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#024 - Ranking Banks For Ag Finance · Dollars In The Dirt

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  The single biggest mistake farmers make when choosing a bank is thinking
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  that they're all the same. And it's a trap that cost produces a fortune. Most
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  people think that comparing loans is just about finding the lowest interest
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  rate. And the truth is, it's about finding the right bank for
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  your specific operation. After helping hundreds of farmers secure
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  over a billion dollars in finance, I can tell you the best
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  deal is rarely the one with the lowest advertised rate, if
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  the bank doesn't understand agriculture. So in this video, I'm
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  going to be ranking the best and worst banks for ag finance, so
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  you can find the one that's actually going to support your business. Welcome
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  to Dollars in the Dirt. I'm Brecon Curtis, and this is where we break down
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  the finance side of farming so you can grow your operation, buy
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  that next property and build real wealth. Let's get into
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  it. So guys, let's get started with the Commonwealth Bank. You know, how well do
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  these guys understand agricultural lending? Well, These guys have
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  been around doing this for a long time, and they do understand agricultural
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  lending, but they are probably one of the slower banks to move. They're
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  a big organisation. These guys often take a lot of time
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  to assess an application, depending on the deal and
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  the size of the application. They're probably a bit thin on
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  the ground at times, especially regional Queensland, in
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  terms of their staffing levels. They've probably retracted from ag
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  over the last few years, and now they're trying to get back into it. They're actively recruiting
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  for a lot of staff at the moment in the ag space. So these
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  guys, they do a pretty good job. We do a lot of work with the Commonwealth
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  Bank. Their policies can be quite flexible at times around
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  different things. Depending on your operation, these guys are definitely
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  an option to consider. And in terms of interest rate, they're very competitive and
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  one of the ones that we definitely look to when we're looking at options around
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  ag finance. So I'd probably give these guys a C plus at
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  the moment. They're on the improve. They're trying to
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  grow their business and market share back after they have
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  probably retracted out of the ag space in recent times. So
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  guys, the next one's ANZ Bank. These guys,
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  in terms of ag, they were a big ag bank some time ago. They've
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  recently gone through a lot of changes. They've recently purchased the Suncorp Bank. There's
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  been a lot of staff changes in regional Australia, a lot of branches that
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  ANZ used to have across rural Queensland that are now no
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  longer. In the last 10 years, we've seen a lot of ANZ branches
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  close and their representation in the ag spaces is
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  nowhere near what it used to be. We don't actually
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  actively do a lot of work with the ANZ Bank. We don't see them as a major player, especially
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  in regional Queensland. These guys don't really have the representation.
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  And often, we don't know who to deal with. It's a hard bank to
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  actually find someone, especially in the bush. So I'd
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  give these guys a D at the moment. These guys are not really an active
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  part of rural banking, in my view, is
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  what we're seeing. The next one, guys, is the NAB.
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  These guys are a major ag bank in Australia, and they
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  actually do a pretty reasonable job, in my view. They have
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  good representation across Australia. They have good policies.
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  They're quite nimble. You understand
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  their timeframes. They're quite reliable in terms of their timeframes and flexibility
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  about getting back to you. I'll give these guys a B
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  plus in the current market. They're doing a You
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  know, on the biggest ag banks in Australia and they're doing a pretty reasonable job.
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  Not always probably the cheapest at times, but they're
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  consistent and you know exactly where you stand with
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  NAB when you deal with them. So these guys are probably
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  one of the higher ranked agricultural banks and so they should
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  be with the market share that they have. The next one, guys, is Westpac, and
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  these guys have probably made a resurgence back into the ag space over
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  the last three or four years. Previously, they weren't a
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  big player. They had their existing client base, and
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  they were pretty happy just not growing very quickly. Probably
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  in the last two or three years, we've seen a real resurgence in Westpac in
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  terms of their growth strategy. They're really actively taking
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  on new clients across the ag space in
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  the regions and they've got a good representation with staff across
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  the place as well. So these guys also, I'd probably give them a B
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  plus as well. They're really having a crack and taking
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  it up to the bigger players and providing some options
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  for farmers and ag producers across
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  Australia with their resurgence back into the
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  ag space in recent times. The next one, guys, is Rabobank. These
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  guys are also just a niche ag lender. They
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  have a pretty unique product offering where they offer this
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  sort of one bank account, all in one account. It's like a massive credit card, effectively. Everyone
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  ties their debt and their facilities all
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  into one facility, which I'm not actually a bigger fan of
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  that. We've talked about this in previous episodes where
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  we like to segment our debts into purposes and not just rolling it
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  all together. It's got traps. I see
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  a trap in that in terms of having your working capital, and your term debt,
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  and your equipment, and all sorts of things rolled into one facility.
