It's an exciting new way for people to borrow money from other people. The people providing the funding are investors who would like to loan money to creditworthy borrowers.
Borrowers get the recognition for their good credit behaviour by saving with better rates. For investors, it offers an opportunity to invest in a new, attractive fixed income asset class.
"Payday" lenders are generally lenders of last resort. In return for access to short-term credit (about 30 days) and loans that are typically of small nominal value, payday borrowers pay extremely high fees and interest rates.
SocietyOne is not a payday lender. We look for creditworthy, quality borrowers who typically have established relationships with major banks. Our loans range up to 60 months, from $5,000 to $50,000, which does not fit with the definition of a payday loan. We think quality borrowers with good track records are not getting the best rate they deserve.
SocietyOne is not a bank. Marketplace lending provides a different and interesting alternative for creditworthy borrowers and fixed income investors to get a better deal. Part of the attraction is that it can provide better rates and returns without the infrastructure cost and complexity that comes from being a traditional bank or deposit-taking institution.
SocietyOne offers fixed rate personal loans – which means the interest rate doesn’t change during the term of your loan so your repayments will remain the same. In addition we don’t charge early repayment fees if you want to pay off your loan earlier than you originally expected. Variable rate personal loan interest rates may go up and down during the loan term.
SocietyOne offers unsecured loans. That means that you don’t need to provide a deposit or security against the loan in case of default.
Secured loans require you to deposit something of value to the lending institution and this becomes the collateral or security until the loan has been repaid. Examples of collateral include your home, a car, investments or other assets that can be sold by the bank if the loan is unpaid. If the sale doesn't cover the full amount of the loan, you will have lost your asset and still owe money! Secured loans are often lower as they provide less risk to the lender.
At SocietyOne we can offer lower unsecured rates for customers with good credit as this also lowers risk for our investors.
You are eligible for a SocietyOne personal loan if you:
Get your rate now and get started.
SocietyOne's unsecured personal loans range from $5,000 to $50,000 with flexible loan terms of 2, 3 or 5 years.
We charge a one-off establishment fee. This is included in your total loan amount. There are no monthly fees or early repayment fees. So you have the security of a fixed rate loan, with the flexibility to pay it off early.
Please contact customer service on customer.service@societyone.com.au and they will arrange for the I.T department to retrieve the answers for you.
If you have forgotten your username please contact customer service on customer.service@societyone.com.au and they will be able to help you.
SocietyOne takes the privacy of its users and security of information very seriously. Investors can only view limited borrower information necessary for making an investment decision. There is no information available to investors to identify who you are. When you register with SocietyOne, you nominate a username, which provides anonymity to the investors who view your loan.
For more information read our Privacy Policy.
Repayments can be made in either fortnightly or monthly installments, by direct debit.
If you wish to make extra payments, please contact our customer service team on customer.service@societyone.com.au. There are no fees or penalties for making extra payments or paying off your loan early.
If you are experiencing financial hardship and are having difficulty repaying your loan please contact customer service on customer.service@societyone.com.au.
Repayments are calculated depending on your choice of 2,3 or 5 year loan terms, and whether you have chosen fortnightly or monthly repayments along with the interest rate you receive on approval of your loan.
Your loan offer will set out your direct debit repayment schedule and if you require any changes to that schedule, please contact customer service on customer.service@societyone.com.au to discuss.
Yes, absolutely. SocietyOne encourages responsible borrowing and provides repayment flexibility. You can either pay out your loan early or make lump sum payments during the life of your loan with no extra fees or penalty. If you wish to pay off your loan completely then please contact us on customer.service@societyone.com.au so that we can give you an accurate settlement quote.
At SocietyOne there are no fees or penalties for paying out your loan earlier than the scheduled period.
Yes. To do this please contact customer service on customer.service@societyone.com.au.
It’s rare that our customers have issues because of our great low rates and our responsible lending policy, but sometimes there might be reasons that you can’t make repayments - ranging from short-term cash-flow issues to severe financial hardship.
If you are finding it difficult to make a payment, call us immediately. Whether you need short-term or medium-term assistance with your repayments, our customer service team can help. They can discuss options with you which may include flexibility with instalments due, an extension of time to pay or, if your circumstances warrant it, discussing hardship options.
If your debts are out of control or you are really struggling to make ends meet, it's important to act quickly. Here are some places you can go for free help and guidance. https://www.moneysmart.gov.au/...
Currently only wholesale clients can invest through SocietyOne. Find out more about wholesale clients. Please note that wholesale clients includes individuals who meet the requirement. Over 90% of current investors on the SocietyOne platform are individuals/SMSFs.
