Commercial Lease Bonds

A Lease Bond is the modern alternative to a traditional bank guarantee — where we’ve designed a solution specifically to secure commercial leases.

The financial instrument that underpins the solution is the same financial guarantee, but instead of it being distributed from the banking market – it uses an insurance market – which allows it to not require cash-backing.

Instead of locking away business cash in a traditional bank guarantee, a Lease Bond allows you to keep that capital working in your business. You simply pay an annual fee, and the bond provides the landlord with the same level of protection – unconditional, irrevocable and on-demand payments.

Our Lease Bond solution is backed by a global insurer with an S&P AA- rating (equal to Australia’s big four banks), Lease Bonds give landlords peace of mind while giving tenants greater flexibility, efficiency, and control over their cash flow.

At eGuarantee, we offer our Lease Bond solution from $20,000 and up, making lease security easier, fairer, and smarter for Australian and New Zealand businesses.

Simply put – we’ve removed the bank from bank guarantees with Lease Bonds. eGuarantee is not a bank guarantee.

Lease Bonds provide the same sort of financial guarantee, the legal protection for your landlord is equivalent – but the processed is aligned with our modern day-to-day way of working.

It is a cashless alternative that provides the same unconditional and on-demand lease security, but through the insurance market rather than the banking market.

• Lease Bonds are 100% digital, therefore no paper-based documentation, no branch visits, no queues.
• It’s backed by an S&P AA- rated global insurance entity – and therefore no cash collateral required.
• Plus it’s specifically design for commercial lease security to work with the lease agreement  – so it’s more secure, and customisable.

As there is no cash required – in order to be eligible for a Lease Bond – business owners will need to go through a financial assessment and be approved. Credit assessments typically take 1 – 3 business days.

Once approved – the Lease Bond is issued to the landlord, as a bank guarantee would, and the business tenant would pay an annual fee for the issuance.

No — eGuarantee is a cashless alternative to a traditional bank guarantee. While the legal protection is the same, the bond is backed by the insurance market rather than the banking market. This means no cash collateral is required, and your working capital remains available for your business. An electronic bank guarantee is still issued by a bank and therefore will most likely require some sort of security in the form of cash or assets.

Once approved, tenants pay an annual fee for a Lease Bond to be issued. For bonds below $200k in security value, the annual fee is 5.5% p.a. Above $200k bonds, the rate drops, and is determined at the financial assessment.

A once off establishment fee of also applies and, in some cases, legal fees may be incurred, depending on the organisational structure and requirements.

You will receive the full payment schedule ahead of issuance, before you decide to commit. There is no cost to apply.

Securing your Commercial Lease Bond is simple. Our process is fully digital, fast and designed to work alongside your lease timeline. Here’s how it works:

For the initial assessment, the following documents are required:

• Latest accountant-prepared annual financial statements – finalised and signed by management
• Year-to-date management accounts (P&L and Balance Sheet pulled from accounting platform)
• Schedule of banking and non-banking financing facilities (including any overdraft facility, trade advances, business credit card, chattel mortgage)
• Group and shareholding structure
•  Draft or signed Head of Agreement / Lease Agreement, if available.

Sometimes, after the initial assessment, other documentation is required such as Trust deeds, Asset & Liability statements etc. Our team will give you a heads up if that’s required for application.

Yes, eGuarantee is already used by many of the biggest names in the commercial property sector and is accepted by over 110 leading landlords in Australia and New Zealand. We work with the likes of Dexus, Frasers Property, Centuria, Vicinity, Brookfield and many more. Please refer to our landlord page to see some of the companies we work with. If your landlord is not yet familiar with eGuarantee, our team can work directly with them to facilitate approval and issuance. We are always onboarding new landlords to our solution as their tenants apply for Lease Bonds.

eGuarantee Commercial Lease Bonds are available across all Australian states and territories, as well as New Zealand. We work with landlords nationwide, including major institutional property owners. Our digital platform allows you to apply and manage the process from anywhere.

Absolutely – you can replace an existing bank guarantee with an eGuarantee Commercial Lease Bond mid-lease, subject to landlord approval.

Many tenants use this option to unlock capital that is already tied up. Our team can work directly with your landlord to facilitate the swap and manage the transition process.