Yet, almost as soon as the words were out of his mouth, ANZ and Westpac stuck their fingers in their ears and started la-la-ing to drown him out. The other two big banks did the right thing, that is, if you call CBA's new standard variable rate for owner-occupiers paying principal and interest of 5.12 per cent and NAB's 5.11 per cent the right thing. Seriously, if you are paying anything with a five or even a four in front of it, you urgently need to change banks.
Thing is, most people don't bother to call. They set and forget. But your home loan is not a slow-cooked lamb shoulder. It should be like every other financial transaction you make. Check and check again. Think about how you can get a better deal. If you ask for a cut and don't like the answer, ask to speak to the supervisor. If the supervisor gives you the same answer, leave.
It turns out that at least one of my darling friends, Philippa, far too nice for her own good, has never ever asked the bank to cut her rate. She'd noticed I'dPhilippa: I'd like to ask if we are going to get an interest rate reduction on our mortgage, please?Nice human: OK, let me put you on hold and I'll conduct a quick review with our pricing team.
Nice human: I can offer you 3.8 per cent starting now, with a further drop to 3.55 per cent on 25 June, is that OK?I have since scolded her for her laxness; although five stars for finally getting there. In addition, she now has $1500 extra a year.magazine ran a cover story that claimed "All banks are bastards". It's not that easy for them to be bastards any more .
Except when it comes to the interest rates charged on credit cards. Then they really are. Those should be our next target. The good news is that fewer of us are using credit cards. The better news will be when those interest rates are in single figures.
JennaPrice We created a free tool for this. It compares your current loan to thousands of other deals and updates you when you can get a better deal. Either from a new lender or your current lender.