- Commonwealth Bank's net profit is up 6% annually
- It's been driven by record growth in lending and deposit volumes
- CommBank has retained its market-leading share of the home loans and deposit markets despite pressure from Macquarie Bank
Commonwealth Bank grew its cash profit to $5.4 billion - up 6% annually - in the first half of the 2026 financial year, boosted by record growth in both loans and deposits.
CommBank's home loan business grew by 7% over the past 12 months amid strong demand for mortgages.
The latest quarterly lending data, released on Wednesday, shows strong growth in home lending across all market segments, including first home buyer loans and record investor lending.
CommBank's loans to small- to medium-sized businesses were also up 12% over that period.
However, the bank's net interest margin (NIM) - a key measure of bank profitability that compares interest charged on loans to interest paid out to savers - was down.
The NIM of 2.04% was four basis points lower over the half-year, largely due to strong competition in the home lending market.
Hot competition for home loans
Australia's big four banks have increasingly seen their market share in home loans pressured by challenger Macquarie Bank.
The latest APRA data shows Macquarie lifted its share of the mortgage market to 6.8% with its home loan book increasing by 50% over the past two years.
While CommBank has so far held its market share, Macquarie has been outperforming the other three big banks: Westpac , National Australia Bank , and ANZ in the highly competitive home loan space.
It remains to be seen whether CommBank will retain its market share given its commitment to writing more home loans in-house and restricting mortgage broker access to all its products.
CommBank reported it had helped its customers buy 79,000 homes in the first half of the 2026 financial year.
A USB banking analyst said, between them, CommBank, Westpac, and Macquarie had written almost three-quarters of all new mortgages in December 2025.
Home borrowers were in good shape
CommBank also reported further improvement in home loan arrears by the end of the last calendar year, reflecting the falling interest rate environment and seasonal tax refunds.
The bank reported 87% of its home loan customers were in advance of their scheduled repayments.
But this was before this month's rise in the official cash rate which may squeeze some borrowers amid talk of a further cash rate increase in 2026.
Deposits also strong
Deposits remain the prime source of CommBank's total funding at 79% (up from 78% for the previous half-year).
CommBank attributed this to "stable" retail and business customer deposits.
The bank's household deposit volumes were up 7.5% over the half year, with CBA holding a market-leading 27% share.
Again, CommBank has withstood Macquarie Bank making significant inroads into Australia's retail deposit market, despite the challenger bank surpassing the $100 billion mark for the first time in December.
Macquarie's market share for household transaction and savings accounts is now 7%.
See also :
- Guide to Macquarie Bank Savings Account
- What's the difference between savings accounts and transaction accounts?
However, Macquarie's share of the term deposit market remains slim at 1%.
See also : Guide to Macquarie Bank term deposits
Deposit competition continues
A big driver of Macquarie's growth in the deposits space is its no-conditions savings product, soon to pay a 4.50% p.a. ongoing interest rate on savings balances up to $2 million (from 20 February).
But CBA enjoys 'rusted-on' long-term deposit customers who remain wedded to big bank brands.
At the time of writing, only two of Australia's big four - CommBank and Westpac - have announced they'll be passing on the latest cash rate increase to their savings customers - both from 13 February.
See also : Which banks are lifting savings rates after the RBA February rate rise?
CommBank savings account changes
CommBank will lift the bonus rate on its GoalSaver account to 4.25% p.a. (up 0.25% from 4.00%) when customers meet monthly bonus conditions.
See also: The different types of savings account interest rates
GoalSaver's standard variable rate remains unchanged at 0.25% p.a..
CommBank will also boost the standard variable rate on its NetBank Saver account by 0.15% to 1.70% p.a. (up from 1.55% p.a.).
NetBank Saver's fixed introductory rate margin will rise 0.10% to 3.00% p.a. (up from 2.90% p.a.) for the first five months for new account holders.
This effectively means existing NetBank Saver customers will not receive the full 0.25% rate increase on their savings interest.
CommBank has so far not announced any rate increases on its Youthsaver account for under 18s and its Pensioner Security account for over 55s.
Advertisement
Buying a home or looking to refinance? The table below features home loans with some of the lowest interest rates on the market for owner occupiers.
| Lender | Home Loan | Interest Rate | Comparison Rate* | Monthly Repayment | Repayment type | Rate Type | Offset | Redraw | Ongoing Fees | Upfront Fees | Max LVR | Lump Sum Repayment | Extra Repayments | Split Loan Option | Tags | Features | Link | Compare | Promoted Product | Disclosure |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
5.94% p.a. | 5.98% p.a. | $2,978 | Principal & Interest | Variable | $0 | $530 | 90% |
| Promoted | Disclosure | ||||||||||
5.89% p.a. | 5.80% p.a. | $2,962 | Principal & Interest | Variable | $0 | $0 | 80% |
| Promoted | Disclosure | ||||||||||
5.99% p.a. | 6.02% p.a. | $2,995 | Principal & Interest | Fixed | $0 | $0 | 60% |
| Promoted | Disclosure | ||||||||||
5.93% p.a. | 5.93% p.a. | $2,975 | Principal & Interest | Variable | $0 | $395 | 70% | Disclosure |
