Now is the time ... customers should ask their banks for a better deal on the products to ensure they are getting the best deal possible. Picture: Supplied Source: Supplied

They’re greedy and if they can squeeze a bit more out of us they will.

Our apathetic attitudes end up adding billions of dollars a year into their already bulging pockets.

Many of us know this but let it go on — the thought of switching products is in the “too hard basket” and it ain’t going anywhere fast.

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Bank hopper ... MoneysaverHQ deputy editor Sophie Elsworth. Picture: News Corp Australia Source: News Limited

But if thousands of home loan customers got off their bums and actually dedicated a few minutes of their day to trying to save money they might surprise themselves.

I did.

But before I go on I must confess. I’m one of those annoying customers they can’t stand — a bank hopper. Always on the hunt for the best deal possible and if there’s a better offer going, I’m outta there.

I’ve had about as many relationships with banks as John Singleton has had in the marriage department.

So when January 1 ticked over on the calendar I thought it was time to scout for a better home loan deal.

And that’s what I did.

The new year ... a great time to review your mortgage and ensure you are getting good bang for your buck. Picture: Thinkstock Source: Supplied

Bank advertisements are often sprinkled through newspapers and TV ad breaks offering “the best deals ever”.

Many of the interest rates that apply are in the four per cent range and that’s what worried me; my rate was a touch over the five per cent mark.

Some good old-fashioned homework on a couple of financial comparison sites confirmed I could be getting better bang for my buck.

In July 2011 laws were introduced banning banks from raking in fat returns for customers who jumped lenders.

This was music to the ears of many borrowers who felt like they were trapped in a prison cell with their bank, unable to move without being slapped a cost adding up to thousands of dollars to do so.

So with some handy figures in my back pocket I phoned up my bank.

I pointed out I’d been paying off my loan at a healthy pace and was after a better deal, or prepared to leave.

It’s important to add, switching lenders isn’t completely “fee-free” — some charges apply such as discharge costs and establishment fees with a new bank.

And not to mention lenders’ mortgage insurance (LMI) if your loan-to-value ratio is higher than 80 per cent.

Importantly my loan was below this threshold, making it easier to jump with the hefty cost of being hit with LMI.

The bubbly girl on the other end of the phone said she couldn’t help me but someone from the retention department could.

She would pass on my message and within a “couple of business days” someone from the retention department would phone me.

OK, I’ve heard that line before when you think someone’s going to call and you never hear again.

Dead silence.

But this time I was wrong.

Interest rates for home loan customers at a record low levels and consumers are being encouraged to go on the hunt for a good deal. Picture: Supplied Source: Supplied

“Ms Elsworth, how can we help you?,” she politely asked.

After explaining that I could easily get a better home loan rate if I jumped institutions and I would do this if she couldn’t help, she was only to happy to assist.

Playing a bit of hard to get.

“What sort of rate are you after, would you like to fix some of your loan?’’ she asked.

My response was to the point, “No, I just want a better rate or I’m off.”

After a bit of negotiating she offered to drop my rate by 0.1 per cent.

It might not sound much but if you do the maths it’s not a bad saving — all for just making one phone call.

On the average $300,000 30-year home loan a 10 basis point drop could save the customers more than $6600 in interest charges over the life of the loan.

That to me is a win — the equivalent of more than two return flights Europe or about a third of what I’d need to buy a brand new Mazda 3.

I was pretty happy with that.

My rate now had a “four” in front of it and I had got a saving simply by taking a proactive approach.

The mortgage market is more than competitive than ever before — the Reserve Bank of Australia hasn’t touched the cash rate since August 2013 when it fell to 2.5 per cent.

Banks want your business badly — they certainly don’t want to lose you.

So it time to get off our butts, if you don’t ask you certainly won’t get.

sophie.elsworth@news.com.au