CBA, Macquarie, Westpac lift home loan rates after RBA rate rise

Major banks will lift mortgage interest rates by 0.25 percentage points following this week’s rise in the cash rate, with Commonwealth Bank, Macquarie Bank and Westpac passing on the Reserve Bank’s increase to borrowers and pushing up some savings rates.

The three banks on Wednesday said they would raise variable home loan rates by 0.25 percentage points, following the Reserve Bank’s increase in the cash rate to 2.85 per cent, announced on Tuesday.

National Australia Bank was the first big bank to respond to this month’s rate rise, saying on Tuesday it would pass on the rise in full to its variable mortgage rates.

ANZ Bank had not announced its interest rate decision at the time of writing, but the lender is also expected to raise mortgage rates by 0.25 percentage points.

As bank shareholders benefit from rising rates, lenders also announced increased rates on various savings products. CBA said it would lift rates on its Netbank savings account by 0.25 percentage points to 1.35 per cent, and raise the “bonus” interest rate for its GoalSaver product by 0.3 percentage points, to 2.7 per cent.

Macquarie, which has been competing aggressively for deposits, raised its rates for savings and transaction accounts by 0.25 percentage points to 3.45 per cent, while also lifting various term deposit rates.

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Westpac announced several changes including increases in the ongoing and bonus rates for its Life product, which is a bonus savings account that pays variable interest of 3.5 per cent for people who meet several conditions.

Bank profits have benefited from rising rates because they have not passed on all of this year’s increases in official rates to savings accounts, but analysts say banks have been forced to pay more for deposits in recent months as competition for funding has intensified.