DEFT Auction Pay is the digital solution Australian property buyers have been asking for
When you’re buying a home, there’s a lot to do. Organising your weekends around house hunting, checking the building inspection report for nasty surprises, sorting out your home loan pre-approval and rehearsing your negotiation strategy.
So the last thing you need is to spend time at your bank branch, sorting out a bank cheque for the winning deposit on auction day. It’s inconvenient, and it adds to the cost of buying your home.
That’s why Macquarie Bank has created a solution home buyers and agents have been asking for: a secure way to pay digitally, on the spot. It’s called DEFT Auction Pay, and it’s already changing the way we buy and sell houses in Australia.
When paper cheques have their limits
When every other payment we make these days is with a swipe or a click, why are home buyers expected to bring their cheque book to a weekend auction?
As soon as the hammer comes down, you’ve made a legally binding commitment to buy. You sign the contract, and hand over the deposit – usually 10%.
And that’s the first hurdle: 10% of what? You know your limits – but what if you go that little bit higher to seal the deal? Auction bidding is an inherently competitive process – and once your dream home is gone, it’s gone forever. You don’t want a small difference on the bank cheque to hold back your final bid on the day.
Some agents may allow you to make an electronic funds transfer (EFT) from your account but you’ll have to apply to increase your daily transfer limit in advance.
Plus, it’s not the sort of payment you want to leave to chance on your phone’s mobile banking app.
“The currently popular alternative – EFT – is a pain because the buyer has to increase their transfer limit before auction,” says James Pilliner, a sales agent with Nelson Alexander Real Estate in Victoria. “Being able to do it effortlessly on the spot is so much better.”
And that’s where Auction Pay can make all the difference.
Fast, secure and paper-free
Macquarie has created a new way to complete the process online – totally removing paper from the process.
DEFT Auction Pay lets you pay your home deposit on the real estate agent’s mobile device in just a few minutes.
The sales agent enters your new property address, sale price and deposit amount.You then enter your bank details, email address and approve the payment.A confirmation receipt is emailed to you and the agent, and payment is processed into the trust account.
It’s as simple as that. No more cheques! All you need is enough funds in your nominated bank account, your BSB and account numbers and a valid email address. You can even pay from multiple bank accounts – and it makes finalising a private treaty negotiation much simpler as well.
More than 100 real estate agents have already signed up to DEFT Auction Pay – making it that much easier for home buyers to bid with confidence.
James says there has been times when bidders can’t get a bank cheque organised in time. “They call me asking how they can bid without a cheque and it’s great to say we can help them in that situation – it relieves a bit of tension and stress before the auction.”
So next time you’re at a house inspection, ask the agent if you can pay online with DEFT Auction Pay. And then you can tick one more thing off your to-do list.
