GREEDY banks have begun shovelling an extra $1.4 billion into their coffers after deciding to keep about half the Reserve Bank’s latest interest rate cut for themselves.
National Australia Bank was the worst offender, dropping their standard variable rate (SVR) by just 0.1 percentage point while pocketing the remainder of the 0.25 per cent reduction for itself.
ANZ announced it would only pass on just 0.12 per cent of the drop, while CBA cut their by SVR by 0.13 per cent and Westpac by 0.14 per cent.
CBA will now have the lowest SVR of the big four banks at 5.22 per cent.
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Estimates compiled by financial comparison website RateCity tipped the banks to make a massive windfall. The largest home lender CBA would collect an extra $475 million a year in interest and the second biggest Westpac would reap $350 million more, while NAB’s miserliness would deliver it more than $300 million. ANZ would net $265 million when compared to having passed on the full 0.25 per cent.
Outside of the big four many borrowers will be waiting anxiously to see if their lender moves, but experts are urging customers to not be complacent.
Homeloanexperts.com.au’s managing director Otto Dargan said customers should be hunting around for better deals, particularly if their lender fails to pass on the drop in full.
“If your loan is over two years old you should check to see if it’s still competitive,’’ he said.
“If you’re concerned that your bank isn’t keeping up with the competition then see what else is out there.â€
The average SVR on a $300,000 30-year owner occupier loan is 4.46 per cent and if the cut is passed on in full this would drop monthly repayments by about $45 to $1512.
AMP Capital chief economist Shane Oliver expects the cash rate to drop again in November which would see it plummet to just 1.25 per cent.
“The RBA will let the dust settle, but the risks of inflation are still on the downside,’’ he said.
“Wages growth is still incredibly weak and the Aussie dollar actually rose today.â€
He expects many smaller lenders to pass on the full rate cut to try and get a grab on new customers.
Smaller lender Bank Australia was the only bank to announce yesterday it was passing on the full rate cut to its customers which will see their SVR rate fall to 4.74 per cent.
RateCity spokesman Peter Arnold said it now was the time for mortgage customers to “vote with their feet.â€
“The big lenders are holding back a big chunk of it now and they are doing it for a range of reasons, to keep their shareholders and regulators happy,’’ he said.
“It goes to show the customers do come third, so if you are a customer you don’t need to stick around, there’s so many lower rates on the market.â€
Commonwealth Bank customer Cher Kitchen was left disillusioned after her lender failed to pass on the rate cut in full.
The 26-year-old project manager switched to the nation’s largest lender just last month and said she “definitely expected to see the full cut.â€
“As a customer half our loan is variable and fixed so that’s the risk you take with a variable loan,’’ she said.
“I was previously with Bendigo and Adelaide Bank and we just refinanced last month after our investment property settled, but CBA were able to give us a good rate so that’s why we moved to them.â€
CBA dropped their standard variable rate loan by just 0.13 per cent to 5.22 per cent.
Ms Kitchen fixed half of her loan on her one-bedroom apartment at Windsor at 3.74 per cent, while she has two variable components — one at a rate of 3.95 per cent and the other at 4.17 per cent.
She also has a two-bedrooom home she rents out in Mount Waverley which has a fixed and variable component.
Due to get married this month said she and her fiancee, James Colella are disappointed they didn’t get the full rate drop.
OWNER OCCUPIER LOANS
LENDER NEW RATE FALL EFFECTIVE MONTHLY SAVINGS
ANZ 5.25% -0.12% August 12 $22
CBA 5.22% -0.13% August 19 $24
NAB 5.25% -0.1% August 19 $18
Westpac 5.29% -0.14% August 23 $26
Source: RateCity. Monthly savings on a $300,000 30-year owner occupier loan
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