The Reserve Bank of Australia took a landmark decision by reducing its official cash rate to 0.1% this month. What did the major banks do?

ANZ

ANZ joined fixed rate-cutting and reduced rates for borrowers with one- to five year terms under its Breakfree package. Here are ANZ’s new fixed rates.

  • Fixed rate of 2.09% per year for a period of one years (-0.30% p.a.
  • Fixed rate of 2.09% per annum for two years(-0.20% p.a.)
  • 3.09% p.a. Fixed rate for three years (-0.20% p.a.
  • Fixed rate for four-years of 2.29% per year (-0.40% p.a.
  • Five-year fixed rate at 2.29 p.a.(-0.40% p.a.)

Mark Hand, ANZ’s retail and commercial executive said that these adjustments would be a welcome relief given the current difficult economic climate.

He stated, “Home loan customers looking for certainty in their repayments should look at the historically low fixed rate terms we offer.”

Commonwealth Bank

For its part, the Commonwealth Bank of Australia introduced reductions in its fixed rate offerings.

  • The Wealth Package offers a four-year fixed rate of 1.99%. This has been cut 100 basis points. This rate is advertised as the lowest for mortgage rates.
  • The fixed rates of the Wealth Package’s two-year- and three-year rates were also reduced to 2.14 percent.
  • The Wealth Package’s fixed rate for one year is now at 2.199%.

Angus Sullivan, group executive for retail banking, said that the cuts would give homeowners and buyers some assurance during the pandemic. This is crucial for households that are still struggling to deal with the financial effects of the pandemic.

Commonwealth Bank will guarantee that deferred mortgage borrowers can remain in their homes through September 2021 if they have made regular loan payments for at least 12 months.

“This will allow our customers to rest easy knowing that they can continue living in their homes and focusing on improving their financial position. “This will hopefully bring peace of mind to our loyal clients,” said he.

NAB

NAB’s borrowers will also receive lower fixed rates. The current fixed rate at NAB is 1.98% for a term of 4 years. The reduction will also affect NAB Choice Package owners-occupiers.

These are the cuts the bank will make

  • 10-bps drop in Advertised Fixed Rate for 1-year to 2.19%
  • 10-bps drop in Advertised Fixed Rate for 2-years to 2.09%
  • 20 bps to 3 Year Advertised Fixed Rate at 2.09% Per Annum
  • 81 bps decrease to the 4-year Advertised Fixed rate at 1.98% annum

Rachel Slade is the NAB’s group executive in personal banking. She stated that these changes were made to give certainty to our customers, provide credit recovery support, and offer the lowest fixed rate rates in history.

“This is the sixth reduction in the cash rate during the past 18 months. She stated that interest rates have fallen to an all-time low. “We are doing everything possible to help homebuyers, as well as business owners, through COVID-19” and to balance the effect on deposit and savings customers. 

Westpac

Westpac made some changes to its fixed-rate products as a result the central bank’s rates reduction. These are the changes

  • Borrowers with  Premier Advantage Package will have a reduced fixed rate of 1.99% on a four-year term.
  • Premier Advantage Package borrowers with fixed term terms of one to three years were offered rates at 2.09%

Richard Burton, acting chief executive  for consumer division at Westpac, said these changes will help many mortgage borrowers access lower rates. Burton said that the bank is taking steps to stay in line with current market conditions.

We are at an exceptional moment, with the official Cash rate at a historic low, and unorthodox Monetary Policy measures in place. He stressed that it is important to control interest rate fluctuations and support customers as well the economy.