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People power: The changing face of customer-owned lenders
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The mutuals have undergone a huge amount of change in the past year, with lenders merging, new tech being released, and brokers highly rating their experiences with them.
In December 2020, as Australia was closing off one of the most disruptive years on record, the Customer Owned Banking Association was holding its annual conference. It was here when the deputy chair of the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA), John Lonsdale, warned that change may need to come in the mutual bank space in order for the sector to survive.
Noting that the coronavirus pandemic had resulted in a (somewhat short-lived) economic downturn and increased the need for lenders to have a digital offering, Mr Lonsdale suggested that a large number of the small banks – and not only mutuals – have business models that were “challenged” in the current environment.
More clients look to lock fixed rates than 2020
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More borrowers are eager to lock in fixed interest rates than this time last year amid record-low interest rates, according to HashChing.
A broker survey by mortgage broking platform HashChing has found that 84 per cent of respondents said that more customers are looking to have their fixed-term interest rates than this time last year.
The findings have been released during a period when the official cash rate is at record lows and lenders continue to offer low mortgage rates.
However, some lenders have been increasing their fixed rates due to higher funding costs for longer-dated loans and the need to manage pricing changes sustainably.