Bank Won't Renew Your Business Loan? The 90 Day Refinance Plan
Business Owners Hub
Business Loan Not Renewed · Refinance Deadline · Security Discharge
Your bank has told you it will not renew a business loan or overdraft, and the letter carries a date. This guide separates non-renewal from recall or default, shows what to start immediately, what a replacement lender will look at, how long the outgoing security release can add, what to do if the refinance is declined, approved too small or late, and what still needs checking after payout.
Quick Answer
A bank's decision not to renew a business loan or overdraft is not itself a default. For a qualifying small-business loan at a subscribing bank, the Banking Code can require at least 3 months' notice, but an on-demand overdraft is different. Ask the outgoing lender immediately for an indicative payout and its discharge requirements, get the financial pack ready, and run replacement finance in parallel.
Also called: bank won't renew my business loan, bank won't renew my overdraft, business loan refinance before expiry, facility non-renewal notice.
| If this is you | Do this first | Where it is covered |
|---|---|---|
| No letter yet, but the bank has asked for financials or an annual review is coming | Treat the review as the last point at which the facility can be kept, and get the financials and lodgements current before it lands rather than after | The sixty days before a review |
| The letter has arrived and the date is more than a month away | Ask the outgoing lender in writing today for the payout figure and the discharge requirements, and start the financial pack before you approach anyone | How long does it actually take to refinance a business loan before expiry? |
| The bank is reducing the limit rather than withdrawing the facility | Ask in writing what the new limit is, when it takes effect, and whether the security, guarantees or fees change with it | Can a bank refuse to renew a business loan, and does that mean you are in default? |
| Renewal is offered, but only on new conditions such as more security or a guarantee | Treat it as a fresh credit decision rather than a continuation, and compare it against a replacement before you sign anything | What replacement finance can you use if the bank will not renew your business loan or overdraft? |
| Under a month left, or a replacement application has already been declined | Put an extension request in writing before the date, and run a second option in parallel rather than waiting for the first | What if the business loan refinance will not settle before the expiry date? |
| The new lender has approved a loan, but the amount is below the old bank's payout | Calculate the exact gap before changing lenders again: compare the new lender's usable net advance with a current payout and identify whether valuation, LVR, servicing or close-out costs caused it | What if the new lender approves less than the old bank's payout figure? |
| The date has passed and the bank is asking for repayment | Get the position in writing and take free small business financial counselling. This is a recall rather than a renewal question, and it has its own guide | The recalled facility guide |
| You are a guarantor rather than the borrower | Ask for a copy of the guarantee and for what it still secures, because a guarantee is a separate document and does not end simply because a facility does | What else must be released or moved after the old business loan is paid out? |
Is the bank not renewing your business loan, or recalling it now?
If the letter says the facility will reach its scheduled expiry and will not be extended, this page is about non-renewal. If the lender is demanding repayment now, relying on default or on-demand rights, or has started enforcement, that is a recall and the recalled-facility guide is the better starting point.
Most business owners never search for “facility non-renewal”. They search for the bank not renewing the overdraft, the bank pulling the business loan, or the loan not being rolled over. Those phrases can describe the same expiry event. The important question is when repayment is required: at the scheduled end of the term, or immediately because the lender has called the facility.
A transaction account closure or de-banking decision is another problem again. Closing an everyday account, refusing to renew a loan at expiry and recalling an existing facility are not interchangeable. If your letter asks for repayment now rather than at the scheduled end date, start with the recalled facility guide. This page stays with the customer who still has a replacement window to use.
Everything below is written for an Australian business borrower. Overseas account-closure rules and home-loan discharge timelines often appear on the same searches, so every rule or timeframe used here is labelled by its actual scope rather than treated as universal.
Is forced refinancing different from choosing to refinance for a better rate?
Yes. In a voluntary refinance you choose the timing and can stop if the numbers do not improve. In a forced replacement the expiry date is fixed by somebody else, so approval speed, payout instructions and the outgoing security release all become part of the credit decision.
A new lender will usually want to understand why the old facility is ending, whether the account has stayed within its limits, what security is available, and whether the requested replacement matches the way the business actually uses the facility. A policy or appetite non-renewal therefore reads differently from arrears, covenant breach or a lender demand, even if the amount to be refinanced is the same.
Can a bank refuse to renew a business loan, and does that mean you are in default?
Usually yes to the first question, and no to the second: a lender can generally decide not to extend a facility when its term ends, and that decision is not itself a default. You can still be separately in default under the facility terms, so read the reason in the letter rather than treating every non-renewal the same.
The distinction is explicit in the 2025 Banking Code. Its non-renewal notice provision is written for a borrower who is not in Default, which means non-renewal and default are separate states. For a replacement lender, the practical question is why the facility is ending: policy or appetite, expiry, security, account conduct, arrears or another breach.
A non-renewal is not, by itself, a demand for immediate repayment, enforcement, the appointment of a receiver or a default listing. If any of those have happened, you are past the question this page owns and into the recalled facility guide. Keeping that boundary clear matters for search and for the new lender reading your file.
What if the bank is reducing the limit rather than withdrawing it?
A reduction is a change to the facility rather than the end of it, and what notice attaches to it is decided by your facility documents rather than by a general rule. The two Code passages quoted below address a decision not to extend a Loan, and a requirement to repay an overdraft or on demand facility. A reduction sits between those two things, so the answer for your facility is in your own paperwork, not in a page like this one.
