Sunrise host Natalie Barr dives into the Big Four Aussie banks: Here’s how they’re giving you a raw deal to make millions
Major banks to grill crop in parliament this week The CEOs of Westpac, NAB, ANZ and CBA will be grilled ahead of an inquiry into savings account interest rates.
Sunrise host Natalie Barr delves into Australia’s biggest banks as the Big Four prepare for a parliamentary inquiry into savings rates.
Australia’s major banks are set to face a grilling this week as chief executives appear before the House of Representatives committee on the economy.
The CEOs of NAB, Westpac, ANZ and the Commonwealth Bank will be asked why interest rate rises are not being passed on in full to customers’ savings accounts, even though they are being passed on to mortgage holders.
While the national interest rate sits at 4.1 percent, the going rates on online savings accounts from major banks range from 1.05 to 2.15 percent.
Finance expert Steve Mickenbaker called it a ‘raw deal’ for customers joining the bar pile-on.
‘We all know we want strong banks and we have them in this country, but is it getting a little rich?’ Barr asked shadow finance minister Jane Hume on Wednesday.
‘What would you do to solve this problem?’
Sunrise host Natalie Barr has questioned whether Australia’s major banks are getting a ‘bit richer’ ahead of a parliamentary inquiry into rising interest and savings rates this week.
The shadow finance minister said the only way to reduce interest rates is to keep inflation under control.
‘That’s why we want to make sure that the government is making sure that its fiscal responsibilities are being met, that it’s reigning in and suspending doubt,’ he said.
‘You have to reign in your spending to do that and that way we don’t have to raise interest rates and penalize mortgage holders even more.’
Ms Hume said major banks would be held to account during the investigation.
‘That’s a good thing, we want to make sure they raise them when they do [interest] Rate that it has been done in a timely and transparent way,’ he said.
“Members of Parliament have to answer why they didn’t do that.”
From May 2022, Australia’s major banks have repeatedly increased rates for variable mortgage customers but not all savings accounts.
The ongoing rate on Online Saver Accounts has increased by only 1.05 to 2.15 percent amid repeated rate hikes in the past 14 months.
That means anyone with an existing online savings account with the big four missed out on up to 2.95 percentage points.
ANZ CEO Shane Elliott appeared before the standing committee on the economy on Wednesday
The CEOs of NAB, Westpac, ANZ and the Commonwealth Bank will be asked why interest rate rises are not being passed on in full to their customers’ savings accounts.
The move drew outrage from Steve Mickenbaker, executive financial services at financial comparison website Canstar Group, calling it a ‘raw deal’ for customers.
‘Savers should do well in a rising-interest-rate environment, and some have, but a whole group is getting a raw deal,’ he said.
‘Savers who keep their money in regular savings accounts… are setting themselves on a path to substandard interest returns and forgetting when they should be on the winning side of rate hikes.’
RateCity.com.au research director Sally Tyndall says customers of the big four shouldn’t assume they’re seeing every rate increase in full.
‘While the big banks have raised some savings rates ahead of the RBA rise, which is fantastic, millions of online saver account customers are on rates that are around half, if not a quarter of, the current cash rate,’ he said.
‘It’s about as far from fantastic as it can get.’
Savings accounts are purposefully designed to throw customers out with lots of fine print, balance caps and introductory rates, Ms Tinfall said.
‘The big four banks should consider simplifying their savings account options to make it easier for all customers to understand and navigate, rather than living with the one-size-fits-all approach they’ve taken so far,’ he said.
The chief executives of ANZ and NAB will appear before a parliamentary inquiry on Wednesday, with CBA and Westpac to follow on Thursday.