I expect you will be aware that Australia’s major four banks as well as Bendigo and Adelaide Bank and others have increased their rates on variable home loan products independent of the Reserve Bank of Australia.
bankmecu has decided to leave its interest rates at their current very competitive levels for the time being. The needs of both borrowers and depositors have been considered in making this decision, together with managing the ongoing funding pressures and profitability of your bank.
This decision has been made because of our commitment to competition and the fundamental difference between banks that are owned by customers as opposed to those owned by investors.
To put it simply we’ve taken the investor and their interests out of the banking equation so that a customer owned bank can be just as committed to creating value for its customers as other banks are committed to creating returns for their investors.
I have said before that changing the way people think about banking is a key aim of bankmecu. Therefore over the next few weeks I will be writing to all customers to explain in more detail how the banking environment in Australia is changing, why we are seeing investor owned banks take the steps they currently are to service their external investors and how we see bankmecu being able to offer a more responsible approach to banking that is in the best interest of all customers.
In the meantime thank you for your ongoing support of bankmecu, Australia's first customer owned bank.
Damien Walsh
Managing Director