Lender Matcher: who is most likely to lend to you?

How the Lender Matcher works

Australian business lending isn't one market. It's a dozen smaller ones, each with its own appetite. A major bank and a private lender can look at the same business and reach opposite answers, and both can be right by their own rules. The matcher captures the handful of facts that decide which of those markets you belong in.

Each answer adds or subtracts points for every lender type, and some answers rule a type out completely. Security is weighted most heavily, because in Australian business lending what you can offer as security shapes almost everything else: the amount, the term, the paperwork and how forgiving a lender can be about credit history. Trading history comes next, then credit, then the size and purpose of the loan, then how quickly you need it.

The six questions and why they matter

• Security. Property equity opens banks, non-banks, private lenders and caveat lenders. An asset you're buying points to asset financiers. Invoices owed by business customers point to invoice financiers. No security narrows things to lenders who assess trading accounts.
• Time trading. Banks usually want two years of financial history. Online lenders often look for six to twelve months of bank data. Property-secured private lenders care far less about how old the ABN is.
• Credit. Clean files suit the strictest policies. Defaults, ATO debt or a past bankruptcy push you towards lenders that rely more on security and a clear exit.
• Amount. Unsecured and revenue-based products tend to sit at the smaller end. Seven-figure requests generally need property and lenders with deeper funding.
• Purpose. Some lender types exist for one job — equipment, stock imports, invoices — and do it better than anyone else.
• Timing. Banks rarely move fast on business credit. Lenders built around security or live bank data can move more quickly when the paperwork is complete.

Reading your result

Your top match is where a lending specialist would usually start the conversation, not where it has to finish. The second and third matches are realistic alternatives, and often the better choice once the details come out. A bank might be first on paper while a non-bank turns out to be more comfortable with how your income is documented.

Each match links to its page in our lender directory, where you'll find what that lender type funds, its typical borrower, the documents it asks for and the reasons it most commonly declines. If cost is on your mind, the repayment comfort calculator turns a quoted total cost into a weekly or monthly figure.

What the matcher can't tell you

It can't price a loan or predict an approval. It doesn't know the property's value, how clean your bank statements look, how your industry is travelling, or which lenders are keen for new business this month. That's the part a person does. When you send a short enquiry, a specialist who deals with these lenders every week reads it and calls you. There's no credit check to ask, your details aren't broadcast to a list of lenders, and the more accurately you fill in the form, the more likely the first lender we approach is the right one.

Frequently asked questions

Does the Lender Matcher check my credit?

No. It runs entirely in your browser from the six answers you pick. Nothing is sent anywhere and no credit file is touched. If you later send us an enquiry, that doesn't involve a credit check either — one only comes up if you decide to proceed with a lender.

Why doesn't it show interest rates or approval chances?

Because neither can be known from six answers. Every business loan is priced on the full picture — security, trading, credit, purpose and the lender's appetite that month. Showing a rate or a percentage chance would be guesswork dressed up as precision.

Why are some lender types missing from my results?

Some types are ruled out by a single answer. Private and caveat lenders need property; invoice financiers need business customers who owe you money; asset financiers need an asset to secure; trade financiers fund stock and supplier payments. If the core requirement isn't there, the type won't appear.

My top match is a bank but the bank already said no. What now?

A decline from one bank says something about that bank's policy on that day, not about every lender. Look at your second and third matches, read why they fit, and tell us about the decline in your enquiry so we don't send you down the same road.

Can I use the result to apply to lots of lenders at once?

You can, but it usually backfires. Each formal application can leave an enquiry on your credit file, and a cluster of them in a short period can make the next lender nervous. Picking the right type first and approaching one lender properly tends to work better.

Is a broker or marketplace one of the results?

No. Brokers and marketplaces are routes to lenders rather than lenders themselves, so the matcher only ranks the lenders. Our own service sits in that route: a real person reads your enquiry and approaches the lender that fits.