Big Four permit the rest to protect their margins
Treasurer Josh Frydenberg has been out and about for a second day, exhorting the major banks to pass the full 0.25 per cent cash rate cut to their customers, to no avail.In fact, the actions by the Big Four in shaving no more than 15 basis points from their variable rate mortgages seem to have emboldened their smaller competitors."It is, of course, very disappointing that the banks have chosen to go this way because the RBA has pointed to the reduced cost of funds to the banks and the importance of passing on these rate cuts," Frydenberg told Laura Jays, on Sky News."The only way the banks will get the message is through the voices of their customers and through their customers voting with their feet. So my message to them is to get the best possible deal and make your concerns directly known to your local bank."However, with margins being pressed by record low official cash rates, it seems many of the major banks' competitors are also coy about their responses to the RBA's rate cut. The cuts also vary between loans and customers: for instance, WA's largest bank, the customer-owned P&N Bank, decreased its lending rates, passing on between 0.16 per cent pa and 0.25 per cent pa to borrowers. HSBC, too, announced yesterday that it will decrease variable home loan interest rates by between 0.15 per cent pa and 0.20 per cent pa.Scrolling through comparison websites has disclosed just a handful of lenders passing on the "full" 25 bps rate cuts: Athena, Auswide, Freedomlend, HomeStar Finance, and NAB's online lender UBank. More often, the cuts are "pending".Most banks, such as Macquarie and Suncorp, have announced cuts to their variable home loan rates of, or about, 0.15 per cent pa.