To break it down further, lenders will generally consider three things, says mortgage broker Marissa Schulze of Rise High Financial Solutions.
These are serviceability (your ability to pay off your loan); security (the amount you have as a deposit or equity); and your credit score (basically, what behaviour you show with credit such as personal loans, credit cards and Afterpay).
Sportsbet and Afterpay fall into different categories, says Schulze.
“If someone is clearly gambling – whether it’s Sportsbet or some other type of gambling – and that’s evident on their statements as a regular occurrence, there are some instances where that will be an automatic decline,” she says.
“I have seen a case where someone was regularly taking out large sums at a pokie machine’s location on a weekly or fortnightly basis, and the lender didn’t want to lend to them.”
Sutton agrees. He says to be careful of making large, late-night withdrawals from ATMs at pubs, clubs and casinos, as – to banks – they signal “risky financial habits”.
As for buy now, pay later, that’s considered a form of debt, which affects people’s borrowing capacities, even if they make the payments in full.
“[While] people think that … BNPL products are interest-free, BNPL is very expensive if you don’t make their payments in full on time,” says Schulze.
“It’s a little bit similar to having a credit card with a $10,000 limit on it. You may be using all of the $10,000 and paying it off in full every month, but that limits your borrowing capacity.
“So, one clever way to increase your borrowing capacity is to reduce that credit card limit, or … reduce or get rid of your BNPL.”
However, when the rubber hits the road – if someone was spending $200 a month on Sportsbet, while their partner was spending $200 on Afterpay, banks will generally look at the Sportsbet more harshly, if it’s a regular occurrence, says Schulze.
“It does depend on the level of the betting. If you’re only betting $10 or $20 a fortnight, that’s very different to $500 a fortnight. So there’s a little bit of discretion and subjectivity involved in this,” she says.
Sutton agrees it depends on personal usage, but adds that when someone takes out a BNPL account, the provider will do a credit check that can reduce your credit score by up to 80 points.
So, what to do then?
First, don’t stress out. Maybe you’ve got Afterpay and you also enjoy placing a punt, but if you’ve got good incomes and have a decent surplus above this spending, are comfortably saving a good amount every month and have a solid deposit, the impact of these spending habits on your risk profile is reduced.
That said, Sutton says it’s always a good idea to look at where you can cut back. Beyond pulling back the Afterpay and Sportsbet accounts for six months, cancelling unneeded subscriptions and reining in the UberEats will all help you look more attractive to a lender.
This week’s Penny Wise column is written by Lucy Dean.
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This article is for general information purposes only and is not intended to be financial product advice. You should always obtain your own independent advice before making any financial decisions.