Ask the bank in writing for four things: the new limit, the date it takes effect, whether the security or any guarantee changes with it, and whether the fees or pricing change. Then size the problem honestly. The amount you need to replace is the gap between the new limit and what the facility is actually used for across a normal month, which is often much smaller than the old limit and much easier to place. A borrower who asks for the whole old limit back is asking a new lender for more than the business has been using, on a file that has just had a limit cut.
How much notice does a bank have to give before it will not renew a business loan or overdraft?
Sometimes. The notice period depends on the facility type, the documents and whether the lender is covered by the relevant code. For qualifying small-business lending at a subscribing bank, the 2025 Banking Code contains a specific non-renewal commitment; on-demand overdrafts are treated differently.
Paragraph 93 says that where you are not in Default and the principal is not scheduled to be fully repaid by regular periodic repayments by the end of term, the bank will give notice of a decision not to extend the Loan at least 3 months before repayment in full is required. That is the Code wording. “90 days” is shorthand used in this guide and in search behaviour; it is not a substitute for the actual phrase “at least 3 months” or for the conditions attached to it.
Paragraph 85 deals with overdrafts and on-demand facilities. It says a bank may not be required to give notice when it requires repayment of an overdraft or on-demand facility, subject to the way a related Default under another Loan is enforced. That is why an overdraft expiry, an on-demand call and a term-loan non-renewal should never be collapsed into one universal 90-day rule.
Customer-owned banks have a parallel code. Clause 88 of the Customer Owned Banking Code of Practice v2.0 says a subscribing institution will give at least 3 months' notice if it decides not to extend a continuing credit Small Business loan. Your own documents and the lender's code coverage still decide which commitment reaches your facility.
How long does it actually take to refinance a business loan before expiry?
There is no single Australian end-to-end timeframe for replacing a business facility. Approval time and settlement time are different: some eligible business refinances can be approved within days, while valuation, payout instructions and the outgoing lender's discharge process can still determine whether settlement happens before your deadline.
The first timing mistake is to treat the title's “90-day plan” as 90 days of usable credit work. The current Banking Code wording is at least 3 months in the qualifying circumstances above, while a 2016 small-business inquiry recommended 90 business days for certain roll-over decisions. They are not the same measure, and neither tells you how much of the period is left once third-party settlement work is booked.
The second mistake is to treat approval as the finish line. A fast credit decision can still be followed by valuation, document conditions, a final payout figure, discharge instructions, settlement booking and release of the old security. Published business-specific discharge examples now range materially between institutions, which is why the outgoing lender's process should be requested at the start rather than guessed at the end.
The sequence below is what those figures sit inside. Some of it runs in parallel and costs you nothing to start on day one. Some of it is strictly serial, and a step that starts late pushes everything behind it. The column that matters most is the middle one, because it tells you which parts of the window you can actually influence. The sixty days before a facility review covers the same discipline earlier in the cycle, when a non renewal is still avoidable.
| Step | Who controls it | Runs in parallel or strictly after | What makes it slip |
|---|---|---|---|
| Read the notice and the facility documents | You | Parallel, start on day one | The letter is filed and not read properly until the final month |
| Request an indicative payout and the discharge form, requirements and lead time in writing | You to ask, the outgoing lender to answer | Parallel, start on day one | The outgoing process is not discovered until the replacement is already approved |
| Assemble financials, tax lodgements and bank statements | You and your accountant | Parallel with the request above | Lodgements are behind, so the pack cannot be completed |
| Assess options and submit to replacement lenders | You and your broker | After the pack is complete enough to be assessed once | An incomplete pack, so the file is assessed twice |
| Credit decision and formal approval | The incoming lender | After submission | Conditions that call for documents nobody has requested yet |
| Valuation or security assessment where property is involved | The incoming lender's panel valuer | May run before or after formal approval depending on the lender | Access delays, valuation issues or a different security position to the last approval |
| Book the formal discharge and obtain the settlement payout | The outgoing lender, then you and the settlement parties | Once the replacement path is sufficiently certain; follow the outgoing lender's process | Assuming a universal sequence instead of asking when that lender needs its signed authority |
| Settlement, old-security release and registration of the new interest | Outgoing lender, incoming lender, settlement parties, land titles office and the PPSR | After the required discharge and settlement documents are ready | Third parties set this pace and the borrower does not control every step |
The two tasks worth starting before you choose a replacement lender are the outgoing-lender request and the financial pack. They can run in parallel, they cost nothing to start and they expose problems early. A quick approval later is useful, but it cannot recover time lost because the discharge process was only discovered after approval.
What to do in the first week of a notice period
Everything worth doing in week one is free, commits you to nothing, and does not need anyone's approval. In order:
- Read the notice and the facility documents, and write down the exact expiry or repayment date, the stated reason and any conditions attached to it.
- Ask the outgoing lender in writing for an indicative payout, the current discharge authority or instructions, the minimum lead time it wants, and what must be received before settlement can be booked.
- In the same request, ask whether the security supports any other facility, whether any guarantee needs a separate release, and whether other banking facilities are affected.
- Get financials, tax lodgements and bank statements current so the replacement file is complete before lender selection hardens.
- Write down what the facility is actually used for through a normal month. The replacement amount and product do not have to copy the old limit if the business no longer uses it that way.
