Briefs: NAB completes GWB divestment, AMP Bank gets tough on investors, ING Direct's new travel app

National Australia Bank has completed the full divestment of its holding in the US bank Great Western Bancorp just one day after GWB launched a stock offer, involving the sale of NAB's holding into the offer, and a share repurchase agreement between NAB and GWB. NAB said in a statement yesterday that the sale of its remaining 28.5 per cent of GWB would increase its common equity tier one ratio by 34 basis points. Net proceeds from the full sale of GWB will be about A$1.5 billion - a $396 million loss relative to GWB's book value.
AMP Bank has reacted further to the prompting by APRA to limit growth in investor property lending than any other banks to date. Yesterday, AMP Bank said it would increase variable rates on all existing investor property loans by 0.47 per cent per annum from 7 September 2015. This also applies to loans approved but not yet paid, but any applications not finalised will be put on hold "until later in 2015". Market impact will be tiny, with AMP's investor loans portfolio estimated to be under A$3 billion, out of a total home loan book of $10 billion, but the extra margin will be welcome.
ING Direct has added a travel alert to its mobile banking app, allowing customers to notify the bank of their travel itinerary without having to phone a call centre. The bank said the feature would give customers more control over their security.