DEFT Auction Pay Direct Debit Authority and Payer Terms of Use

Effective: 13 December 2024

If the vendor has agreed to accept the property deposit by electronic funds transfer into the property agent’s trust account, you can complete and submit this form to pay your deposit using DEFT Auction Pay.

By submitting this form, you authorise Macquarie Bank Limited to debit your nominated bank account for the deposit amount and transfer it to the agent’s trust account.
 

 Important information

  • Your vendor must have agreed to receive the deposit electronically, preferably in the contract or in writing – if not, the vendor may be entitled to rescind.
  • Your bank account must allow direct debits and have sufficient funds available, otherwise you may incur fees and a dishonoured payment may also entitle the vendor to rescind.

 

1. Authority for Direct Debit Request (‘DDR’) & DDR Service Agreement (‘DDSA’)

a. By submitting this request, you:

  1. request and authorise us (Macquarie Bank Limited ABN 46 008 583 542, User ID 077380) to debit your nominated bank account with the amount(s) specified in this form, along with any fees/charges in processing your payment (e.g. transaction fees, surcharges and GST) that will be displayed on the payment confirmation page.
  2. confirm that you are the holder of the above bank account, or that you are duly authorised by the account holder(s) to provide their account details and submit this request on their behalf;
  3. consent to accepting and providing your authority by electronic means;
  4. confirm that you have taken steps to ensure that the vendor has:
    1. agreed to payment of the deposit by DEFT Auction Pay; and
    2. acknowledged that funds paid by DEFT Auction Pay can take up to three (3) Business Days to be cleared and received by the real estate agent; and
  5. agree to these DEFT Auction Pay Direct Debit Authority and Payer Terms of Use.

b. You acknowledge and agree that:

  1. it’s your responsibility to ensure that your bank account details are correct and that your financial institution allows payments to be processed from your bank account via Direct Debit Request (DDR). You are advised to check your account details against a recent bank statement from your financial institution. If your financial institution does not process DDRs from your account, you should advise us immediately. You may incur dishonour fees as a result of nominating an account that does not permit DDRs, and there may be consequences under your property contract (e.g. the vendor may be entitled to terminate the contract, or impose additional costs)
  2. if at any time you believe that a direct debit against your bank account is inappropriate or incorrect, you must notify us as soon as possible
  3. it’s your responsibility to ensure that there are sufficient funds available in your bank account to meet the proposed debit(s). Where there are insufficient funds in your bank account, a dishonour fee may be charged by your financial institution
  4. we may pass on details of your DDR to our sponsor bank in the Bulk Electronic Clearing System, to assist with the checking of any incorrect or wrongful debits to your bank account
  5. any direct debit that is scheduled to occur on a day that is not a Business Day will occur on the following Business Day. If you are uncertain as to when a debit will be processed, you should enquire with us
  6. we provide the direct debit service to you as an optional payment service that is not intended to restrict you from using other methods of payment
  7. you have entered into the DDSA of your own free will and you have not been required to enter into this contract by any other person (including any real estate agent or vendor)
  8. any fees and charges associated with processing this DDR are non-refundable
  9. a payment submitted by you in DEFT Auction Pay cannot be reversed, changed or varied after it is processed by us
  10. this DDSA does not form part of any other agreement or contract which you may be contractually bound by, including the property sale contract
  11. a single payment amount will be debited from your bank account – this will include the deposit amount payable, GST, and any applicable fees or surcharges. For example, a payment of $300.00 plus transaction fee of $0.85 (including GST) will result in a debit of $300.85
  12. if a direct debit is dishonoured, the transaction will be reversed and you may incur dishonour fees from your financial institution. See section 3 for more details
  13. although we’ll try to notify you if your payment is unsuccessful, it’s your responsibility to check that any payment(s) you have initiated via DEFT Auction Pay has been successfully debited from your bank account. You should make alternate arrangements with the agent or vendor for payment of your deposit where your payment is unsuccessful.

2. Privacy statement

You agree that we may:

  1. collect, hold, use and disclose Personal Information about you to process this form, deliver the DEFT Auction Pay payment services, assist with payment enquiries and deal with complaints. We will handle your Personal Information in accordance with our Privacy Policy (available at deft.com.au or upon request). We may also collect Personal Information about you from public sources (e.g. sales data and related information) and through monitoring and recording interactions with you (e.g. phone, email and online). Some of the information we collect is required by various laws, including the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Act 2006 (Cth).
  2. exchange your Personal Information with the real estate agent or vendor, your authorised representatives, our related companies and our service providers (described further in our Privacy Policy). These companies may be located outside Australia, including The Philippines and the countries specified in our Privacy Policy.
  3. conduct data aggregation and analysis, based on the information we have collected from your use of DEFT Auction Pay. We may package such information (on a de-identified basis) and use it for our own purposes or sell it to interested parties.

