There are a wide range of financing options on offer in Australia. Essentially, financing offers you access to money in the form of a short or long-term loan, which you are required to repay over an agreed period of time: in return for this loan, you will pay interest charges on the amount you owe. Most people have a debit card, which is directly linked to their current account and facilitates quick and easy access to their money as and when they need it. Electronic payment cards enable fast, secure shopping whether at home, abroad, or on the internet.
However, debit cards will only allow you to spend the money you have available on your account, and will deduct the amount of your purchase immediately from your account balance. For this reason, short-term financing in the form of credit cards is very popular. Credit cards allow customers to make purchases and then repay the money owed over an extended period of time: immediate repayments incur the least charges, but repayments can be spread out over several months.
Longer-term financing options include personal loans, which offer typically large sums of money to finance a personal project, and car loans, which allow you to purchase a car over an extended period of time. However, there are many other financing options available in Australia. Often these financing options are linked to a specific activity or life event, such as mortgages which facilitate buying a house, and student loans which support young people during their studies.
For more information on financing options see:
> Credit Cards
> Debit Cards
> Mortgages
> Personal Loans
> Student Loans
> Car Loans
> Business Loans