Auswide Bank raises variable interest rates for owner occupiers

Auswide Bank has raised a number of its variable interest rates for current owner occupiers and business customers, with the lender justifying the move as necessary to protect stakeholder interests. 

The non-major lender, which has assets under management of nearly $2.8 billion, said reference rates for existing owner-occupied mortgages will go up by 10 basis points, increasing the bank’s predominant standard variable rate to 5.43% per annum.

The change comes into effect immediately, according to a report in the Australian Broker.

Owner occupiers paying the standard rate on a $250,000 loan will now have to cough up an additional $15.59 per month, based on a principal and interest home loan paid off over 30 years, says the report.

Variable rates have also increased by 10 basis points for business loans.

These increases have been necessary to protect stakeholder interests, said Auswide managing director Martin Barrett.

“Our operating margin has sat just under 2% for many years and this decision protects that long-held position in a competitive funding environment where a large proportion of our loan funding is sourced from depositors,” he was cited as saying in the report.

Barrett said that although Auswide had adjusted its investment home loan rates in December, it had held off as long as possible on increasing rates for owner occupier and business customers.

Customers with fixed rate home loans, personal lines of credit, and investment home loans will not be affected by these changes.

The discount variable rate offer for new package loans over $150,000 with an LVR of under 90% will not be impacted, nor will customers with the RBA Rate Tracker Home Loan which was launched in October 2016.