Online lenders hit home loans with massive 0.30% - 0.50% rate hikes
The Reserve Bank of Australia surprised the market in May with another 0.25% rate hike, but the market astonishes even more. In the last two days, many online lenders funded by Bendigo and Adelaide Bank have made sweeping changes to their variable offers for new customers, most at or over 0.30% p.a.
Smaller lenders running ahead of the RBA
While it’s not uncommon for lenders to pass along the full RBA rate hike, it is uncommon for them to exceed it, especially from small online mortgage lenders who often rely on sharp rates to remain competitive with the bigger banks.
Here’s a summary of affected variable home loan offers. Existing customers may have different changes applied to their mortgages.
Massive loan hikes from Adelaide Bank group lenders (OO, P&I, 19 May 2023)
| Lender | Home loan | Increase | New rate |
| Adelaide Bank | SmartFit, LVR > 90% | 0.30% | 7.08% p.a. (7.28% p.a. comparison rate*) |
| Mortgage House | Advantage Standard Home Loan, LVR < 95% | 0.50% | 6.89% p.a. (7.00% p.a. comparison rate*) |
| Reduce Home Loans | Rate Slasher Variable Home Loan, LVR < 90% | 0.30% | 6.39% p.a. (6.47% p.a. comparison rate*) |
| Tic:Toc | Variable Home Loan | 0.35% | 5.39% p.a. (5.40% p.a. comparison rate*) |
| Yard | Variable Home Loan, LVR 80-90% | 0.30% | 6.49% p.a. (6.53% p.a. comparison rate*) |
| Qantas Money | Variable Home Loan, LVR < 90% | 0.30% | 5.54% p.a. (5.60% p.a. comparison rate*) |
Variable interest rates are sensitive to cash rate changes, lifting to absorb the rise in a lender’s funding costs while keeping in line with the market. But would a lender push rates well ahead of the RBA’s target?
In short: money. In long: how a bank wants to hold onto their money. With inflation still running amok and uncertainty surrounding the RBA’s future moves, these changes might be anticipatory, not just reactionary. Almost no one expected the RBA to move in May, and experts remain divided over whether we’ll see another rate hike this winter. These small lenders may be jumping ahead of the RBA’s next decision.
It could also be these lenders have copped pricier funding costs because they’re smaller subsidiaries of Bendigo and Adelaide Bank. Normally these small lenders sell at retail what the big bank sells wholesale, but inflation may finally have caught up with them.
Much of their additional pandemic-era funding (through the RBA’s Term Funding Facility ) will draw to a close this September, as well. The banks may be hiking while they can before they lose their support.
It’s also important to note that existing customers may only face a 0.25% rise in line with the RBA, not the steep rates advertised to new customers. Tic:Toc and Qantas Money’s offers in the table are still below the average variable interest rate in Mozo’s database, 6.28% p.a.
With everything in flux, it’s a well-timed reminder for customers to make sure their mortgage rate remains competitive.
Compare low-interest rates in the table below.