CBA cuts everything but the SVR

The recent pattern is home loan rate cuts from three, usually four, big banks on the day the RBA lowers the cash rate. Then cuts to business rates. The, final and coordinated round of cuts is then applied by banks to savings account, or at least for those savers that qualify for "bonus rates."

Yesterday, with big banks better briefed than anybody on the RBA rate cut and allied policy measures, Commonwealth Bank made a series of changes to product pricing, in response to the latest cash rate cut.

But CBA did not change the rate on its standard variable rate mortgage.

CBA is cutting 100 basis points off the rate for all existing cash-linked small business loans.

It has cut 70 bps off rates for one, two and three-year fixed term home loans, for owner occupiers paying principal and interest. The new rate is 2.29 per cent for all three terms.

It has increased its 12-month term deposit rates by 60 bps to 1.7 per cent, available to all personal customers. No other term deposit rates were changed.

The bank is also reducing home loan repayments to the minimum required under home loan contracts, from 1 May.

It says this will help 730,000 customers, releasing "up to $400 a month for customers and creating up to $3.6 billion in additional cash support for the economy."

Customers will have the option of keeping their repayments at the higher level.

The bank is also changing eligibility criteria for personal overdrafts to give customers access to emergency funds.

For customers facing financial hardship, it is also offering to waive merchant terminal fees, mortgage redraw fees, and early redraw fees on business term deposits and farm management deposit accounts.