Yes if it meets the wholesale client test.
Yes if it meets the wholesale client test.
Currently the minimum investment is $100,000.
There is no maximum investment.
SocietyOne currently facilitates two different types of loans - unsecured personal loans and secured livestock loans.
Investors are offered the opportunity to invest in a diversified portfolio of fixed rate unsecured personal loans with initial loan terms of up to 5 years.
The Trust invests in unsecured personal Loans. Loans are only provided to creditworthy Borrowers, who are assessed, and if appropriate, approved, in accordance with SocietyOne’s Credit Assessment Criteria. SocietyOne offers Loans of $5,000 to $50,000 (excluding Establishment Fees and Broker Fees charged to the Borrower which are capitalised within the Loan) over original Loan terms of 2,3 or 5 years. The average Loan size is currently approximately $20,000.
Register your interest in investing at our registration page. After a quick identity check, we'll provide you with a link to an application form to complete and the Information Memorandum.
During the application process, we’ll ask you to upload a wholesale investor certificate from your accountant and a copy of a statement for the bank account to which you direct us to pay distributions.
On receipt of the forms, we'll provide you with direct deposit details so you can fund your investment.
Further diversification can be achieved by investing in more than one class of loan. Currently SocietyOne offers two types of loans: unsecured personal loans and secured livestock loans.
Each class of loans (personal, livestock etc) is managed through a separate trust which is an unregistered managed investment scheme. You receive units (for personal loan investments) or interests (for livestock loan investments) in the managed investment scheme. – Initially, your investment is held in cash (which we call "cash interests").
Your interests or units become "loan interests" when your funds are deployed into loans. As loans are repaid, the interest is distributed back to your nominated bank account monthly.
For personal loans, investors own units in the Trust and the Trust invests in loans which are approved in accordance with our credit assessment criteria. Investors have no direct interest (legal or beneficial) in the individual loans.
For livestock loans you receive an equitable interest in the loan which entitles you to receive the interest and capital repayments for the proportion of the loan you have funded.
SocietyOne adheres to strict credit control protocols and attempts to recover the losses either through our own internal collections processes or by passing loans to a collection agency when a borrower is in default beyond a certain period. If a borrower cannot repay the loan, investors will lose the outstanding principal on that loan at the time the borrower stops paying. Likewise, interest on the loan principal will not be received by the investor, unless sufficient funds are received in the recovery process.
Loans can be used for any personal purpose including: consolidation of debt, weddings, home improvement, motor vehicles etc.
Loans may be between $5,000 and $50,000 plus the establishment fee. Our average loan size is currently around $20,000.
Our loan terms are 2, 3 and 5 years.
Borrowers are creditworthy individuals that meet SocietyOne's stringent credit criteria. They must have a good credit history, be over 21 and satisfy several other behavioural and loan servicing criteria.
SocietyOne assesses borrowers' creditworthiness using best practice credit assessment techniques. Only borrowers who meet SocietyOne's stringent requirements are listed on the platform and made available to investors.
Currently less than 17% of loan applications are listed for funding by investors.
Borrowers are assigned a credit grade (Tier 1, 2, 3,or 4) based on several credit criteria. The credit grade determines the interest rate that will be applied to that loan. Interest rates change depending on market conditions. Find more info on investing in personal loans.
As an investor in personal loans, units will be allotted in the Trust and the Trust invests in a diversified portfolio of personal loans that meet our credit assessment criteria across different credit grades and loan terms.
The personal loans Trust targets a pre-tax return of 6.0% p.a. after investment fees, costs and losses.
The interest rate is fixed for the life of the loan.
Personal loan repayments by borrowers include both interest and capital. Repayments are made fortnightly or monthly. Borrowers can repay capital early without penalty. Investors receive interest distributions in the first five business days each month. Capital will be reinvested.
Currently the distribution of loans amongst credit bands is as follows:
The principal component will be reinvested and the interest will be distributed on a monthly basis.
Borrowers pay an establishment fee of 3% to 6% (depending on their credit grade) if the loan application is successful and fully funded. This fee is capitalised onto the loan and funded by investors.
SocietyOne charges investors a Service Fee of up to 2.25% of the amount of the loan for originating and managing the loan through to repayment. The Service Fee is deducted from borrowers' repayments by the trustee and paid to SocietyOne before returns are paid to investors.
The loans are not a liquid investment as there is currently no secondary market to sell loans. Loan investments are held for the term of the loan unless the borrower repays early (which they may do without penalty). However, loans pay a regular fortnightly or monthly income stream, which provides a steady cash flow.
Our Information Memorandum outlines the risks associated with investing in personal loans. Investors do take on the credit risk associated with each loan and any loan default may result in a partial or full loss of the capital investment in that loan.
SocietyOne adheres to strict credit control protocols and attempts to recover the losses either through our own internal collections processes or by passing loans to a collection agency when a borrower is in default beyond a certain period. If a borrower cannot repay the loan, investors will lose the outstanding principal on that loan at the time the borrower stops paying. Likewise, interest on the loan principal will not be received by the investor, unless sufficient funds are received in the recovery process.
Traditionally, livestock agents, who buy and sell cattle and other livestock on behalf of farmers, have provided working capital to their farmer clients from their own capital or overdraft facilities. SocietyOne AgriLending provides an alternative for agents to fund these transactions by offering lending facilities to livestock agents to help them fund farmers' livestock purchases.
Livestock agents may only use the loan to fund the purchase of traded livestock (cattle, sheep and lambs) for fattening within the loan term.
Currently NSW, WA, QLD, VIC, SA and ACT.
The maximum term is 12 months. There are no prescribed weight targets that have to be met and no sell by dates.
SocietyOne's credit team and loan origination system assesses the creditworthiness of livestock agents using best practice credit assessment techniques. Credit facilities are only given to livestock agents who meet SocietyOne's credit requirements. Once a credit limit is approved the livestock agent may draw down against this facility to purchase livestock. Each draw down is an individual loan on our system.
The target pre-tax return for the loan portfolio is 6.5%-7.5% p.a. (on a blended basis, taking into account lower earnings on investor's cash interests that are awaiting deployment or distribution) based on an investor rate on loans of 7.75% p.a. after fees but before taxes and losses.
Please register your interest in becoming an investor in livestock loans online under the "Invest" tab.
No. Investors are allocated interest in livestock loans on a fractionalised basis. You are unable to choose which specific livestock loans (e.g. cattle or sheep) you invest in.
For all livestock loans, SocietyOne requires the following security:
In some circumstances, after undertaking a credit assessment of the livestock agent, SocietyOne may require additional security, including:
Radio-frequency identification (RFID) tags are placed in the cattle's ears. These use electromagnetic fields to wirelessly transfer identification and tracking data from the tags to the National Livestock Identification System database (NLIS) operated by Meat and Livestock Australia. The tags are scanned at the saleyard and linked to the farmer's property identification code (PIC). If cattle are moved from a farmer's property or sold, by law, the changes must be registered on the NLIS.
All livestock buying and selling transactions as well as all monitoring and administrations functions are managed through a centralised settlement office. This also includes all invoice payments when livestock are purchased and loan settlements when livestock are sold.
The settlement office uses its expertise to arrange for completion of documentation, advances funds on receipt of purchase invoices from the sales yards, maintains the required interface with the NLIS and provide signed documentation to SocietyOne.
The interest rate is fixed for the life of the loan. It calculates daily and accrues during the life of the loan.
This investment does not provide a regular or consistent income stream. Interest and capital are repaid upon full or partial (pro rata repayment) sale of the funded livestock. Individual loans have a term of 12 months but may be repaid earlier without penalty.
Your principal will be returned, and interest earnings credited to you upon repayment (in part or in full) of the loan. You may elect to reinvest the principal component in further loans.
From investors, SocietyOne AgriLending receives a Servicer Fee of up to 3.25% p.a. of the amount of the loan for originating and managing the loan through to repayment. The Servicer Fee is deducted from borrowers' repayments before returns are paid to investors.
Borrowers pay an establishment fee of 1% if the loan application is successful and fully funded. This fee is capitalised into the loan and funded by investors.
Livestock loans are not a liquid investment as there is currently no secondary market to sell loans. Loan investments are held for the term of the loan unless the borrower repays early (which they may do without penalty). Each loan has a maximum term of 12 months. On average loans are repaid within 6 to 9 months.
Major risks include a shortfall upon sale of the secured livestock due to lower market prices, which are not adequately offset by the weight gain of the funded herd or loss of livestock through natural causes. Where there are any shortfalls there is recourse back to the livestock agent as borrower on record and the investor is at this point exposed to the credit risk of the borrower. Investors are advised to read and understand the investment Memorandum in detail and in particular the section on risks.
SocietyOne adheres to strict credit control protocols and may pass loans to a collection agency when a borrower is in default. If a borrower does not repay the loan, you may lose your investment in that particular loan.