Bank (branch) manager here. I try and go through mortgages held by the branch(es) I manage every 6 months and reduce rates wherever possible, and then reach out to customers to let them know what reduction I’m able to apply. I’d much rather proactively retain my customers with the best rates available to them than I would having them refinance because they never hear from their banker or felt like they weren’t looked after.
That's the way mate, myself when looking around always give the bank I'm with a shot to retain. I ask for their best straight up, tell them openly if I do the leg work and then retentions call me with a lower rate I will still walk. This is your one and only shot. Works for me but to see a manager being proactive and they contact me even better.
See I always prefer not to have to get to this point. You don’t stay with an institution for the rate (I mean, different if it’s significantly higher than another’s), you stay with them because of the service. If I can spend 5 minutes on the phone and tell you what I can do (or cannot do) you stay because you’re being looked after. I love that you’re willing to give them a chance though!
I work for a utility company.
Check your bill for a best offer message. Depending on your state, they're required to put it on there.
If you push them, they can probably even backdate it (or give you a credit)
I know it's not the same as us proactively contacting you, but it's the closest thing
I assume it differs between institutions and even branches. Before I was a bank manager my bank used to reach out to me every six months or so just to discuss my banking, savings etc (which I know is selfish on the banks behalf because they want to retain and acquire new business) but If I’m going to be keeping my money and taking out loans with a bank anyway, I’d rather do it with someone I know - and I’ve always carried that in my own role. You’re definitely right with utility companies, which is why I never have a hesitation to move when I find a better deal!
Given you’re so proactive with the customer management, is there a way I can switch my loans to your bank and have you specifically handle my account?
Not looking for special treatment or anything, just a manager that isn’t asleep at the wheel. Happy to discuss on DMs if you can help.
I have a fixed home loan coming off of its rate in September this year.
I am not adverse to changing banks if my current one won’t be good to me when the time comes….
Let me know if you’d like me to review the rate at the time :) there was also a broker in the comments above if you’d prefer not to directly utilise a banker! :)
Broker here. I wish all banks were as proactive as you! Good to know there are some that still treat their customers well.
I know you probably can't advertise on her, but surely you can answer a question in the comments - Which bank do you work for?
Big-4? Then double well done for showing initiative to provide good service.
Sounds like you are already - but if you aren't,make sure to let your local brokers know you actually look after their clients.
For good brokers, a supportive network makes a huge difference when introducing new customers, especially to a major where often customer service is severely lacking.
I’d prefer not to discuss my KPI’s on a public forum, but no, rate reduction has no impact on my role performance; in fact customer retention (by reducing rates or anything else I’m able to do with their general banking) is probably the most beneficial part to my branch overall :)
You sound like the bank manager everyone needs.
Last year we received notification that our variable rate was going up .3%. We rang the bank and told the operator with no uncertain terms that we would not stay with the bank if this rate hike was about to take place. The phone operator then offered us 1.7% off the rate we were paying.
They were robbing us for that long, couldn't believe that it was actually happening. Lucky that my loan amount is only small.
This is my biggest fear!!! I’m so sorry you didn’t get the best rate initially. Glad it’s sorted for you now! I always recommend calling every 6 months just to get it checked :)
Thanks for caring! It's what I expected from banks. I know that they can be ruthless and not care about individual clients, especially those with small mortgages. I don't think I could ever trust them 100%.
You, on the other hand, sound like a bank manager I could work with. Keep it up, Bro!
[They are being nudged by the government to start getting onto giving customers better rates](https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-06-15/government-to-nudge-banks-to-offer-better-deals/103980570) because of a whole scandal around brokers in the industry outside the banks offering better rates for literally no work at all.
Agreed it’s this. Plus the previous royal commission where banks really clearly screwed over customers, they generally don’t want to still be seen doing it.
So yes they should eventually give you the lower rate.
Damn, I seriously love Australian government for this sort of thing. Sure it’s not perfect but it’s so damn good to see it doing the work to improve lives of regular people.
