Ten percent of trail income leaves the business every month and goes to organisations working to end human trafficking. It has since April 2015. Clients do not pay for it: the lender pays the commission either way.
In 2012 I was living in London and went to a leadership conference at the Royal Albert Hall. A speaker from the western suburbs of Sydney, of all places, talked about human trafficking and said there were 21 million people in slavery at that moment, the most in history. I got angry, and I decided that whenever I had a business of my own, part of it would go to that.
Loan Lounge opened in April 2015. From the first month, 10% of trail income went to organisations working to end trafficking. That first month it was a few dollars. Now it’s more than $6,000 a month, and the target I’ve set is $1,000,000 a year. We’re a long way off. I’m telling you the current number rather than the target because the current number is the true one.
What a loan is, to us
A home loan is a product. It has a rate, a term, features, fees. Clients compare on rate, mostly, and that’s rational. But every loan we settle also has a trail commission attached to it that the lender pays us for as long as the loan stays put, and a tenth of that trail leaves the business every month.
So a loan that settles in Burwood this week is also, in a small way, a monthly contribution to a charity’s counter-trafficking work for as long as that loan lasts. That’s what the title means, and it’s the mechanics of trail rather than a metaphor.
I want to be careful here, because it would be easy to make this sound like something it isn’t. The client doesn’t pay for this. The lender pays the commission either way, and 10% of it going to A21 or another partner doesn’t change the client’s rate, fees or repayments by a cent. Nobody is donating by taking out a loan with us. We’re donating, and the loan is what makes it possible. That’s the honest version and it’s the only one we’ll say.
Why trail and not a one-off
Because it lasts. A donation from profit at year end is a decision made once. A percentage of trail is a decision made once that keeps executing itself every month without anyone having to be generous again. It also grows with the business rather than depending on whether we had a good year. That was the design in 2015 and it’s held.
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It has a second effect that I didn’t fully plan for. It ties the giving to the quality of the work. Trail stops when a loan leaves. If we set clients up badly and they refinance away, or if we go quiet after settlement and a bank wins them back, the charity loses that month’s slice along with us. The incentive to keep every loan competitive, which is a commercial incentive, is also the incentive to keep the giving going. I’ve come to think that’s the right way round.
Has the problem got better?
When I heard that speaker, the figure was 21 million. Walk Free’s Global Slavery Index now estimates 50 million people were in modern slavery on any given day in 2021, an increase of 10 million since 2016. The number went the wrong way while I was building a brokerage in Burwood.
I don’t say that to be dramatic. I say it because it’s the reason the target is $1,000,000 and not “whatever we can manage”. Our impact page reports what the partners have done with the money so far: over 100 micro-business loans funded since 2024 in prevention work, and seven or more rescue missions funded in 2024. Those are the partners’ figures and we publish them as given. They’re small against 50 million. They’re not nothing to the people in them.
What this asks of you
Nothing, really. Pick a broker on whether they’ll get you the right loan and look after it. If we’re that broker, the giving comes with it. If we’re not, go with the one who is.
What I’d ask is that if you’re a business owner reading this, you think about whether there’s a version of it for your business. Ten percent of something recurring. It doesn’t have to be trafficking. The design is the point: tie it to revenue that repeats, decide once, let it run. Ours has been running since 2015 and the only hard part was the first month, when 10% was a few dollars and it felt silly.
The full story and the video are on our Financing a Difference page. The impact page has the partner list. If you’d rather just talk about a loan, that’s fine too: 02 9037 2825.
Frequently Asked Questions: Every Loan Funds Something Bigger Than Rate
Does this cost clients anything?
No. The lender pays the commission whether or not a tenth of it is given away. Nobody donates by taking out a loan with us.
Why tie the giving to trail income?
Because trail is paid monthly for as long as a loan stays put, so the giving keeps running and grows with the business rather than depending on one good year.
Where does the money go?
Organisations working against human trafficking, including A21. The impact page reports what the partners have funded.
Related reading
- About Loan Lounge: Who We Are and Why It Matters
- Is Loan Lounge Legit? ACL, Reviews and How We Work
- Meet the Loan Lounge Team
- More on about Loan Lounge
Book a broker or find a broker near you. Or call the Burwood office on 02 9037 2825.
General information only. This article does not take your objectives, financial situation or needs into account, and is not financial product, tax or legal advice. Lending criteria, fees and rates vary by lender and change without notice. Loan Lounge, Australian Credit Licence 515608.