None of that requires you to have chosen a lender, and none of it tells your bank anything it does not already know. The requests in steps two and three are the ones borrowers hold back out of a sense that asking looks like leaving, and holding them back is the most reliable way to lose the window.
From our broking, general and indicative
Where a replacement window fails, it is rarely the credit decision that breaks it. It is the order the work was done in, and the pattern repeats.
- The payout figure and the discharge requirements are asked for last, once an approval is in hand, rather than in the first week when they cost nothing to request and commit you to nothing
- The financial pack is started after a lender has been chosen, so the file is assessed on an incomplete picture and comes back with conditions instead of a decision
- An extension is raised after the date rather than before it, which turns a scheduling conversation into a very different one
- Only one replacement option is run, so a single condition on that option consumes the rest of the window with nothing behind it
- The steps a third party controls, the release and the registration, are treated as administration rather than as the part of the sequence with the least give in it
General observations from deals we have placed, offered as pattern rather than prediction. This block deliberately carries no timeframes, no rates and no approval likelihoods, because none can be given honestly on a page like this one. It is not a quote and not an offer. Actual outcomes depend on lender policy and your circumstances at the time of application. Not financial advice.
How long does a business loan security discharge take, and who controls it?
The outgoing lender controls the release of its security, but there is no single national business-loan discharge clock. Current business-specific published examples differ materially: one major bank asks for at least 10 business days, another says full commercial discharge processing may take up to 15 business days after receiving a completed form, and a government business and farm lender asks for a minimum of 30 days. Those are institution-specific processes, not an industry standard. The PPSR then has a separate rule for ending a registration after the secured party no longer has the security interest.
| What is being released | Who releases it | Published position | Scope of that published position |
|---|---|---|---|
| Registered mortgage or other business security | The outgoing lender, then the relevant registration/settlement system | Published business examples include at least 10 business days at one major bank, up to 15 business days for full commercial discharge processing at another, and a 30 day minimum at a government business and farm lender | Each figure belongs to that institution and request type. None is a universal Australian business-discharge benchmark |
| PPSR registration over personal property | The secured party that made the registration | Should be ended as soon as practicable, generally within 5 business days after the secured party no longer has a security interest in the collateral | Statutory Commonwealth register guidance. It starts from when the security interest has ended, not simply from the day you ask for a refinance |
| The indicative payout and final settlement payout | The outgoing lender | The amount can move with interest, fees and timing. A lender may give an indicative figure first and a settlement figure later | Ask how the figure is requested, how long it remains usable and when the final amount is produced; the process differs by lender |
| A guarantor release | The outgoing lender under the relevant guarantee and discharge process | It may require an express release rather than being inferred from the loan balance reaching zero | One major bank's commercial discharge process treats releasing a guarantor as a distinct discharge reason; your own guarantee still governs the actual legal position |
| A priority or consent deed held by an incumbent lender | The incumbent lender, incoming lender and their lawyers | No single published national timeframe | It is a commercial/documentary process. Do not promise a settlement date until the parties that control it have confirmed their requirements |
The useful finding is therefore not “business discharges take X days”. It is that the published clocks vary enough that the outgoing lender's own process must be treated as a dependency. Ask for the current form, lead time, required signatures, settlement-booking steps and payout process at the start of the window. Do not use a home-loan discharge page, another bank's commercial process or a land-registry step as a proxy for your own lender.
Sources: NAB, “Mortgage discharge checklist for business banking”, current page read 3 September 2026: at least 10 business days to process a mortgage or business security discharge request. CommBank, “Business loan discharge form”, current page read 3 September 2026: contact within 3 business days and full processing may take up to 15 business days from receipt of the completed form. Regional Investment Corporation, “Loan variations, discharge/release authority and reviews”, read 3 September 2026: minimum 30 days for a full discharge request. Each is cited only as that institution's own process.
The two documents at the centre of settlement still matter. A payout figure is the amount needed to clear the facility at a stated point in time, and it can change. A discharge authority starts the outgoing lender's release process; submitting one is not proof the release is complete. How payout, discharge and title work together on property-secured lending is covered in the payout, discharge and title guide.
What else must be released or moved after the old business loan is paid out?
Paying out the loan does not by itself prove that every guarantee, mortgage, PPSR registration, linked facility or everyday-banking arrangement has been released or closed. Each item has its own document or operational process, so the week after settlement needs its own checklist just as much as the week after the notice.
| What is involved | What people assume | What actually decides it | What to ask for in writing |
|---|---|---|---|
| A director or personal guarantee | That it disappears when the loan balance reaches zero | The guarantee terms and any express release process. A major bank's commercial discharge process treats releasing a guarantor as a distinct discharge reason | Ask for written confirmation that the guarantor is released, or exactly what the guarantee continues to secure |
| A PPSR registration over business assets | That it disappears when the debt is paid | The secured party must end the registration when it no longer has the security interest; Commonwealth guidance says generally within 5 business days and as soon as practicable | Ask for confirmation it has been ended, then search the register yourself afterwards |
| A mortgage or other registered property security | That settlement automatically proves the old security is gone | The outgoing lender's discharge process and the relevant land-titles/settlement system | Ask what has been lodged, what remains pending and what evidence of completion you will receive |
| Other facilities with the same bank | That only the facility in the letter is affected | The facility and security documents, including any cross-default or cross-collateralisation terms | Ask whether the same security supports anything else and whether any card, line, lease or other limit changes |
| Credit balances with the same bank | That money in another account can never be touched | The legal and contractual set-off position. For subscribing banks, Banking Code paragraph 192 says the bank will promptly inform you if it combines or sets off accounts | Ask whether a right of set-off applies to the accounts you use and whether the bank intends to rely on it |
| Transaction accounts, payroll, merchant facilities, direct debits and bank feeds | That they move with the refinance | They are separate banking and operational arrangements. Australian government business guidance notes that businesses can split banking across two or more institutions | Decide deliberately what stays and what moves, then migrate payment and accounting connections only after that decision |
The important point is to ask for evidence rather than infer closure from a zero balance. A guarantee can require a separate release; a PPSR registration can still be visible after payout; and another facility may rely on the same security. For accounts held with a subscribing bank, the Banking Code also expressly deals with combining or setting off accounts, so this is not just an obscure drafting issue.