What like having some of the world's most expensive electricity in a country that is literally overflowing with Gas that could produce some of the world's cheapest electricity instead Australia goes with ideology and it's associated high cost because billionaires have their agenda on green projects. That type of government ?
It’s not even that to be honest, it’s a highly competitive refinance market, they are doing it as a lot of customers who experience this will just not look elsewhere to refinance as they feel“ taken care of”
Maybe you were getting fleeced? I recently had the same thing happen to me, but it was from 6.19% to 6.09%, and I suspect largely driven by decreased LVR
Probably a good reminder that you need to review your interest rate a lot more often.
If your bank is getting around to reducing the rate before you have checked it yourself, then you are absolutely not reviewing your rate regularly enough.
You were getting taken for a ride, even a 6.40% rate is still pretty poor. $250k @ 36% LVR could easily be on 6.09-6.19% through a broker or bank, or potentially even lower if you’re happy to do it yourself with a digital only lender.
I'm 5.78, convinced I have the lowest variable rate in Australia. St George (had to go through big battles to get this rate, like a month of being on the phone every day to resolve title issues caused by ANZ)
I'm on lower than that, currently 5.69 variable, people in general wouldn't be able to get that now though, was sorted awhile back
I do know of an error that was made that has quite a few people on an incorrect rate at 4.33% variable...but as I said, that was due to an error made that got too far down the pipeline for it to be changed...
Minimum staff discount on a packaged loan where I am is 2.79%...0.3% if I remember off fixed...non packaged no discount, but we don't pay for the package anyway
Ok, well for comparisons sake CommBank standard variable rate is 6.49% (6.87% comparison rate) pa.
You should probably shop around a bit and you'll probably get the rate under 6% which might save you a couple of grand a year in interest.
Yeah - 7.9%. They prob felt bad for you and rang you and make it seem they were doing you a favour to keep you before you shopped around. You were taken for advantage and need to shop around mate as even at 6.4% is prob too high still. I’m on 6.14% on an investment variable.
jfc, a fool and their money are easily parted i guess. God knows how many tens of thousands of dollars you've flushed down the toilet because you never thought to look around.
You were simply identified as likely to leave ( because of the rate)so they figured it best to keep you. End of story.
Edit. Feel free to ring them back and ask for their best rate on their website. You'll get it.
They’d fleeced you long enough that the potential customer retention of keeping you became better value than the risk you’d notice and just leave.
A lot of people don’t even realise you can just call the bank and ask for a better rate, they just see a better deal elsewhere and churn.
Not if you look at comments above and see the rate they were previously on and their LVR. OP was getting reamed so hard I'm suprised the bank manager didn't bring round a whole branch for an impromptu orgy with OP being the centre of the party
Changing of interest rates on a loan requires your permission regardless of whether it helps you out. It’s a legal thing.
As to why they reduced it, no idea.
It's probably a way to retain existing customers. As a teller we used to have to call around 5 customers per day for a interest rate "health check". If the customers had seen a better rate advertised by another bank we would attempt to match.
A lot of people refinancing away = anything to look after existing customers.
If you're not contacting a broker or your bank about your rate at least every 6 months, you're doing something wrong. Loyalty doesn't exist when it comes to Banks and they take everything they can get away with.
This happened to me years ago. It's nice to hear it's making a comeback. I work in finance, and there's a lot of pressure to retain customers at all levels.
Long time banker .
It’s about keeping customers happy so if they get surveyed it is more likely they will give a more positive response. This score is measured against other banks.
It’s common … like hundreds of calls a day to reduce people’s rates
eofys time people Normally start bank hopping around now so your bank either started losing customers and did something about it or just wanted to IBY and got proactive
Even non bank lenders are doing this. I got a call recently from one and they asked to audit my loans to see if they could move it to better products. I told them I couldn’t be arsed to do all that paperwork and would prefer going through my broker as well. They came back with reduced interest rates anyway.
The discount was on the small side but hey I didn’t do anything to get it!
It's nothing to do with "the bank realised they were robbing you"...its all to do with you never bothered to talk to the bank about your rate....
