Commonwealth Bank of Australia
ABN 48 123 123 124
COMMONWEALTH BANK LIFTS INTEREST RATES ON DEPOSITS AND
VARIABLE HOME LOANS
4 December 2009: The Commonwealth Bank today announced it will increase interest
rates on a range of deposit accounts by up to 0.50 per cent per annum and its variable home
loan accounts by 0.37 per cent per annum.
The deposit interest rate on the NetBank Saver and Cash Investment accounts will increase
by 0.50 per cent per annum. Term deposit rates have also been steadily increasing over
recent times, with the 36 month term reaching 7 per cent and shorter terms increasing to 6
per cent, more than 2 per cent above the official cash rate.
As Australia’s largest home lender, the Commonwealth Bank has continued to be a leader in
providing home finance to Australians at the lowest interest rate of the major banks during
the Global Financial crisis and remains committed to being competitive in the market.
Owner occupied and investment home loan interest rates will increase as follows:
Old Rate % pa
New Rate % pa
Change
Complete Home Loan
Variable Rate
6.24
6.61
+0.37
Economiser
(Base Variable Rate)
5.73
6.10
+0.37
Viridian Line of Credit
(Residential Equity
Rate)
6.34
6.71
+0.37
The new variable home loan interest rates will be effective for new and existing customers
from 9 December.
Group Executive, Retail Banking Services Ross McEwan said, “While the change in the
official cash rate has partly contributed to this interest rate increase, the sustained increase
in wholesale funding costs that we are experiencing has also been a major factor.
Wholesale funding costs continue to remain at record highs and, as cheaper funding expires
and is replaced with more expensive funding, the overall cost of our funds has increased”.
“In the market for deposits, there is also intense competition amongst the banks. As
wholesale funding costs remain high we are also increasing our deposit interest rates. This
is good news for many of our customers who have been experiencing near historic low
returns on their investments as banks have navigated through the global crisis.
Commonwealth Bank of Australia
ABN 48 123 123 124
"In balancing the needs of all our customer segments we are also committed to continuing to
strongly support our business customers. At 7.11 per cent per annum, our residentially
secured business lending rate remains the lowest of the major banks," Mr McEwan said.
With interest rates still at near historical low levels, our standard variable home loan rate
remains competitive after having been the lowest of the major banks for most of the past
eighteen months.
-
ENDS -
Media contact:
Bryan Fitzgerald
Commonwealth Bank
T: 02 9378 2663
M: 0414 789 649
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