When William arrived in South East Victoria, an opportunity arose to operate the local post office serving the community of Wandin North. Equipped with a background in accounting, William made the leap and secured a business loan to buy the business from its existing owners.
William and his family embraced the challenge of running the post office, and after six successful years of growth, he had paid down a lot of the loan. For William, it was time to start looking to the future. He had the financial confidence to acquire the freehold interest in the property that was home to the post office. This was the next step in investing in the business and his family’s financial future.
The search for a good rate
To take out a commercial property loan, William approached the same bank that had provided the business loan. As time passed and interest rates dropped, it became clear that refinancing his existing loan would significantly reduce the interest repayments.
At that stage, William went to multiple banks looking to refinance. But, after a lengthy search, he was unable to find loan terms that lived up to his expectations. As a business owner, managing multiple meetings with potential lenders was also time consuming. He worked Monday to Saturday in the post office, and going into the branch was a burden during business hours.
Going above and beyond
William had established a business transaction account with CommBank, given the convenience of having a branch close to his home. When in the branch, he was introduced to a CommBank Business Lending Specialist, Ivy, who helped William and his family navigate the loan refinancing process. Ivy showed William the BetterBusiness Loan. With a fast application, quick decision and a great rate, it suited all of William’s needs.
“When we met Ivy, she was so helpful and showed us clearly how much we could save through refinancing,” William says. “When we spoke to Ivy it was like speaking to a friend. She took the time to understand our business and our needs and instead of waiting on the phone for 30 minutes like we had before, we could call Ivy directly for support and she answered all our questions.”
William explains that the process of applying for the refinancing was faster than he expected, too. William worked with Ivy remotely and in person to provide the required documents, finalising the loan by signing documents online with “Docusign”1.
“Service was so important to us, and while everyone else required us to go into a branch, Ivy came to us with all the documentation and made it easy," William says. “She talked us through the process, and we signed for the loan digitally via DocuSign.”
Hope for an even better future
William says that refinancing to a BetterBusiness Loan with CommBank has helped him adopt a more optimistic view of the future and is now considering buying another business or property. “We feel like we now have a partner in CommBank and Ivy that gives us more hope that we can continue growing our business and invest,” William added.