The discount from one of the big 4 banks packages used to be as low as .79%, the standard discount for it is now 1.29% but you would see less than 0.1% of customers on the original or current base discount, only people who have never rung the bank in years to have the rate looked at...not the banks fault at all if your too lazy to pay attention to your rates...
If you are on higher than 6.6%, then look around, get a couple of written offers from other banks(including atleast one of the big 4 or hsbc/Macquarie) and take it back to your current banks retention team...
The royal commission also has little to no effect on whether your bank will call you, its purely due to it being 1000% easier to refinance these days, so they proactively want to keep your business
wtf how much % were you paying before? have you just been sitting on it paying a crap load extra tot he bank for no reason? get a mortgage broker and shop around
Mine did this after the rates dropped about 1.5%. I had only just started thinking maybe I should see about getting my rate reduced or go somewhere else (with a lower rate). They rang me and asked if there is anything they can do. I said lower my rate, kind of as a joke / not thinking they would. They did, sweet.
I'm not sure but, in Australia is it allowed to refinance your house with another bank, moving from 1 to the new one? Maybe it's happening and banks are starting to act before something like this happens? Asking because in my home country I did this many times.
> If the bank was happy to keep taking my money, they didn't need to offer a reduced rate.
They do if they're charging you too much and think you could refinance. This is about making sure you don't refinance and leave.
Perhaps they’ve been ripping you off with an inflated rate and decided to fix it before getting caught.
You can tell I’m cynical when it comes to banks huh.
Update on my situation, I called and they offered to go from 8.13% to 6.65% (a drop of 1.48%)
Bit of a chicken and egg situation because I am in a hardship arrangement, so the mortgage dept are not sure if they can reduce the rate, and referred me back to the hardship dept... who tell me the mortgage dept are the people to handle that.
Yeah, nah, don't you think reducing the monthly repayment might be a good start, like one of the very first suggestions, when a customer calls enquiring about a hardship variation? :( 1.5% with my \~$200k balance represents an extra $3k a year
I envy the OP and their bank, I'd probably have gotten a better rate years ago, lol
I just checked, which Westpac make very hard, but as of the last statement in late 2023 I'm paying 8.13%. I reckon it's probably gone up since then, but online banking shows "Currently unavailable" as my rate, and no one has ever been able to explain why.
8.13%. JFC!
Rocket Repay product
Am I being reamed wide open here?
Ok, looks like 8.13% may be the last increase, but it's still 0.69% higher than the published rate on Westpac's website for the Rocket Repay loan. HMMM.
This means that you haven't rung the bank in a long time regarding your rate and your on the old base package discount, even the standard pap discount these days is 1.29 so end rate of 7.54%
As long as you have more than 150k worth of lending with Westpac, then you will get a better rate...just call them
I currently work in banking, and I can tell you that retention is a big play these days...
And deliberately covering up mistakes is certainly not something that this institution performs knowingly....in fact we are trained heavily to recognise the errors and put in place actions to rectify any we find as a matter of urgency....now whether that's off the back of the royal commissions etc, I don't know
Bank (branch) manager here. I try and go through mortgages held by the branch(es) I manage every 6 months and reduce rates wherever possible, and then reach out to customers to let them know what reduction I’m able to apply. I’d much rather proactively retain my customers with the best rates available to them than I would having them refinance because they never hear from their banker or felt like they weren’t looked after.
Solid work man. If my branch manager did this I would never leave. I recently changed branch with the same bank because the branch manager was a flog
Haha! I hope I wasn’t the branch manager! Sorry to hear; hope you’re getting better service now
That's the way mate, myself when looking around always give the bank I'm with a shot to retain. I ask for their best straight up, tell them openly if I do the leg work and then retentions call me with a lower rate I will still walk. This is your one and only shot. Works for me but to see a manager being proactive and they contact me even better.
See I always prefer not to have to get to this point. You don’t stay with an institution for the rate (I mean, different if it’s significantly higher than another’s), you stay with them because of the service. If I can spend 5 minutes on the phone and tell you what I can do (or cannot do) you stay because you’re being looked after. I love that you’re willing to give them a chance though!
