ING Direct, St George, Bank of Melbourne move on rates
Westpac subsidiary St George Bank added 12 basis points to its standard variable home-loan rate yesterday, taking the rate to 7.42 per cent.St George's move is the second-highest increase of the past week. Bendigo and Adelaide Bank has increased its rate by 15 basis points, to 7.45 per cent. And ING Direct has announced that its variable mortgage rates would go up 10 basis points. The new rate on the bank's most popular product, Mortgage Simplifier, will be 6.72 per cent.Another Westpac subsidiary, Bank of Melbourne, increased its variable mortgage rate by 10 basis points. The new rate for its standard home loan is 7.4 per cent.These lenders join Westpac, Commonwealth Bank, ANZ, National Australia Bank and the Greater Building Society in having raised variable mortgage rates over the past week. CUA, Bank of Queensland and ME Bank have committed not to increase their variable home-loan rates.