What is the loan navigator?
The loan navigator is a free, rules-based guide that answers the questions Australian business owners ask most — how much can I borrow, how long will it take, what do lenders look at, and can I use a loan for this — based on a handful of answers about your business. It isn't artificial intelligence and it isn't a credit assessment. It applies the same broad rules a lending specialist would use on a first call, and it does it instantly, in your browser.
There are two ways to use it. The guided mode asks what you want to know, then five follow-up questions about your purpose or amount, property, trading history, turnover and credit. The type-a-question mode matches your words against our library of more than 180 answers and shows the three that fit best, each linked to the full explanation.
How does the navigator decide on a route?
It follows the logic set out across this site. Property you can offer as security opens the widest range — property-secured business loans from $20,000 to $5,000,000 — and gives more flexibility on credit history and trading time. Without property, a trading business with a steady run of deposits can typically access unsecured, cash-flow or line-of-credit options from $5,000 to $500,000, sized on turnover and bank statements. A very short trading history, little or no turnover and no property is the hardest combination, and the navigator says so plainly rather than pretending otherwise.
Your answer about credit history doesn't knock you out. Bad credit and ATO debt are considered case by case, so the navigator adjusts what it tells you to prepare and which route tends to be more flexible — usually property security. If you want the reasoning behind any of this, read how lenders work out loan size and what lenders look at.
What won't the navigator tell me?
It won't give you an exact dollar amount, a price or an approval. Those depend on details it deliberately doesn't ask for: your actual bank statements, existing repayments, the property's value and what's on your credit file. It won't publish interest rates either, because every loan is priced on the business's own circumstances. What it does give you is an honest starting point: the route that fits, the things that will help or hold you back, and a short list of what to have ready.
What should I do with my result?
Use it to prepare. If the navigator says your likely route is property-secured, gather the rates notice and mortgage statement and talk to anyone else on the title. If it points to unsecured options, download twelve months of business bank statements. If it flags credit or tax issues, write two lines of context for each. Then, if you'd like to know what's genuinely possible, send a 60-second enquiry. A real person reads it and calls you, your details aren't sprayed around a list of lenders, and there's no credit check when you first enquire. Please use the same honest answers you gave the navigator — accurate form answers are how we match you properly on the first call.
Prefer reading first? The full question library has short answers grouped by topic, and the guide questions to answer before you apply expands the navigator's questions into a complete self-check.
Loan navigator FAQs
Is the loan navigator an AI chatbot?
No. It's a rules-based guide. It asks set questions, applies clear rules to your answers and shows an instant result. Nothing you select leaves your browser, and there are no AI calls or external requests.
Is the result an approval or an offer?
No. It's general guidance about the route most likely to suit your situation and what lenders will look at. A real person confirms what's actually possible once they understand your business.
Does using the navigator affect my credit score?
No. The navigator doesn't collect your name or contact details and doesn't run any credit check. Enquiring with us afterwards doesn't involve a credit check either.
Why doesn't it give me an exact loan amount?
Because an exact amount depends on details the navigator doesn't ask for — your bank statements, existing repayments, the property's value and your credit file. It shows the realistic range and route instead, which is the honest starting point.
Why doesn't it show interest rates?
Every business loan is priced on the business's own circumstances, so a published rate would be misleading. The navigator focuses on route, readiness and what to prepare; pricing comes once someone understands your situation.
What happens if I click through to the enquiry form?
You'll complete a 60-second form. A real person reads it and calls you — your details aren't sprayed to a list of lenders, and there's no credit check when you first enquire.
No credit check to ask
Enquiring doesn't touch your credit file. A credit check only comes up later, once you've chosen to go ahead with an application.
No spray-and-pray
Your enquiry isn't auctioned or blasted to a list of lenders. It stays with one team that works on it properly.
A real person on your file
A lending specialist reads what you sent and calls you. Accurate form answers let them match the right option on the first call.
Your route, confirmed by a real person
The navigator shows the likely path. A 60-second enquiry gets a specialist to confirm it for your business — with no credit check when you first enquire.
No credit check to ask
No spray-and-pray
A real person on your file