“Smaller lenders have actually done the right thing”: Treasurer Josh Frydenberg throws shade at the big four

None of the big four banks have passed on the most recent RBA rate cut in full, and the Treasurer isn’t happy about it, calling on borrowers to switch lenders.

“We continue to put pressure on the banks and ultimately it is the customers who can vote with their feet and go to their bank, seek the best possible deal and if not, take the business elsewhere,” Mr Frydenberg told ABC’s 7:30 .

“It is a pattern of behaviour by the banks. When the previous government was in, there were 14 rate cuts and only five were passed in full.

.@leighsales interviews Treasurer @JoshFrydenberg about banks not passing on the rate cuts in full. #abc730 #auspol pic.twitter.com/BwYWXeVM9O

— abc730 (@abc730) October 4, 2019

“The banks have a lot of explaining to do. People should shop around, get the best deal and make their displeasure known to their banks.”

Westpac and NAB cut rates by 15 basis points, while ANZ cut their rates by 14 basis points and Commonwealth Bank trimmed only 13 basis points.

The decision not to pass on the rate cut in full will sting borrowers of the big four, who make up 75% of the residential mortgage market according to UBS market share data.

Which lenders have passed on the rate cut in full?

Mr Frydenberg praised some of the smaller lenders for passing on the full rate cut.

“Five of the smaller lenders have passed on the rate cuts in full. So, the big banks may have thumbed their nose at their customers but some of the smaller lenders have actually done the right thing.”

Athena, Homestar Finance, and UBank (which is owned by NAB) are among the few lenders to agree to pass on each of the last three cash rate cuts in full to new and existing variable home loan customers.

Notably, both Athena and Homestar Finance are non-bank lenders.

The table below displays some of the sharpest variable home loan rates currently on offer across the big four banks, the top 10 customer-owned institutions and the larger non-banks:

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James Austin, Chief Financial Officer of non-bank lender Firstmac, told Savings.com.au last month the bigger non-bank lenders are in a better position to pass on rate cuts because they fund off wholesale markets, allowing them to be more efficient with their cost bases.

ANZ did pass on the full 25 basis points for people paying interest-only (IO) home loans.

Investor loans seemed to benefit the most from the rate cuts, with Commonwealth Bank passing on the full 25 basis point cut to investors on variable loans paying IO.

Meanwhile, NAB passed on a 30 basis point cut to investors on variable loans paying IO.

Customer-owned banks struggle to pass on cuts

So far, customer-owned banks appear to have struggled to pass on the most recent rate cut to home loan customers.

At the time of writing, only four customer-owned banks have publicly announced they will be passing on at least some of the cut: Qudos Bank, P&N, Newcastle Permanent and Bank Australia.

The award for stingiest rate cut so far goes to Bank Australia which announced it will only cut by 10 basis points.

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