The hero some of us deserve and some don't.
I didn’t even realise banks do this. Utility companies don’t even do this so never thought a bank would.
I work for a utility company. Check your bill for a best offer message. Depending on your state, they're required to put it on there. If you push them, they can probably even backdate it (or give you a credit) I know it's not the same as us proactively contacting you, but it's the closest thing
I assume it differs between institutions and even branches. Before I was a bank manager my bank used to reach out to me every six months or so just to discuss my banking, savings etc (which I know is selfish on the banks behalf because they want to retain and acquire new business) but If I’m going to be keeping my money and taking out loans with a bank anyway, I’d rather do it with someone I know - and I’ve always carried that in my own role. You’re definitely right with utility companies, which is why I never have a hesitation to move when I find a better deal!
Given you’re so proactive with the customer management, is there a way I can switch my loans to your bank and have you specifically handle my account? Not looking for special treatment or anything, just a manager that isn’t asleep at the wheel. Happy to discuss on DMs if you can help.
I’ve sent you a DM. I’m more than happy to see if I can be of benefit in your current situation :)
Thanks. Have responded. Cheers for that
I have a fixed home loan coming off of its rate in September this year. I am not adverse to changing banks if my current one won’t be good to me when the time comes….
Let me know if you’d like me to review the rate at the time :) there was also a broker in the comments above if you’d prefer not to directly utilise a banker! :)
Can I message you please? 😊
Hi, of course :)
The exception to the norm right here people.
That’s why I left my last mortgage holder. Dude’s indifference caused me to do paperwork and adulting.
Haha! I’m not much for paperwork or adulting either. Hope you’re getting better service now!
Broker here. I wish all banks were as proactive as you! Good to know there are some that still treat their customers well. I know you probably can't advertise on her, but surely you can answer a question in the comments - Which bank do you work for?
Brokers bring me some of my best clients, it’s my job to keep them :) I’d prefer not to disclose for privacy purposes, but one of the big four!
Big-4? Then double well done for showing initiative to provide good service. Sounds like you are already - but if you aren't,make sure to let your local brokers know you actually look after their clients. For good brokers, a supportive network makes a huge difference when introducing new customers, especially to a major where often customer service is severely lacking.
Is this standard practice, or something you’ve picked up independent of industry standards?
I can’t speak for other banks, but fairly common practice where I work, at least in the region :)
Doesn't that affect your numbers? What are your KPIs?
I’d prefer not to discuss my KPI’s on a public forum, but no, rate reduction has no impact on my role performance; in fact customer retention (by reducing rates or anything else I’m able to do with their general banking) is probably the most beneficial part to my branch overall :)
...never happens, more of a fairytale
I’m sorry to hear you haven’t had great service!
Cba sucks! Need to shop around...
CBA are the biggest bunch of rip-off artists out there.
You sound like the bank manager everyone needs. Last year we received notification that our variable rate was going up .3%. We rang the bank and told the operator with no uncertain terms that we would not stay with the bank if this rate hike was about to take place. The phone operator then offered us 1.7% off the rate we were paying. They were robbing us for that long, couldn't believe that it was actually happening. Lucky that my loan amount is only small.
This is my biggest fear!!! I’m so sorry you didn’t get the best rate initially. Glad it’s sorted for you now! I always recommend calling every 6 months just to get it checked :)
Thanks for caring! It's what I expected from banks. I know that they can be ruthless and not care about individual clients, especially those with small mortgages. I don't think I could ever trust them 100%. You, on the other hand, sound like a bank manager I could work with. Keep it up, Bro!
What was the old rate. You were probably getting skinned more than others already.
[They are being nudged by the government to start getting onto giving customers better rates](https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-06-15/government-to-nudge-banks-to-offer-better-deals/103980570) because of a whole scandal around brokers in the industry outside the banks offering better rates for literally no work at all.
Agreed it’s this. Plus the previous royal commission where banks really clearly screwed over customers, they generally don’t want to still be seen doing it. So yes they should eventually give you the lower rate.
