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Members Equity |
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Members Equity Bank, or M E Bank, is an Australian Bank aimed at offering low cost finance products, including mortgages, investments and savings products. Members Equity Bank was founded in 1994; it changed its name to Members Equity Bank in 1999. M E Bank was set up as Super Member Home Loans by the Australian Council of Trade Unions to offer low cost home loans to Australian workers. It did this through offering these through the union structure and did not open any branches until 2007. It is owned by a number of industry superannuation funds.
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Their low cost approach is reflected in their personal loan offering. They advertise their loan as “one of the cheapest personal loans in Australia”, claiming that their cost minimisation means that they can always offer cheaper loans than rival lenders.
Members Equity Bank has been voted by Money Magazine as the Gold Winner in the Cheapest Personal Loan in the bank category. They offer between one and five year loans for sums that start at $5,000 and have a maximum of $30,000, although this maximum can also be capped according to income and other financial commitments. They have no annual or monthly fees and there are no penalties for early repayment of the loan. There is a one off establishment fee. The establishment fee is not included in the published interest rate.
The personal loan is offered as five different products which are defined by the loan term which is set for one, two, three, four or five years. These have five different interest rates with longer terms attracting lower interest rates. The loan is unsecured.
Most non-business purposes are permitted for the loan. The personal areas that they will not allow to be used are for general bills, legal fees and tax payments, deposits on a house or an HECS debt.
Repayments can be fortnightly or monthly, but weekly payments are not allowed. Repayments have to be made by Direct Debit from a nominated account. The Direct Debit form is made available from their website. Each repayment pays back the principle as well as the interest, which means that the balance of the loan goes down faster, and this is helped further by the fact that interest is calculated daily.
Statements are given twice a year, although the balance can be accessed through the internet or via the phone banking service. |
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