Edstart offers two products to help spread large upfront school fees into more manageable payments:
Edstart Pay is a 12-month payment plan that enables you to spread your annual school fees evenly into weekly, fortnightly or monthly instalments. It is available to children of all ages.
There are no interest charges for Edstart Pay. The only cost is a standard 3% transaction fee on payments made to a school on your behalf. Edstart Pay can cover all items on a school invoice except for any outstanding balances.
With Edstart Pay, school fees are paid to the school by Edstart as and when they fall due, which is generally 2, 3 or 4 times per year. This means that upfront annual school fee payments may not eligible for Edstart Pay, however a more tailored package can be provided for circumstances where families want the school to be paid upfront for a full year.
Edstart Extend is a funding package that allows you to extend your school fee payments for up to 5 years after your child completes school. This option is generally better suited for when children start to reach the high-school years.
Interest rates are personalised based on each applicant’s credit profile and payment terms, and are typically set between 7.90% to 12.90% per annum. We use a risk-based pricing approach, which means that good quality borrowers are rewarded with lower interest rates. Interest is only charged on the balance of your Edstart account which has been utilised (i.e. the funds that have actually been paid to a school).
Edstart Extend can cover tuition / boarding fees and any extras like levies, uniforms, textbooks, excursions, extra-curricular activities as well as outstanding fee balances.
Individuals with school fees to pay at any Australian non-government school can apply for funding, providing:
Edstart makes school fees simple for families by providing customised funding packages which take into account all future school fee costs. A bank loan might help with just one year of school fees, but that would mean going to get a new loan each year, or initially borrowing much more funding than may otherwise be needed.
By contrast, Edstart provides a longer-term solution where future fees can be drawn down and paid to the school only as and when they are charged. Your tailored Edstart account can be used to fund all future school fees, and you can cancel anytime with no penalty. Edstart also uses risk-based pricing, which means that quality customers are rewarded with lower interest rates as compared to traditional banks and other lenders.
There are several major differences between Edstart and a typical payment provider:
Your credit limit is based on our forecast of the maximum balance required for your funding package. It factors in:
For Edstart Pay, our 12-month payment plan, we do not charge any interest. However, there is a 3% service fee on payments made to school on behalf of a family.
For Edstart Extend, interest rates are personalised based on each applicant’s credit profile and payment terms, and typically ranges from 7.90% to 12.90% per annum. Interest is only charged on the balance of your Edstart account which has been utilised.
Edstart uses a risk-based pricing approach, which means that good quality borrowers are rewarded with lower interest rates and fees.
Every customer can obtain an instant funding estimate online which provides full details of all interest rates and any other fees and charges which may be applied. The estimate is entirely free, will not impact your credit history and there is no obligation to proceed with a funding package.
Since Edstart issues continuing credit contracts, it is not possible to calculate a comparison rate for Edstart products.
Edstart is designed to be much more flexible than a traditional payment plan provider in relation to missed payment issues. This is because every Edstart customer receives a flexible line of credit account rather than a fixed payment plan.
Any temporary cash flow issues can be easily accommodated by providing an alternative payment date, a new payment cycle or a payment holiday as may be required. There are no fees or charges for implementing these changes.
All collections are handled internally by Edstart’s Sydney-based team. We do not outsource collection processes to any third party collection agency. Any missed payments are followed up via phone and we work with you to reschedule the payment or modify the payment schedule to meet each family’s needs.
Yes. All funding provided by Edstart can be repaid early at any time. No fees, charges, clawbacks or penalties are applied for early repayment. You can simply repay the balance that you have used.
If you wish to make extra payments from time to time, you can use your personalised BPay reference (provided on each Edstart statement) to do so at any time. Any extra payments will be applied to your Edstart account immediately, thereby reducing any interest costs that may apply.
By submitting a funding enquiry via the Edstart website, you are commencing an application for credit provided directly by Edstart Australia Pty Ltd.
Edstart uses its own funding to provide the school fee packages for each family. This ensures that you are only dealing with one entity from start to finish and maximises the flexibility that we can offer.