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  So in terms of product, that's sort of their main product. That's
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  what they offer. They do specialize in ag. They probably aren't as
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  aggressive on the LVR as some of the major banks. I'll
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  give these guys a C. They, in recent times,
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  probably aren't as active in the rural market. They probably haven't had the staff of
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  what they have in the past. I don't see these guys as
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  a bigger player. They're also foreign. It's a foreign-owned bank.
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  We're all about Australian farmers, and here we
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  are getting our funding from an offshore bank, which is what
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  RoboBank effectively is. Just quickly, if you're tired of explaining your
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  operation to a new bank manager every year, only to get a one-size-fits-all
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  deal that doesn't fit your business, we can help. At Season Finance,
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  we do things differently. We've got over 70 years of combined experience
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  in agricultural lending, and we work for you, not the banks. We're
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  the consistent expert team in your corner, fighting to get the finance
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  that actually helps you grow, purchase the next property, and
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  build your legacy. Don't leave money on the table. If you're looking at your next
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  move or just want a second opinion on your current setup, Click the link in
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  the show notes to book a confidential, no obligation chat with the
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  team and we'll show you what's possible. Righto guys, now back to the
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  episode. The
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  next one, guys, is Judo Bank. These guys are a recent entrant into
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  the Australian ag market. These guys are a bit more expensive. They do
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  the deals that the main banks probably aren't that interested in.
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  And so I really give these guys credit. They look at
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  things differently. They're coming at it at a different angle and
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  giving flexibility and options to people that the
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  major banks, due to their policies, are restrained. Judo
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  Bank, I'd give them a B. I think that it's
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  good to see a new entrant in the market giving people options and
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  these guys are really having a crack, which is great to see. Another player
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  in the ag market is Bendigo Bank. These guys also are a
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  good option. They're offering good rates at the moment and
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  also quite flexible around their policies. I'd
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  give Bendigo Bank a B also. These
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  guys are definitely an option to consider when you're looking at
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  different options. And they do have representation, probably
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  not so much in some of the more remote locations, but they also do
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  transact in those places as well. So if
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  you're able to use a finance broker, these guys work
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  with finance brokers and also gives you the option to
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  be able to use Bendigo Bank, which is another great option. when
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  considering your finance options and they are a specialised ag
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  bank, so definitely one to consider when
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  looking at your rural finance options. Yeah, I suppose the biggest
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  thing is just to make sure that you're comparing the different options and all
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  these guys offer different policies, different interest
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  rates and view ag businesses differently across
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  the board, so making sure you've got someone working with you to
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  look at the different banks and being able to negotiate and
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  interpret their terms and what they're offering is really
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  important when you're considering the different options. Yeah, like we've seen
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  massive difference across these options. There's different, you
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  know, we've got quotes from all those banks and there can be, you know, on
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  a $2 or $3 million loan, there can be up to, you know, $40,000 and
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  $50,000 per annum difference in the interest rate being charged. It's
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  really important to make sure that you look at all the options
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  and consider the different banks because there is a, you know,
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  from our experience with doing this every day, is that we do see a
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  big difference across the board. The rankings that we've given these banks, you
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  know, like we use all these banks and depending on your own specific
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  circumstances, you might be going with a bank today
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  that I've rated lowly because their policy fits your business. you
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  wouldn't potentially go with that option. It's only because my
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  experience with dealing with these banks is what I'm seeing in the market is
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  why I've ranked them the way that we have. Your business might fit the bank that
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  I've ranked really low and that's the best option
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  for you, so you're definitely going to go with that. Yeah, and the best way to
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  understand which bank is going to fit your business is going with someone that's
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  dealing with them every day. You might walk into one of these
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  banks and you don't realize that the policies don't fit or align with
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  your business. So by going to someone or a
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  professional that understands each of these different options and
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  presenting your business in a way that the banks can interpret that
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  and give you the best deal is really important to
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  making sure you're getting the best outcome for your business because You
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  know, doing it alone is hard and timely and, you
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  know, being able to provide all that information is often hard and
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  knowing who to speak to, you know, there's all these different people that you
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  need to try and understand who's the right person in the bank to talk to
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  for your business. So yeah, having someone in your corner that understands that
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  and has the contacts. is in my view, one of the better options
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  to look at and takes the pain out of it for you. Thanks for tuning
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  in to Dollars in the Dirt. If you've got value from today's episode, make
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  sure to subscribe so you never miss the insights you need to grow your business.
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  And if you're ready to stop being just another number to the banks, visit
• 10:16
  Season Finance via the link in the show notes. Remember to follow