Fast Business Loans · a roll of six

The fine print of a business loan, printed line by line

Fast Business Loans is a guide to the terms of a business loan in Australia, written and published by Dotto. The name says fast. The guide is about the part worth taking slowly: the notices a bank gives, the guarantee, the security, the terms the law can strike out, and where a complaint goes.

General information, not legal or financial advice. Each line is read from the source it names, linked where it is used. For a rule in a particular contract, a lawyer can say how it reads; ASIC’s Moneysmart is its plain-language site, and AFCA hears complaints about financial firms that are its members.

  1. Notice of a missed payment before a bank calls up a small business loan (Banking Code ¶82)30 days
  2. To put right another listed default, where it can be (¶88)30 days
  3. Notice before a bank declines to extend a loan with a balance due at the end (¶93)3 months
  4. Earliest a bank accepts a guarantee, counted from the papers (¶112)3rd day
  5. To send most guarantors a copy of a default notice; not Commercial Asset Financing, Sole Director, Trustee or Partnership Guarantors (¶115)14 days
  6. Wait after an amendment demand to a lender, PPSR5 bus. days
  7. Most a lender usually has to answer a complaint (ASIC RG 271)30 cal. days
  8. A small business, for unfair terms: fewer than 100 staff, or turnover under $10,000,000 (INFO 211)under 100
  9. Upfront price cap for a loan under the unfair terms law (INFO 211)$5,000,000
  10. Not a total. Nine figures from the fine print, each explained below.9
Read on 8 October 2026 from the Banking Code of Practice, the PPSR and ASIC. The Banking Code applies only to banks that subscribe to it.
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The roll

Six guides, each one line on the tape. They can be read in any order.

  1. 01

    Default clauses, and the notice a bank gives

    The Banking Code’s Part B5: 30 days’ notice of a missed payment, a closed list of other defaults, no “material adverse change” default, and three months’ notice at the end of the term.

    From: Banking Code of Practice; ASIC Report 565

  2. 02

    Personal guarantees

    What a subscribing bank gives a guarantor before signing, the third-day wait, the 14-day notices, the two ways out, and the order of enforcement.

    From: Banking Code of Practice; AFCA Rules

  3. 03

    Invoice finance and factoring, beside the other kinds of finance

    Seven kinds of business finance in business.gov.au’s words, where each shows up in the paperwork, and a worked example of what a discount costs over a year.

    From: business.gov.au; PPSR; Banking Code

  4. 04

    Unfair terms in a small business loan

    Which loans the law covers, ASIC’s three-part description of an unfair term, the clause types ASIC raised with the big four banks, and the steps open to a business.

    From: ASIC INFO 211; ASIC Report 565

  5. 05

    Security over business assets, and the PPSR

    How a loan’s security is described on the register, the copy a business is sent and the clause that can waive it, and the amendment demand.

    From: Personal Property Securities Register

  6. 06

    A complaint about a business loan, and AFCA

    From the lender’s own process to AFCA: who counts as a small business, the time limits, and what AFCA will and will not look at on a loan.

    From: ASIC RG 271 and RG 267; AFCA Rules

Rows of worn octagonal keys, black and white, on an old adding machine, each key printed with a number.
Number keys on an old adding machine. Photo by TechPhotoGal on Pixabay
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Which rule binds whom

The rules on this roll come from four places, and they reach different lenders. That is the first thing to know about any clause.

Four sources of rules for a business loan
The rulesWho they bindRead them at
Banking Code of PracticeBanks that have subscribed to it; the Australian Banking Association publishes the list, and says the Code’s provisions are legally enforceable. The Code (PDF), Parts B5 and B6
Unfair contract terms lawProviders of financial products and services, in standard form contracts with a small business, under the ASIC Act. ASIC INFO 211
PPSR rulesThe secured party that makes a registration, usually the lender, which may have to send the grantor a copy and must end the registration when its interest ends. ppsr.gov.au
AFCA’s RulesFinancial firms that are AFCA members; AFCA says banks and other credit providers are among those required by law to join. AFCA’s Rules
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Who can help with a particular loan

business.gov.au suggests talking to an accountant or business adviser for help understanding a business’s finances and how much it can borrow. For what a clause means in law, that is a lawyer’s work. For a dispute the lender has not resolved, AFCA is the scheme for its members.