Margin mayhem ahead
Throwing margin management out the window, large banks and others have said they will cut mortgage rates by 25 bps pronto.The spectre of the banking royal commission lingers, given the 25 bps cut in the official cash rate to 0.50 per cent by the RBA.Auswide and Firstmac were among other lenders to confirm that their cuts in rates on premier home loan products will match the RBA.It is not too hard to recall episodes of cynical margin protecting pricing decisions by banks, including as recently as last year.The scope of big banks in particular to reduce their cost of funds on the deposits is limited, and in the rush to respect the RBA decision yesterday afternoon there is no word on deposit rate changes.InfoChoice analysis shows base rates on key savings products from the major banks range from 0.01 per cent (on CBA's GoalSaver and ANZ's Progress Saver) to 0.45 per cent on Westpac's Life product.Maximum rates hover in the 1.55 per cent to 1.65 per cent range and it is here the banks will cut deposit rates - no doubt steering more business to neobanks.