3. Dishonour fees and other consequences

If we are unable to debit your bank account for payment for any reason, a dishonour fee may be charged by your financial institution. You should contact your financial institution:

  1. to find out what this fee is and the circumstances where it may be charged; or
  2. if you feel any dishonour fee has been incorrectly or unfairly processed.

As a result of unsuccessful payment transaction(s), there may also be consequences for you under your property contract (e.g. the vendor may be entitled to terminate the contract, or impose additional costs) – in this circumstance, you should obtain legal advice.

To the extent permitted by any law or code to which we subscribe, and provided we have acted properly and without fault or negligence on our part, we are not responsible for:

  1. any fees charged to you by your financial institution or other third parties as a result of payments failing, dishonouring or being delayed; or
  2. any other losses or consequences that may result from a failed or delayed payment, including any contract termination or cost rights which may arise for the vendor (e.g. you missing out on the property).

In addition to any fees imposed by your financial institution, the property agent might also require you to pay for their costs or fees incurred by them for the dishonoured transaction.

4. Payment processing times and limits

Payment requests made from your bank account:

  1. before 5.00pm Sydney time on a Business Day will be sent to your financial institution for processing on the same Business Day,
  2. after 5.00pm Sydney time on a Business Day or on a non-Business Day will be sent to your financial institution for processing on the next Business Day. If you are uncertain as to when a debit will be processed, you should enquire with us and/or your financial institution.

Funds sent by your financial institution can take up to three (3) Business Days to clear and be received by the real estate agent. You should obtain the vendor’s agreement to this payment clearance timeframe.

The minimum amount you can pay per transaction using DEFT Auction Pay is one cent. The maximum daily amount you can pay in one or multiple transactions is $1,000,000.00. Your financial institution or the real estate agent may impose other restrictions on transfers and transaction limits.

5. Payment enquiries or disputes

Please contact the real estate agent if you require specific information about your payment – they will know what amounts you owe and what amounts you have paid. It might also be appropriate to contact your financial institution, which will have information about failed or declined payments.

You can contact us by emailing business@macquarie.com, and include a full explanation of your situation.

If any payment dispute remains unresolved, you should contact your financial institution and lodge the relevant customer claim form. Your financial institution may investigate whether or not the payment in dispute was authorised by you. You authorise us to provide your financial institution with any information that may be reasonably required to determine your claim.

6. Codes of practice

If you are an individual or a small business as defined in the Banking Code of Practice, that code will apply.  We will also comply with the ePayments Code.

7. General terms

  1. Should the vendor or their agent owe an amount back to you (e.g. a deposit fund), this will be returned to the account from which the payment was originally made.
  2. Please read the ‘Important Information’ page available on deft.com.au for more information on fraud and data security.
  3. If any provision of the DDSA or terms of use is unenforceable, illegal or void, then it is severed and all other provisions remain in force.
  4. In this document:
    • Business Day means every weekday except for Australian national public holidays
    • Personal Information has the meaning given to that term in the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth)
    • Privacy Policy means the privacy policy available on deft.com.au that describes how Macquarie handles your Personal Information
    • We/us/our means Macquarie Bank Limited ABN 46 008 583 542, AFSL and Australian Credit Licence No. 237502, and
    • You/your means you (and if there is more than one of you, then each of you jointly and separately) the account holder(s) making payment(s) to the real estate agent.

8. Complaints

How to make a complaint

Please contact us if you have a concern or complaint. To find out how to do so please visit www.macquarie.com.au/feedback-and-complaints.

Macquarie Customer Advocate 

Macquarie has a Customer Advocate to help facilitate fair customer outcomes. For more information and their contact details please visit www.macquarie.com.au/feedback-and-complaints/customer-advocate.

What to do if you feel your complaint has not been resolved 

The Australian Financial Complaints Authority provides free independent complaints resolution. If you are not satisfied with our response to your complaint, you can contact AFCA at: 

Australian Financial Complaints Authority 
GPO Box 3,
Melbourne VIC 3001 
Telephone: 1800 931 678 (free call)
Email: info@afca.org.au
www.afca.org.au