Big banks face interest rate investigation
The Federal Government has directed the Australian Consumer and Competition Commission (ACCC) to immediately commence an inquiry into home loan pricing.
The ACCC is to investigate a wide range of issues ranging from the rates paid by new vs existing customers, how the cost of financing for banks has affected bank decisions on interest rates, and why RBA cuts aren’t always passed on in full.
In addition, the inquiry will consider what prevents more consumers from switching to cheaper home loans.
The ACCC will consider matters such as consumer decision-making and biases, information used by consumers and the extent to which suppliers may contribute to consumers paying more than they need to for home loans.
The ACCC can use compulsory information-gathering powers to gather information from financial institutions including their decision making documents.
“Having consumers and the community understand how pricing decisions are made, why, and with what consequences is important for a well-functioning market,” ACCC Chair Rod Sims said.
“We are looking forward to examining how banks make these crucial decisions. It will be important to understand and examine the different factors that financial institutions take into account when setting their prices.”
This inquiry will build on the ACCC’s Residential Mortgage Inquiry, a deep dive into the banks subject to the Government’s Major Bank Levy. This was followed by an inquiry into foreign exchange services.
“We will aim to provide answers to the questions that banking customers have long asked. For example, we know from our first financial services inquiry that there is an unusually large difference between the headline rate and the actual rates many customers are paying, which can be confusing for consumers. It is also very difficult for customers to find out what mortgage rate they could pay with another financial institution, without going through a lengthy and time-consuming application process,” Mr Sims said.
“We have evidence that customers can save considerable money by switching providers, and we want to fully understand what the barriers are that stand in their way, particularly barriers created by the banks.”
In undertaking this work, the ACCC will consult closely with financial regulators such as the Reserve Bank of Australia, the Australian Prudential Regulatory Authority, and the Australian Securities and Investments Commission.
The ACCC is expected to produce a preliminary report by the end of March 2020, with a final report due 30 September 2020.
More information is available at Home loan price inquiry.
Do you think this investigation will finally lead to banks changing their processes, or will we still get more of the same?
This will be a complete waste of time and taxpayers money. Since Hawke and Keating deregulated the banking industry in the 1980's, banks have been autonomous and cannot be directed by anyone other than shareholders on how to run their business. Sure, the last Royal Commission was able to disclose illegal practices but that was when some banks broke the law and were made to refund millions to people who were wrongly charged fees for no work performed. This proposed inquiry is supposed to be looking at how a business sets its prices which has nothing to do with the ACCC. The only way that wrongdoing can be found is if there is collusion and good luck with that. The ACCC has been trying to pin oil companies with a charge of collusion for years with no result. Merely another political stunt.