Can the bank use money in another business account? Set-off is not an offset account
They are different concepts. An offset account is a product feature that uses a credit balance to reduce interest on a loan. Set-off is a legal or contractual mechanism that can allow amounts held in one account to be applied against a debt in another, depending on the documents and the law that applies.
For banks subscribing to the 2025 Banking Code, paragraph 192 says that if the bank combines or sets off your accounts, including using available funds in one account to repay a debt you owe it, it will promptly inform you. The Code then has additional restrictions for certain National Credit Code-regulated lending, which should not be assumed to apply to a business-purpose facility. Search your own terms for set-off, combination of accounts, cross-default and cross-collateralisation, and get legal advice if the position matters to a decision about moving balances.
Moving a facility and moving everyday banking are separate projects. Payroll, ATO payments, supplier debits, merchant settlements and accounting feeds do not follow the loan automatically. Australian government business guidance expressly notes that businesses can split banking across two or more institutions, so the answer does not have to be 'move everything' or 'move nothing'.
What should you check in the week after the refinance settles?
Settlement clears the funding problem, but it does not close every loose end. In the first week after settlement, check the old facility, security, guarantee and operating accounts separately.
- Get written confirmation that the old facility has been repaid and closed, including the effective date.
- Confirm what mortgage or other registered security has been discharged or lodged for discharge, and keep the completion evidence.
- Search the PPSR after the release window and keep the search certificate if the old registration has disappeared.
- Get the written position on any director or personal guarantee and on any other facility that shared the same security.
- Decide which transaction accounts, cards, merchant facilities and online-banking arrangements stay with the old bank. A refinance does not require every banking relationship to move.
- Only after that decision, update payroll, supplier direct debits, ATO arrangements, merchant settlement details and accounting bank feeds so an operational migration does not collide with finance settlement.
Sources for the post-settlement checks: CommBank commercial discharge guidance treats releasing a guarantor as a distinct discharge request; Australian Government PPSR guidance sets the end-registration obligation; Business Victoria's refinancing guidance recommends a complete list of accounts and facilities and notes that businesses may split banking across multiple institutions. Read 3 September 2026.
What replacement finance can you use if the bank will not renew your business loan or overdraft?
A forced refinance does not have to reproduce the old facility dollar-for-dollar or product-for-product. The replacement can be smaller, structured differently, split across institutions or secured differently, provided the new arrangement actually covers the business's cash-flow need and the incoming lender is comfortable with the security and trading position.
The Reserve Bank's October 2025 assessment of small business conditions is the useful backdrop here: it reported that one in five SMEs has experienced challenges when looking to obtain finance, and that the most commonly reported challenges are lender requirements being too strict, difficulty obtaining a suitable interest rate, long processing times and the requirement to provide property or personal assets as collateral. RBA Bulletin, Small Business Economic and Financial Conditions, published 23 October 2025, read 3 September 2026. Reported from a survey, not from lending data. Indicative of conditions generally and not of any individual application. Two of those four, processing times and collateral, are exactly the two constraints a notice period turns into a deadline.
Some eligible business refinances can genuinely move quickly: one major-bank rapid-refinance process currently says eligible lending below $1.5 million may be approved within days, subject to payment-history, statement, security and credit criteria. That is useful evidence that approval can be fast; it is not evidence that the whole refinance, outgoing discharge and settlement will finish in the same number of days. Source: ANZ Business Loans, Rapid Refinance process, current page read 3 September 2026. Cited only as that institution's own eligibility and approval statement.
Where a replacement usually holds together
- Security is available and the title position is clear, so a valuation is the only unknown
- Trading continued through the notice period and the account was conducted inside its limit
- Financials and tax lodgements are current, so the pack completes in days rather than weeks
- The letter describes a policy or appetite decision rather than a conduct problem
- The payout figure and discharge requirements were requested in the first week
- There is enough window left to run a second option if the first returns conditions
Where a replacement usually gets hard
- The only security available is the family home and that decision has not been made
- The account ran over its limit, or dishonours appear across the statements
- Lodgements are behind, so a new lender is assessing an incomplete picture
- The notice arrived alongside arrears or a default on another facility
- The payout figure was left until an approval was already in hand
- The deadline is inside a month and no discharge request has been lodged
The first decision is therefore what actually needs replacing. A revolving overdraft used for seasonal working capital may not need to come back as the same limit; a term facility secured by property may refinance cleanly into a different structure; and the everyday transaction account does not have to move just because the loan does. Australian government business guidance notes that businesses can split banking between two or more institutions. The business overdraft guide and line of credit guide help size the replacement by use, while the Business Owners Hub covers the wider options.