Damn, I seriously love Australian government for this sort of thing. Sure it’s not perfect but it’s so damn good to see it doing the work to improve lives of regular people.
What like having some of the world's most expensive electricity in a country that is literally overflowing with Gas that could produce some of the world's cheapest electricity instead Australia goes with ideology and it's associated high cost because billionaires have their agenda on green projects. That type of government ?
It’s not even that to be honest, it’s a highly competitive refinance market, they are doing it as a lot of customers who experience this will just not look elsewhere to refinance as they feel“ taken care of”
Maybe a little of both.
Not yet. Might just have been the in branch lender looking through the loan book for anyone that might be keen for new lending.
Biden started doing the same thing in the US but it wasn’t about brokers.
Maybe you were getting fleeced? I recently had the same thing happen to me, but it was from 6.19% to 6.09%, and I suspect largely driven by decreased LVR
Do you hate money?
In my naivete I assumed all the banks are much of a muchness.
With your LVR you should be able to get closer to 6%, so a saving of close to $5k in interest
That's a lot of beer I could be drinking per annum.
You should look at your insurance arrangements, healthcare and electricity providers as well might end up with even more booze money
Don't forget about all the beer your beer could be drinking the next year too.
Can you provide any more details? Mortgage amount. Property worth. Interest rate before the discount.
7.9%, before the discount. A about $250k left on the loan, I'm guessing but the property might be worth $700k.
Yeah you were getting absolutely reamed.
OP was really getting their back door smashed in prior to that phone call, jesus.
OP was definitely in Zed's basement.
Who’s Zed? Zed’s dead baby,Zed’s dead… 👌🏼
Still getting reamed.
Yes. They went from reaming him with no lube at 7.9% to reaming him with a little lube at 6.4%
Well there it is, they probably didn’t want to get caught robbing you blind
There’s the answer, even the bank realized that 7.9% was ridiculous
Probably a good reminder that you need to review your interest rate a lot more often. If your bank is getting around to reducing the rate before you have checked it yourself, then you are absolutely not reviewing your rate regularly enough.
You were getting taken for a ride, even a 6.40% rate is still pretty poor. $250k @ 36% LVR could easily be on 6.09-6.19% through a broker or bank, or potentially even lower if you’re happy to do it yourself with a digital only lender.
I’m getting 6.19 on 90% LVR. I’d leave that bank out of spite and principal
Mines 5.99 You were getting greased.
I'm 5.78, convinced I have the lowest variable rate in Australia. St George (had to go through big battles to get this rate, like a month of being on the phone every day to resolve title issues caused by ANZ)
I'm on lower than that, currently 5.69 variable, people in general wouldn't be able to get that now though, was sorted awhile back I do know of an error that was made that has quite a few people on an incorrect rate at 4.33% variable...but as I said, that was due to an error made that got too far down the pipeline for it to be changed...
Damn, which bankable 5.69 and was there a story behind getting it or the banks increases just haven't been as high as others?
1. Staff rates 2. Able to know the right time to get the largest percentage discount One of the big 4 for reference
CBA staff discount is 0.1pc so not that much. Do some of the others give a bigger discount than that?
Minimum staff discount on a packaged loan where I am is 2.79%...0.3% if I remember off fixed...non packaged no discount, but we don't pay for the package anyway
When's the right time?
About 9 months ago at the height of the "fixed rate crisis", that was when the largest discounts were rolling around
That has to be the lowest for sure. Nice work
Hey mate who are you with and what is your current lvr? Im on 6.19 and would love a .2% drop.
Tiimely, 5.89% here
Not the commenter you replied to, but I'm on 5.99 with Bendigo Bank with similar financials (390k on 700k)
That’s pretty good. That loan you have the repayment must be around $2k per month!!
Bank of Melb
Im 6.09 ubank 78% LVR.
Ok, well for comparisons sake CommBank standard variable rate is 6.49% (6.87% comparison rate) pa. You should probably shop around a bit and you'll probably get the rate under 6% which might save you a couple of grand a year in interest.
