Manage your home loan

A reminder about fixed loan break costs

Your fixed loan lets you make extra repayments with no charge, up to your prepayment threshold (PDF 77KB). Prepaying more can attract break costs. Request a call back about break costs.

Changing a ‘scheduled’ payment 

If it’s coming from a BankSA account, logon and go to ‘Services’, then ‘Scheduled Payments’ in the app > Click ‘Scheduled & past payments’. From here you can:

• Pay only the minimum amount – can free up short-term extra cash
• Pay more – over time, you could pay your loan off sooner
• Change the frequency – monthly, fortnightly or weekly
• Suspend or delete it – as long as you don’t miss a minimum repayment.

Whether your nominated account is with us or another merchant, you'll need to fill out a PDF Direct Debit Request/Authority form. Please give us 10 working days’ notice before your next scheduled repayment if you'd like to:

• change repayment amount/frequency
• stop or defer an individual repayment
• suspend future repayments
• cancel your repayments completely.

Download, print and sign this Home Loan Direct Debit Request (PDF 104KB) form, and forward to us by either:

• Emailing a scan (or hi-resolution photo) to: LoansAdministration@banksa.com.au
• Dropping it off to your nearest branch
• Mailing to Loans Administration, Locked Bag 1, KOGARAH 1485

Just logon and click your home loan account > Tap the ‘Details’ tab in our App, or click ‘Account details’ on desktop.

You’ll see your loan details, like your rate, term and whether you’re paying weekly, fortnightly or monthly.

Variable to fixed

Fixing lets you lock in a rate for 1-5 years, with the certainty of knowing what your repayments will be. You may be able to fix all your current variable rate home loan, or a portion (see ‘Splitting my home loan’). Compare our home loans

Important things to think about with new fixed loans:

• Your variable offset benefits don’t apply to your fixed loan
• There may be a switch fee (PDF 587KB)
  
• If you plan to sell your property, refinance, change products, or repay more than your prepay threshold (PDF 77KB), fixing might not be right for you as you may incur break costs.

Request a call back and one of our home lending experts will call and talk you through what fixing means for you.

Fixed to variable: break costs

Ending your fixed term early can attract break costs that may run into the thousands, meaning an early exit may not be worth your while. Request a call back about break costs.

Splitting your variable home loan

Get the best of both worlds – flexibility and certainty – by opening a new fixed rate home loan, and splitting your current variable home loan balance across the 2 accounts. Here’s how it works:

• Compare rates and repayments with our calculator
• Lock in a fixed term rate, knowing exactly what those repayments will be
• Choose how much of your variable loan balance you'd like to split into fixed
• Set your fixed loan to repay principal & interest, or interest only
• Keep all your flexible variable account features, like unlimited extra repayments, redraw and your offset facility
• Packaging your loans will waive the loan split fee (see ‘Packaging my home loan’).

Important things to consider with fixed loans:

• Your variable offset benefits don’t apply to a fixed loan
• Your fixed loan lets you make extra repayments with no charge, up to your prepayment threshold (PDF 77KB). Prepaying more can attract break costs.
• If you plan to sell your property, refinance, change products or repay lots of your loan, fixing might not be right for you as you may incur large break costs.

Request a call back and one of our home lending experts will call and talk you through what fixing means for you.

Splitting your fixed home loan

Ending your fixed term early can attract break costs that run into the thousands, meaning an early exit might not be worth your while. Request a call back about break costs.

A few weeks before the end of your fixed rate term, you may have a ‘refix’ offer waiting for you in internet banking, which you can accept in a few clicks.

To check when your fixed term ends, just logon and click on your home loan.

Accepting a refix offer online

Just logon shortly before your fixed term matures > Click on your home loan account > (on desktop, click ‘Account details’) > Click the ‘Your fixed rate period expires on...’ banner > Select your refix offer > Review, confirm and read the summary > Any co-borrowers will receive a confirmation message.

• Your final fixed rate is determined 2 days before your fixed term matures
• If you don’t refix, your matured fixed loan automatically rolls into our standard variable rate loan.