What if the new lender approves less than the old bank's payout figure?
If the incoming lender's usable net advance is below the outgoing lender's final payout figure, the refinance cannot settle as proposed. Calculate the exact dollar gap first and identify which side of the transaction caused it. A lower valuation, tighter LVR or serviceability decision can reduce the new lender's maximum advance; accrued interest or an early-repayment cost can increase the amount needed to close the old facility; and some replacement facilities may deduct or capitalise fees rather than put the full headline limit into settlement.
Do not treat every payout shortfall as a fresh lender-search problem. The practical options can include contributing cash, asking the incoming lender whether additional acceptable security changes its maximum advance, correcting a material valuation error through the lender's review process, asking the outgoing lender whether it will accept a partial reduction plus a documented extension, or separately funding the gap where the security ranking and credit position genuinely allow it.
- Valuation or LVR caused the gap: work from the lender's revised maximum advance in writing, not from the valuation difference in your head. The valuation shortfall guide explains the arithmetic; a refinance payout shortfall is a different transaction, but the same discipline of calculating the actual loan reduction applies.
- There is usable equity in another property: additional security or a separate property-backed facility may change the numbers, subject to the incoming lender's policy and the existing security position.
- You are considering a second mortgage: it is not an automatic plug for the gap. First-mortgagee consent, priority, the combined LVR, serviceability and a credible exit all have to work. See how a second mortgage works in Australia and how valuation sets the available second-mortgage limit.
- An existing GSA or PPSR registration is blocking another lender: establish exactly what the incumbent lender holds and what priority or release the replacement lender requires before assuming another facility can simply sit beside it. The business-loan security and GSA guide covers that problem in depth.
- The gap is small but the date is close: compare the cost and certainty of solving the gap with cash or documented additional funding against the risk of losing the whole settlement window while starting again.
Run this comparison before settlement is booked: outgoing lender's current payout minus incoming lender's usable net settlement funds equals the gap that still has to be solved. A headline facility amount is not enough if part of it will not be available to clear the old bank. One current Australian business-lending page also distinguishes full and partial discharge and notes that break costs can apply on early repayment of a fixed-rate facility. Source: Macquarie, Discharging or varying your business banking loan, read 3 September 2026. Institution-specific process only; your own payout and facility terms govern.
What if the business loan refinance will not settle before the expiry date?
Ask for time before the date rather than after it, and get any extension, holdover or standstill in writing. Then identify which part is actually late: credit approval, valuation, conditions, outgoing-lender discharge, settlement booking or registration. A delay in each part has a different fix, so 'the refinance is late' is not specific enough.
If credit is approved but the outgoing discharge has not been booked, the problem is no longer finding a lender; it is settlement coordination. If the replacement is still in credit, the problem is optionality and evidence. If the first lender has declined, the problem is whether the file can be changed rather than simply resubmitted.
An extension or a holdover requested while the facility is still on foot is a scheduling conversation. You are asking for a defined period, you can name the replacement lender's expected settlement date, and the lender is being asked to wait rather than to reverse a decision. The same request made after the date has passed is a different conversation, with fewer options on the table and a lender that has already had to record the position internally. Nothing obliges a lender to agree to either, and no guide can tell you that yours will.
A standstill or forbearance arrangement is a documented arrangement or it has not happened. A reassuring phone call, a sympathetic relationship manager, or an email that only says the bank will "work with you" is not the same thing as agreed terms. Ask for the position in writing, including what happens to the limit, pricing and fees, what conditions apply during the period, the new end date, and what happens if the refinance still has not settled by then. The same discipline applies in the asset-finance lane, where a maturity date can arrive before replacement finance is ready; that guide covers the asset-finance version, while this one stays with business loans and overdrafts.
What should you show the bank when asking for an extension?
Give the outgoing lender a concrete refinance status rather than saying only that you are "working on it". Ask the lender what evidence it wants, then provide the strongest evidence you actually have. Depending on the stage, that can include:
- confirmation that the replacement application has been submitted and when it entered assessment
- conditional or formal approval, if issued, including the conditions that are still outstanding
- evidence that a valuation has been ordered or completed and whether the result changed the available limit
- the outgoing discharge authority or release request, if the lender's process allows it to be lodged at that stage
- the replacement lender's or settlement party's current expected settlement date
- evidence that any cash contribution or payout shortfall has been identified and can be covered
Then ask the outgoing lender to state the extension itself with the same precision: the new maturity date, available limit, pricing or fees, any repayment or reporting conditions, whether existing security and guarantees continue unchanged, and what happens at the new end date. One current Australian business-loan expiry process shows why documentary readiness matters: it may ask for financials and tax information, income verification, application forms and a valuation and tells customers to provide requested documents within the required timeframe. Source: Macquarie, Business loan is approaching expiry, read 3 September 2026. This is one institution's renewal process, not a universal extension checklist.
The replacement has already been declined and the date is close
Do not send the unchanged file to five more lenders. First identify why the first replacement failed, because each failure points to a different next step. Keep the extension request running in parallel so the credit diagnosis does not consume the remaining notice window.
- Serviceability or trading performance: another mainstream lender may reach a similar result if the same financials and cash flow are the constraint. Work out whether the required limit can genuinely be smaller or whether the structure needs to change.
