Trending News 17 June
ING cuts savings rates by 0.25%
ING has joined Commonwealth Bank, National Australia Bank and Suncorp in cutting at-call savings account interest rates.
ING is the fifth largest deposit taking institution in Australia, after the big four banks. ING holds $34.9 billion of deposits on behalf of Aussie households, according to the latest Monthly Banking Statistics released by APRA.
ING’s most popular savings account, the Savings Maximiser’s headline maximum rate will fall from 2.80 per cent pa to 2.55 per cent pa from Monday 17 June. The base rate will be cut from 1.0 per cent to 0.75 per cent.
Savers need to compare and switch to beat inflation
Banks and credit unions have begun announcing cuts to at-call savings account interest rates. ING, Commonwealth Bank, National Australia Bank, Suncorp and others have announced big cuts to already very low interest rates for savers.
Commonwealth Bank cut rates on its savings accounts by up to 0.31 percentage points last week. National Australia Bank has cut at-call savings account interest rates by up to 0.25 percentage points.
Vadim Taube, chief executive of leading Australian financial comparison site InfoChoice said:
“These rates are now only fractionally above the inflation rate of 1.3 per cent and the base rates are all well under the inflation rate.
“I urge all savers to check their savings account and compare it with the rest of the accounts in the market.”
“There’s no need to put up with a savings account that pays a pittance.”
Cops and carers get cheap land in Melbourne
Police officers, firefighters, nurses, teachers and care workers can get discounts on land in Melbourne’s new housing estates.
Developer Villawood Properties has cut $20,000 from the price of housing lots for ‘care workers’ and police.
79 per cent of careworkers didn’t believe they could own their own home,” said Villawood boss Rory Costelloe.
The Victorian Premier said the initiative is “about taking care of the people who take care of us.”
“Fast and Loose” home lenders push up prices
Bank lending standards limit home buyers to loans that are less or equal to 6.8 times their annual income, but two investment experts have claimed their ‘undercover’ research has exposed ‘fast and loose’ lending standards and offers of loans that were up to 10 times their claimed income.
Bronte Capital’s John Hempton and investment expert Jonathan Tepper posed as a couple looking for a property in Sydney and spoke to many banks, brokers, real estate agents and other property professionals.
“We kept hearing again and again and again, ‘I know a bloke who can get things done’,” Mr Hempton told News Ltd newspapers.
Westpac RAISES credit card interest rates
Westpac and its subsidiary banks, St George, Bank of Melbourne and BankSA have raised their credit card interest rates by 0.25 percentage points.
The Westpac Low Rate credit card purchase rate is now 13.74 per cent pa.
Channel 7 finance reporter Gemma Acton said: “It’s rare to see credit card rates reduced when the Reserve Bank cuts interest rates.”
Gemma urged disappointed credit card customers to shop around if they wanted to get a lower credit card rate.
“There are well over 200 credit card products out there,” said Acton, “The lowest rates out there are now less than 7.5 per cent.”
Gemma said there are now more low-rate credit cards in the market than ever before.