Suncorp has today announced it will increase interest rates on all variable rate home and small business loans, effective 14 September 2018.
The changes will see all variable rate home loans increase 0.17% p.a. and small business loans increase 0.10% p.a.
Suncorp Banking & Wealth CEO David Carter said the decision to increase rates was based on the sustained increase in funding costs.
“In March we acknowledged the increase in the Bank Bill Swap Rate (BBSW), which has continued to rise. This has benefited customers who have their money in savings accounts, with our term deposit rates up over 0.20% on average,” Mr Carter said.
“This has also driven demand for our high interest savings products, such as our Growth Saver account. While we have been absorbing this increase, the changes announced today are necessary to ensure our ongoing ability to support lending growth for home loan, small business and agribusiness customers.
“Since March we have also witnessed a change in the outlook for the RBA’s cash rate, with movement now not expected until well into 2019. This means the gap between the cash rate and BBSW is likely to remain elevated for longer than we predicted six months ago.”
Commercial and agribusiness customers are not impacted by the changes announced today, however their rates are linked to BBSW and therefore they are already experiencing the impact of rising wholesale rates.
“We acknowledge that any increase to rates will impact our home loan customers’ cost of living, however our savings customers, many of whom are retirees, have been supported by favourable deposit rates over recent months,” Mr Carter said.
“We’re committed to reviewing home loan rates, should there be a sustained improvement in funding costs.
“We remain focused on offering a range of competitive products and services to all of our customers, while helping to assist with cost of living pressures wherever possible. This includes the introduction of our new Benefits program which provides discounts of up to 15% from more than 100 everyday retailers, available through our Suncorp App."