- Valuation or LVR: calculate the actual payout gap before applying again. If the new loan is simply too small, use the payout-shortfall steps above rather than treating it as a generic decline.
- Existing mortgage, GSA or PPSR priority: establish what the incumbent lender already holds and what the next lender needs released, subordinated or consented to. The GSA and business-loan security guide explains why a facility described as unsecured can still affect the next lender.
- Property equity is available: a property-backed non-bank or private structure may create a different credit path, but only if the valuation, priority, consent and exit work. A second mortgage is one possible structure, not a default answer.
- No usable property is available: do not waste the window chasing property-secured products. The alternatives have to come from business cash flow, receivables or assets, a smaller requirement, negotiated time, or restructuring the working-capital need.
- The file is acceptable but time is the problem: select the next option on end-to-end settlement feasibility, not on approval speed alone. The outgoing discharge and any consent process still have to fit before the deadline.
- Multiple applications are being considered: ask before each full application what credit enquiry or bureau access will occur and avoid shotgun submissions that do not fix the reason for the first decline.
If payroll and suppliers depend on the overdraft, map the operational cash requirement at the same time. The replacement amount should be based on what the business needs through a normal trading cycle, not automatically on the old limit. A documented extension, however short, is still more useful than an undocumented reassurance of any length.
Once the date passes, two things change. The lender's options widen to whatever the facility documents allow it to do, and the question stops being about a replacement and starts being about the relationship. That is a different guide: what a bank can and cannot do, where a dispute goes, and what a demand actually means are all covered in the recalled facility guide, and the far end of that road, where a creditor moves to wind the company up, is covered in the guide to a winding up application.
Do not assume the non-renewal will be reported in the same way as a consumer-credit default. Commercial credit information sits in a different regime, and what appears depends on the information held and reporting practices rather than on the consumer listing rules people commonly quote. OAIC, Commercial credit information, page last updated 2 October 2024, read 3 September 2026: the credit-reporting-law requirements generally apply to consumer credit information, while the Australian Privacy Principles can apply to commercial credit information. If this is affecting the next application, the separate guide on closing a facility before you apply is the better place to go deeper.
| Where you are | First action | What changes if you wait |
|---|---|---|
| The notice has arrived | Read the notice and the facility documents, then ask the outgoing lender in writing for the payout figure and the discharge requirements | Nothing visible yet, which is the trap. Every week spent here comes off the far end, where the release sits |
| About 60 days out | Have the financial pack complete and the replacement options assessed, not merely identified | You lose the ability to run a second option if the first comes back with conditions |
| About 30 days out | Ask in writing whether the lender will extend or hold over, and name the replacement's expected settlement date in the request | The same request after the date is a different conversation with fewer options on the table |
| The week of the deadline | Confirm in writing what happens on the date, and whether any standstill is documented rather than discussed | An informal reassurance is not an arrangement and will not bind anyone afterwards |
| The date has passed | Get the position in writing, take free small business financial counselling, and treat the credit file question separately from the facility | Options narrow to what the lender will agree to, and the next steps become the lender's to choose |
The last row is not a failure state and it should not be handled alone. The Small Business Debt Helpline provides free financial counselling to small business owners in financial difficulty on 1800 413 828, and the Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman runs a dispute support and assistance service. Both are independent of your lender and of any broker, including this one. If what you actually have is a dispute with the bank rather than a replacement to arrange, that belongs in the recalled facility guide linked above, which sets out where a complaint goes.
A bank's decision not to renew a business facility is a deadline problem first and a credit problem second. The notice period is not all usable lending time: approval, valuation, payout, discharge and settlement sit inside the same window, and published business-discharge lead times vary by institution. Start the free work immediately: read the notice, request the outgoing lender's payout and discharge process, complete the financial pack, and size what the business actually needs rather than copying the old limit. If the replacement is approved for less than the payout, solve the gap before settlement is booked; if it is going to miss the date, diagnose the bottleneck and ask for time in writing before expiry. After settlement, check the guarantee, PPSR, mortgage and everyday banking separately rather than assuming payout closed everything.
Key takeaway: The replacement is not finished when the new lender says yes; it is finished when the old facility, security and operational loose ends are actually closed.Frequently Asked Questions
There is no universal 90-day rule for every Australian business facility. Under paragraph 93 of the 2025 Banking Code, a subscribing bank will give at least 3 months' notice of a decision not to extend a Loan where the borrower is not in Default and the principal is not otherwise scheduled to be fully repaid by regular periodic repayments by the end of term. On-demand overdrafts are treated differently, so read the facility documents and identify which provision actually applies.
Not necessarily, and the Code addresses overdrafts directly: paragraph 85 provides that if you have an overdraft or on-demand facility, the bank may not be required to give you any notice when it requires repayment. That does not settle your own position, because it depends on how your facility is documented and whether your bank subscribes to the Code, so read the facility terms and ask the bank in writing. The full treatment of how an overdraft and a line of credit differ on this point sits in the overdraft versus line of credit guide and the unsecured business overdraft guide.
No. A lender's decision not to extend a facility at expiry is not itself a default. You can still be separately in default under the facility terms, so the reason in the letter matters. The 2025 Banking Code itself separates the concepts by expressing its non-renewal notice commitment for a borrower who is not in Default. If the bank is demanding repayment now, relying on default or on-demand rights, or enforcing security, use the recalled facility guide instead.