Pay only interest for a while

You can apply to pay just the interest component of your repayments for an approved interest only term, if:

• You have a variable rate home loan
• You're currently repaying principal & interest
• You’ve had your loan more than one year
  
• You haven’t exceeded the maximum interest only term allowed for your loan
• Your loan wouldn’t mature within 2 months of your interest only expiry.

Bear in mind:

• Interest only rates are actually higher than principal & interest: compare rates.
• Your repayments will increase at the end of your interest only period, because the amount you’ve borrowed will need to be paid back in a shorter timeframe. Also, the longer your interest only period, the higher your jump in repayments will be.
• You’ll pay more interest over the life of the loan, because there won’t be any reduction in the amount you’ve borrowed during the interest only period.
• Alternatively, you could open an interest only fixed home loan (see ‘Splitting my loan’).

Pay the principal and the interest

If you have a variable home loan, you can apply to switch to principal & interest anytime.

Request a call back and one of our home lending experts will call to talk you through your application and serviceability assessment, and what switching means for you. In the meantime, try this principal & interest calculator.

Your standard variable home loan comes with a full interest offset facility – designed to save you thousands in interest, and reduce the life of your loan. That’s because every dollar in a linked transaction account, counts towards paying off your home loan. You just need:

• A Complete Freedom offset account in the same name(s). You can open one in less than 3 minutes online, with no account-keeping fees if your home loan’s packaged (see ‘Packaging my loan’).
• To link this Complete Freedom account to your home loan.

Linking your offset account

Just logon and navigate to ‘Services & Preferences’ (‘Services & security’ in the app) > Click ‘Services’, ‘Home loan offset’ and follow the prompts.

Advantage Package savings*

Did you know you could save thousands by adding an Advantage Package to your existing BankSA home loan? Here's how you could save:

• An interest rate discount (unavailable on existing fixed home loans)
• No home loan fees for maintenance, increase, portability or switching
• No annual fee on any BankSA credit card, other fees and charges may apply
• Discounts on selected insurance products
• All for a $395 annual package fee.

Request a call back and one of our home lending experts will call and talk you through what packaging means for you.

The journey to buying your next home is an exciting one. So first of all, congrats on getting to this point. As it may have been a while since you last bought somewhere, we’ve put together this handy guide to refresh you on the process and make things simpler. 

• Buy before you sell – reduce the ‘stress of timing’ with a bridging loan.
• Buy and sell at the same time – transfer your loan to your next place.
• Sell first, buy later – park your money.

Life changes and time passes. Here are our forms and FAQs if you’re:

• Selling your home
• Changing your property, but keeping your loan
• Requesting your land title – congratulations!
• Switching properties on the same loan
• Refinancing to another lender
• Closing a term deposit linked to your loan
• Removing a guarantor

Thinking of leaving? Request a call back.

Depending on the type of home loan you have, some services and changes might come with a fee (PDF 587KB).

For many, a ‘top up’ is a more economical way to pay for things like a well-deserved holiday, new car or renovations, because home loan interest rates are often lower than personal loans and credit cards.

Before you apply 

• Comparing interest rates with a personal or car loan? Plan to repay your top up over a similar term, or you could pay more interest over the life of your home loan.
  
• An increase in your loan amount also means your repayments and interest charges will be higher. Before you apply, consider potential changes to your financial situation in the future, and ensure your budget allows for higher repayments.
  
• Loan increases are subject to formal approval. 
  

Ready to apply?

Read up on what you’ll need, the fast approval steps and fees. Then request a call back from one of our home lending specialists.

If you’ve had your place for a while, chances are you may have built up some equity - this is the difference between your current home loan balance and your property’s current market value. You could use your equity for things like investing, moving or renovating.

If you’re in the fortunate position to have some equity, and you’d like to use it, you’ll need to get your property revalued by us (our Bank Valuations can start from a few hundred dollars). Request a call back for a Bank Valuation.

Then, we can give you a clearer picture of the usable equity in your home. From there, the next steps are up to you.