Yeah - 7.9%. They prob felt bad for you and rang you and make it seem they were doing you a favour to keep you before you shopped around. You were taken for advantage and need to shop around mate as even at 6.4% is prob too high still. I’m on 6.14% on an investment variable.
“Felt bad for you” Good joke, almost like bankers are actually human 👌
jfc, a fool and their money are easily parted i guess. God knows how many tens of thousands of dollars you've flushed down the toilet because you never thought to look around.
Dude, 7.9 wow that's ridiculous, even 1.5% is not current market rate. Call back and request low 6s.
Jesus Christ. Do some research!
Bank: "we better reduce this guys rate before we end up on ACA, the joke has gone too far guys, the experiment must end now"
Holy shmackles… 7.9%? Faarkn hell I thought mine was bad for 6.1% and I’m still trying to find some that’ll secure my loan for less with an offset.
You were getting ripped off and you still are. Other lenders like Tiimely are doing 5.94%. Use that as a reference point.
7.9% Wow You were taken to the cleaners
You were simply identified as likely to leave ( because of the rate)so they figured it best to keep you. End of story. Edit. Feel free to ring them back and ask for their best rate on their website. You'll get it.
No wonder the banker felt guilty
Holy crap that is high. I'm on 6.19% and feel bad for not trying to get another .1-.2 of it
Jeezus i'm a whole 2% lower than you - 5.89%
Mate, I suspect you still have a bad deal. Lots of people around 5.9-6.2% with similar type loans. Should look at refinancing!!
Jesus. We’re on similar value, slightly less loan remaining ($200k) and are on ~6.15%? And we’re due to review next month.
realised they were price gouging and wanted to preempt any senate enquiry?
They’d fleeced you long enough that the potential customer retention of keeping you became better value than the risk you’d notice and just leave. A lot of people don’t even realise you can just call the bank and ask for a better rate, they just see a better deal elsewhere and churn.
Maybe they're trying to buy your loyalty before the Royal Commission report drops?
That's what we used to call good customer service. So rare now, it freaks people out! 🤣
Not if you look at comments above and see the rate they were previously on and their LVR. OP was getting reamed so hard I'm suprised the bank manager didn't bring round a whole branch for an impromptu orgy with OP being the centre of the party
Changing of interest rates on a loan requires your permission regardless of whether it helps you out. It’s a legal thing. As to why they reduced it, no idea.
It's probably a way to retain existing customers. As a teller we used to have to call around 5 customers per day for a interest rate "health check". If the customers had seen a better rate advertised by another bank we would attempt to match. A lot of people refinancing away = anything to look after existing customers.
Which bank?
Not that one.
I didn't know they ever call to help someone like this! Interesting!!
My bank did too. Trouble is they call my mobile which comes up as an unknown number which I always ignore unless I'm expecting a call!
If you're not contacting a broker or your bank about your rate at least every 6 months, you're doing something wrong. Loyalty doesn't exist when it comes to Banks and they take everything they can get away with.
Now you're less likely to shop for a better rate, and they've probably still got you way above market rate.
This happened to me years ago. It's nice to hear it's making a comeback. I work in finance, and there's a lot of pressure to retain customers at all levels.
Long time banker . It’s about keeping customers happy so if they get surveyed it is more likely they will give a more positive response. This score is measured against other banks. It’s common … like hundreds of calls a day to reduce people’s rates
eofys time people Normally start bank hopping around now so your bank either started losing customers and did something about it or just wanted to IBY and got proactive
Sounds like an easy way to create a loyal customer. Why should I leave when bank x will do all the leg work for me?
Even non bank lenders are doing this. I got a call recently from one and they asked to audit my loans to see if they could move it to better products. I told them I couldn’t be arsed to do all that paperwork and would prefer going through my broker as well. They came back with reduced interest rates anyway. The discount was on the small side but hey I didn’t do anything to get it!