There is no single Australian end-to-end benchmark. Some eligible business refinances can be approved within days, but approval is not settlement. Current business-specific discharge examples include at least 10 business days at one major bank, up to 15 business days for full commercial discharge processing at another, and a minimum 30 days at a government business and farm lender. Those are lender-specific processes, not an industry average. Ask your outgoing lender for its own lead time in week one and plan from that, not from a generic approval promise.
Read the notice and facility documents, then ask the outgoing lender in writing for an indicative payout, the current discharge form or instructions, the lead time it wants and anything else the same security supports. In parallel, get financials, tax lodgements and bank statements current and work out what the facility is actually used for through a normal month. Do those tasks before locking in a replacement lender: they cost nothing to start and expose the problems that otherwise appear at the back of the window.
The outgoing lender controls the release of its security, but there is no single national business-loan discharge timeframe. Current business-specific published examples vary materially between institutions: at least 10 business days on one major bank's mortgage or business security process, up to 15 business days for full commercial discharge processing at another, and a minimum 30 days at a government business and farm lender. The PPSR then has its own separate end-registration guidance. Treat your outgoing lender's current form and lead time as a dependency rather than borrowing a number from another lender's website.
Yes. A business loan or overdraft can be refinanced, but the replacement does not have to copy the old facility. It can be smaller, use a different product, change the security or sit with a different institution while some everyday banking stays where it is. In a forced refinance the important questions are why the old facility is ending, what the business actually needs, what security is available and whether there is enough time for both approval and the outgoing discharge. Start the payout and discharge enquiries in parallel with the new credit work.
Sometimes, but never assume it. Ask before the expiry date and get the terms in writing. Be specific about what is late, whether that is credit approval, valuation, conditions, discharge booking or settlement, and give the outgoing lender the evidence it asks for that a replacement is genuinely progressing. A phone reassurance is not a documented extension, holdover or standstill, and nothing on this page can tell you that a particular lender must agree.
The refinance cannot settle as proposed until the gap is solved. Compare the incoming lender's usable net settlement funds with the outgoing lender's current payout, then identify whether valuation, LVR, serviceability, accrued interest, break costs or deductions from the new facility caused the difference. Depending on the file, the gap may be addressed with a cash contribution, additional acceptable security, a documented partial reduction plus extension from the outgoing lender, or separate funding where priority, consent, combined LVR, serviceability and the exit all work. Do not rely on the headline facility limit; use the amount that will actually be available at settlement. See the payout-shortfall steps above.
Not necessarily. Do not infer release from a zero loan balance. The guarantee document controls what it secures and how it ends, and one major bank's current commercial discharge process treats releasing a guarantor as a distinct discharge reason. Ask for written confirmation that the guarantee is released, or exactly what it continues to secure. This page cannot interpret your guarantee; a solicitor reading the actual document can.
Possibly, depending on the legal and contractual set-off position. For banks subscribing to the 2025 Banking Code, paragraph 192 says that if the bank combines or sets off your accounts, including using available funds in one account to repay a debt you owe it, it will promptly inform you. The Code has additional restrictions for certain National Credit Code-regulated lending, which should not be assumed to apply to a business-purpose facility. Check your own terms for set-off, combination of accounts, cross-default and cross-collateralisation, and take legal advice if moving balances could affect a dispute or settlement.
Ask in writing for the new limit, the date it takes effect, whether the security or any guarantee changes, and whether the pricing or fees change. A reduction is a change to the facility rather than the end of it, and what notice attaches to it is decided by your facility documents rather than by a general rule. Then size the gap honestly: what you need to replace is the difference between the new limit and what the facility is actually used for across a normal month, which is usually far less than the old limit and materially easier to place with someone else.
Not automatically. Moving the loan and moving the operating account are separate decisions. Payroll, supplier direct debits, ATO arrangements, merchant settlements and accounting feeds do not follow a refinance, and Australian government business guidance notes that businesses can split banking across two or more institutions. First list every account and facility, decide what genuinely needs to move, then change the operational connections after the finance settlement rather than during it.
Discharging a mortgage means removing the outgoing lender's registered security over the property. On a business refinance it is a separate settlement workstream from credit approval. Current business-specific lender guidance shows materially different lead times, so a home-loan figure or another bank's process should not be used as a universal benchmark. Ask the outgoing lender for its current discharge authority, processing lead time, signature requirements and evidence of completion as soon as the replacement window starts.
The Small Business Debt Helpline provides free financial counselling for small business owners in financial difficulty, on 1800 413 828, and the Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman runs a dispute support and assistance service for business disputes. Both are independent of your lender and of any broker. If your question is a dispute with the bank rather than a replacement facility, start with the recalled facility guide, which sets out where a complaint goes.
Sources, read and confirmed on 3 September 2026
- Banking Code of Practice, paragraphs 84, 85 and 932025 Banking Code of Practice, approved by ASIC 27 June 2024, effective 28 February 2025. Paragraph 93 read: "If you are not in Default, and under the Loan contract the principal owing is not to be fully repaid at the end of its scheduled term by regular periodic repayments, we will give you notice of our decision not to extend your Loan, at least 3 months before you need to repay your Loan in full." Paragraph 85 read: "If you have an overdraft or on-demand facility, we may not be required to give you any notice when we require repayment, but if a failure to repay that facility on demand also constitutes a Default under another Loan with us, we will comply with this Part if we enforce that other Loan based on that Default." Paragraph 84 read as permitting a shorter notice period, or none, for a payment failure where it is reasonable to manage a material and immediate risk. Australian Banking Association, ausbanking.org.au/banking-code. Binds subscribing banks; it is not legislation.
