ASB Bank has broken ranks with its major bank rivals with the first mortgage and interest rate hike since the Reserve Bank lifted the OCR last week.This morning ASB announced a 0.25% increase to its variable home lending and most savings account rates. Ch
ASB Bank has broken ranks with its major bank rivals with the first mortgage and interest rate hike since the Reserve Bank lifted the OCR last week.
This morning ASB announced a 0.25% increase to its variable home lending and most savings account rates. Changes have also been made to the six and 12-month fixed lending rates.
Tomorrow, the bank’s floating mortgage rate will be 6% for new customers, with the higher rate applying to existing customers from July 5.
None of the other large retail banks have moved interest rates since the Reserve Bank lifted the official cash rate by 0.25% last week – the first rise in the OCR since July 2007.
ASB chief executive customers, markets and products Catherine McGrath, said further OCR rises were expected in the months ahead and ASB’s decision to raise rates today took into account the rise in its overall cost of funding.
“The increases we are making today take into account both our offshore funding costs and the continuing pressure on retail deposit rates in New Zealand,” she said.
“The market is now entering a new cycle, and we need to ensure our products are priced appropriately based on our underlying costs. With this in mind, we have also increased a number of our deposit rates today, ensuring our savings customers see the benefit,” she said.
Fixed lending rate changes are effective tomorrow for all new lending, and deposit rates change on June 25.
