredit branch or discuss with a Lending Consultant. This information does not take into account your personal needs or financial circumstances and you should consider if it is appropriate for you. To decide if a product is right for you, Unicredit recommends you read our Information, Terms and Conditions brochure – available on this website or by visiting a branch.