New home loans surpass $30 billion, NZ travel money options & the truth about your savings: This week’s best banking news

• Faster home loan application turnarounds
• The Reserve Bank of Australia holds the cash rate
• New Zealand travel money options
• New home loan commitments surpass $30 billion
• Tick off your May 2021 Financial Checklist
• The truth about your savings

All in this week’s best banking news recap: editor’s pick. 

Faster turnarounds on mortgage applications

Keen to join the property market but concerned about long home loan approval wait times? Well, worry not - because in 2021 mortgage applications are getting approved quicker than ever.

While cautions raised by the Hayne Royal Commission have led to slower application turnarounds over the past few years, many lenders are now shifting their focus more towards helping eager Aussie home buyers enter the market.

Read full article: Does it take long to get a home loan in 2021? Read the full article to find out!

RBA holds the cash rate yet again

There are two kinds of people in the world: those who obsessively refresh their newsfeeds at exactly 2:29 pm every second Tuesday of the month to find out the RBA’s decision, and those who think that the RBA is some sort of sports association.

Well, assuming you’re somewhere in between these two groups then you might be yet to hear that the Reserve Bank of Australia kept the cash rate on hold this month, keeping the cash rate at 0.1% for the sixth consecutive month since November last year.

Read full article: RBA upgrades economic forecast in May meeting to find out what went down in this month’s board meeting and how it affects you.

Your New Zealand travel money options unpacked

It’s been a little over two weeks since the Trans-Tasman travel bubble opened up allowing Aussies to jet-set off to New Zealand without having to do the mandatory two-week hotel quarantine period.

So if you’re itching for a holiday after spending the year stuck at home thanks to COVID-19 border closures then now could be the time to take the plunge. 

As we said, you might be a little out of practice when it comes to the whole travel thing - so check out the article below for a rundown on some of the different travel money options available if you’re heading over to New Zealand.

Read full article: New Zealand travel bubble: what are your credit card options? For all your New Zealand travel money options.

New home loan commitments pass the $30 billion mark

There’s been a lot of news circulating about the Aussie property market lately - but did you know that new home loan commitments have officially surpassed the $30 billion mark?

That’s right, according to the latest ABS lending data the number of new home loans has gone up by a whopping 5.5% over the past month.

This is largely linked to a renewed investor confidence, with investors attributing to more than half of the increase.

Read full article: New home loans rise to surpass $30 billion for the full scoop.

Start ticking off your May 2021 Financial Checklist

We’ve officially entered the month of May and boy is it starting to get cold! Which means there’s no better time to curl up on the couch and catch up with your May 2021 Financial Checklist.

On the agenda this month is:

• Cheap Mother’s Day gift ideas
• EOFY to-do list
• Intel on the latest home renovation loan deals
• The DL on living off-grid with Aussie Survivor star Aimee Stanton
• Learn how to make the most of Mercury retrograde this Taurus season

Read full article: May 2021 Financial Checklist for the whole shebang!

The truth about your savings

With savings interest rates dropping like flies over the past year or so, the future’s looking quite grim in the world of savings.

To put things into perspective, the average ongoing savings rate in the Mozo database currently sits at a mere 0.44%*. So gone are the days of doubling your money with a high interest savings account. 

But with no sign of rates going back up any time soon, you might be wondering how to get yourself a little more bang for your buck.

Read full article: Savings goals or investing: What does your savings future look like? to find out how to get the most out of your savings while interest rates are still low.

While interest rates are at an all-time low, the best way to find a more competitive deal in the current climate is by doing your research. Use our handy savings account comparison tool below to start your search: