NAB and CommBank follow through with home loan interest rate rises

As expected, the Commonwealth Bank and NAB have followed Westpac’s lead by lifting the interest rate on their  variable rate loans by 0.15% p.a. and 0.17% respectively.

The Commonwealth Bank announced yesterday that the interest rates on its standard variable home loan would increase to 5.60% p.a. (5.75% comparison rate*) effective from 20 November 2015. This was followed by NAB’s decision to also raise the interest rate on all new and existing variable rate home loans to 5.60% p.a. (5.69% comparison rate*) from 12 November 2015.

Both banks said the decision to raise interest rates is a response to market conditions as well as APRA’s recent changes to capital mortgage requirements.

Matt Comyn, Commbank Group Executive for Retail Banking Services said, “We recently raised $5.1 billion to strengthen our capital position in line with new regulatory requirements implemented in response to the Financial System Inquiry.”

“We have now reviewed our home loan pricing in light of these changes,” he said.

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<<Update>> ANZ has also decided to increase its variable interest rates for owner-occupier home loans by 0.18% p.a. to 5.56% p.a (5.66% comparison rate*) effective from 20 November 2015. 

“Interest rates are at historically low levels and NAB remains committed to providing a competitive proposition for our customers,” said NAB Group Executive for Personal Banking Gavin Slater.

This decision to raise interest rates comes as new data from Roy Morgan found that satisfaction levels among home loan customers of the big four banks is well below the other major banks.

The survey indicated that overall customer satisfaction with the big four has grown in the past 12 months to 80% but still remains below the next seven major banks such as ME, ING Direct, Bank SA and Bendigo Bank which achieved satisfaction ratings above 85%.

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*WARNING: This comparison rate applies only to the example or examples given. Different amounts and terms will result in different comparison rates. Costs such as redraw fees or early repayment fees, and cost savings such as fee waivers, are not included in the comparison rate but may influence the cost of the loan. The comparison rate displayed is for a secured loan with monthly principal and interest
repayments for $150,000 over 25 years.