- Customer Owned Banking Code of Practice, clause 88Version 2.0, effective 28 October 2023. Read: "We will give you at least 3 months' notice if we decide that we will not extend the term of your continuing credit Small Business loan." Customer Owned Banking Association, COB Code of Practice v2.0. Applies to subscribing customer owned banks and to continuing credit Small Business loans.
- Ninety business days, Recommendation 5Read: "For loans below $5 million, banks must provide borrowers with decisions on roll over at least 90 business days before loans mature, so borrowers can organise alternative financing." Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman, Inquiry into small business loans, 12 December 2016. A recommendation made in 2016, never enacted as law, and reproduced here as the origin of the number rather than as a current obligation.
- Five business days, ending a PPSR registrationRead: registrations "should be ended as soon as practicable", "generally within 5 business days after you no longer have a security interest in the collateral", and "Failure to do so risks breaching your legal obligations and can attract a civil penalty." Australian Government, PPSR, End a registration. Applies to every secured party on the register.
- Thirty days, full discharge requestRead: "Please allow a minimum of 30 days for any full discharge request." Regional Investment Corporation, Loan variations, discharge/release authority and reviews. Confirmed on the build day as business and farm lending scope, not home lending, and as that lender's own position on its own book.
- One in five SMEs, finance challengesRead: "One in five SMEs has experienced challenges when looking to obtain finance, according to a recent survey", and that the most commonly reported challenges are "lender requirements being too strict, difficulty obtaining a suitable interest rate, long processing times and the requirement to provide property or personal assets as collateral". Survey based and indicative of conditions generally, not of any individual application.Reserve Bank of Australia, Bulletin, Small Business Economic and Financial Conditions, 23 October 2025, read 3 September 2026. The bulletin attributes the survey to Banjo Loans, 2025, in the same sentence.
- Commercial credit information is not the consumer regimeRead: "The requirements for handling credit reporting information under credit reporting laws generally apply only to the consumer credit information on your credit report, not any commercial credit information", and that the Australian Privacy Principles "cover the handling of commercial credit information on your credit report if the organisation handling your information must also follow the APPs." Office of the Australian Information Commissioner, Commercial credit information, page last updated 2 October 2024.
- No published turnaround or validity period for a business payout figureRead: "Contact your relationship manager. They'll provide an indicative payout figure for a full discharge or discuss your options for a partial discharge", and that break costs may be payable on early repayment during a fixed rate period. Confirmed on the build day that the page publishes no turnaround time and no validity period for a payout figure.Macquarie, Discharging or varying your business banking loan, read 3 September 2026. Cited as that institution's own published statement about its own process only, never as a comparison and never as a recommendation.
- Business-loan expiry process, evidence can be requested months before maturityOne current business-loan expiry process says the lender may request financials and tax information, income verification, application forms and a valuation for property-secured lending, and tells customers to provide the requested material within the required timeframe. The same page says the relationship manager contacts the customer around three months before expiry with the renewal outcome and next steps.Macquarie, Business loan is approaching expiry, read 3 September 2026. Institution-specific renewal process only; not a universal extension rule.
- Business security discharge, at least 10 business daysA current business-banking discharge checklist says at least 10 business days are needed to process a mortgage or business security discharge request and recommends lodging the signed form as soon as the customer knows it is needed.NAB, Mortgage discharge checklist for business banking, read 3 September 2026. Institution-specific process only.
- Commercial discharge, contact within 3 business days and full processing up to 15A current commercial discharge page covers sale, security substitution, releasing a guarantor and full or partial business-loan repayment. It says the customer will be contacted within 3 business days about next steps and full processing may take up to 15 business days from receipt of the completed form.CommBank, Business loan discharge form, read 3 September 2026. Institution-specific process only.
- Rapid refinance, approval can be faster than settlementOne current rapid-refinance process says eligible business lending below $1.5 million may be approved within days, subject to stated payment-history, statement, security and credit criteria. This supports the distinction between credit approval speed and end-to-end settlement time.ANZ, Business Loans, Rapid Refinance, read 3 September 2026. Institution-specific eligibility and approval claim only.
- Split banking and the operational moveBusiness Victoria recommends creating a complete list of accounts and facilities, including cards, merchant, trade, lease, internet-banking and loan information, and notes that businesses do not have to do everything through one financial institution and may split banking between two or more institutions. Business Victoria, Refinance your business loan, read 3 September 2026.
- Combining or setting off accountsParagraph 192 of the 2025 Banking Code says that if a subscribing bank combines or sets off accounts, including using available funds in one account to repay a debt owed to it, the bank will promptly inform the customer. Paragraph 193 then contains restrictions for certain National Credit Code-regulated lending. Australian Banking Association, 2025 Banking Code of Practice, paragraphs 192-193, read 3 September 2026.
General information only, current as at the reviewed date shown at the top of this page, and scheduled for review every 90 days because it cites codes and registers that change. Every source above was read in full on 3 September 2026 and quoted rather than paraphrased. Not financial advice; consider your own circumstances and speak to a broker.
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