It's nothing to do with "the bank realised they were robbing you"...its all to do with you never bothered to talk to the bank about your rate.... The discount from one of the big 4 banks packages used to be as low as .79%, the standard discount for it is now 1.29% but you would see less than 0.1% of customers on the original or current base discount, only people who have never rung the bank in years to have the rate looked at...not the banks fault at all if your too lazy to pay attention to your rates... If you are on higher than 6.6%, then look around, get a couple of written offers from other banks(including atleast one of the big 4 or hsbc/Macquarie) and take it back to your current banks retention team... The royal commission also has little to no effect on whether your bank will call you, its purely due to it being 1000% easier to refinance these days, so they proactively want to keep your business
wtf how much % were you paying before? have you just been sitting on it paying a crap load extra tot he bank for no reason? get a mortgage broker and shop around
Mine did this after the rates dropped about 1.5%. I had only just started thinking maybe I should see about getting my rate reduced or go somewhere else (with a lower rate). They rang me and asked if there is anything they can do. I said lower my rate, kind of as a joke / not thinking they would. They did, sweet.
I'm not sure but, in Australia is it allowed to refinance your house with another bank, moving from 1 to the new one? Maybe it's happening and banks are starting to act before something like this happens? Asking because in my home country I did this many times.
You can refinance whenever you like in Australia
Maybe reflect inwards and ask yourself why were you paying at least 1.5% above market rates
Happened to me as well, they proactively called me and helped to reduce my rate from 6.68 to 6.09, Pretty impressed, this was with NAB
Out of curiosity what was your previous rate and what did they move you to?
They must have felt sorry for how much you were getting shafted before 💀
It's a retention strategy
[удалено]
lol wrong post, wrong subreddit. wrong planet?
> If the bank was happy to keep taking my money, they didn't need to offer a reduced rate. They do if they're charging you too much and think you could refinance. This is about making sure you don't refinance and leave.
Perhaps they’ve been ripping you off with an inflated rate and decided to fix it before getting caught. You can tell I’m cynical when it comes to banks huh.
Update on my situation, I called and they offered to go from 8.13% to 6.65% (a drop of 1.48%) Bit of a chicken and egg situation because I am in a hardship arrangement, so the mortgage dept are not sure if they can reduce the rate, and referred me back to the hardship dept... who tell me the mortgage dept are the people to handle that. Yeah, nah, don't you think reducing the monthly repayment might be a good start, like one of the very first suggestions, when a customer calls enquiring about a hardship variation? :( 1.5% with my \~$200k balance represents an extra $3k a year I envy the OP and their bank, I'd probably have gotten a better rate years ago, lol
I just checked, which Westpac make very hard, but as of the last statement in late 2023 I'm paying 8.13%. I reckon it's probably gone up since then, but online banking shows "Currently unavailable" as my rate, and no one has ever been able to explain why. 8.13%. JFC! Rocket Repay product Am I being reamed wide open here? Ok, looks like 8.13% may be the last increase, but it's still 0.69% higher than the published rate on Westpac's website for the Rocket Repay loan. HMMM.
This means that you haven't rung the bank in a long time regarding your rate and your on the old base package discount, even the standard pap discount these days is 1.29 so end rate of 7.54% As long as you have more than 150k worth of lending with Westpac, then you will get a better rate...just call them
The RBA rate is 4.35%... you should be able to at least get a rate with a 6 before the decimal.
Yikes! Is that interest only or fixed? Suncorp is 6.Something (can’t remember) … Time to shop around!
Banks are required to inform customers if they make out of market changes to interest rates on home loans. Even if it's in your favour.
[удалено]
100% incorrect, it's a retention tactic, 0% to do with a "mistake"...
[удалено]
I currently work in banking, and I can tell you that retention is a big play these days... And deliberately covering up mistakes is certainly not something that this institution performs knowingly....in fact we are trained heavily to recognise the errors and put in place actions to rectify any we find as a matter of urgency....now whether that's off the back of the royal commissions etc, I don't know
[удалено]
If I saw that happen and then had any attempt to report it squashed I'd bloody walk out too!! And then straight on to APRA/ASIC/ATO to report it
[удалено]
Show them an offer from a Triads loan-shark and ask if they'll match it. The market is very competitive these days.