Switchboard Finance Logo – Repayment History Glossary

Repayment History

Repayment History refers to how consistently a business or director has paid previous credit accounts, loans, and supplier terms. It forms a key part of the Credit File, Risk Grade, Company Credit Score and overall Credit Assessment. Lenders use repayment history to evaluate reliability for Business Loans, Working Capital Loans, Business Line of Credit, Invoice Finance, Equipment Finance, Vehicle Finance and Low Doc Lending. Relevant blogs: What Lenders Look For With Defaults, Cashflow Mistakes SMEs Make, Red Flags a Business Loan Is Bad.

Why Repayment History Matters

Repayment history is one of the strongest predictors of lending risk. Strong, consistent repayment conduct helps unlock better rates, faster approvals and higher borrowing limits across the Business Owners Finance Hub, Tradie Hub, Truckie Hub, Café Hub, and Whitecoat Hub.

What Repayment History Shows

  • Late payments on business loans, leases or supplier accounts
  • Missed repayments or arrears on credit facilities
  • Consistent on-time payments across facilities and hubs
  • Payment trend scoring (improving, stable or deteriorating)
  • Links between company conduct and director repayment behaviour
  • Signals used in cash flow risk assessments

Official info: asic.gov.au

What is Repayment History?
Repayment History shows whether past loans and accounts were paid on time or late.
Does Repayment History affect loan approval?
Yes — lenders rely heavily on repayment patterns to determine approval and risk levels across products like business loans and invoice finance.
What causes poor Repayment History?
Late payments, arrears, missed repayments, maxed-out limits and inconsistent account conduct.
Can Repayment History be improved?
Yes — consistent on-time payments, better cash flow management and cleaning up old arrears improve your history over time.
Does director history affect the business?
Yes — lenders may link director repayment behaviour to the company’s risk profile, especially for small and medium businesses.