The Australian Women\'s Weekly - June 2018

194 The Australian Women’s Weekly|JUNE 2018

Y

ou may have read some disturbing

news lately aboutwhat’s been

happening at Australia’s Big Four

banks – ANZ, CBA, NAB and

Westpac – courtesy of the Royal

Commission into Misconduct in the Banking,

Superannuation and Financial Services Industry.

Evidence gathered could allow commissioner

Kenneth Hayne to ind that each of the major

banks breached the Corporations Act and

NationalCredit Act on numerous occasions,

according to senior counsel assisting Rowena

Orr, QC. Possible legal breaches relate to the

banks not acting “eficiently, honestly and

fairly” andfailing to protect customers from

conlicts ofinterest relating to broker and

banker remuneration, she said.

Many of us are reluctant to change banks

because of the perceived hassle, but the good

news is it’s relatively easy (see Howto Switch

Banks, right). And many smaller banks, building

societies and credit unions provide better

products. On top ofthat, customers generally

record higher satisfaction rates.

If the ethics of your bank are making you

think of switching, you don’t need to worry that

you will suffer from lesser products or services

from a smaller bank. And the same government

guarantee of deposits upto $250,000 applies

to all Australian banks, building societies

and credit unions, regardless

of size.

Most of us are home-owners

• or aspire to be – so mortgage products are
  important. Of the 10cheapest home loans
  on offer at time ofwriting (comparison rates
  ranging from 3.6 to 3.8 percent) only one
  came from a Big Fourbank, NAB. And
  another two came from subsidiaries of the
  majors, according to data on the RateCity
  website (ratecity.com.au). HSBC offered the
  best rate and Bank Australia (customer-owned)
  and CUA (a credit union) came equal second.
  With oficial interest rates at historic
  lows some savings accounts pay no interest.
  The top ive best-paying accounts without
  introductory incentive rates offer between
  2.85 per cent (ME Bank) and 2 per cent,
  according to RateCity data. Of these only
  one comes from one of the majors, the Westpac
  Bump account which is fourth, and one from
  a Westpac subsidiary, Bank of SA, at ifth place.
  Car loans are also important and smaller
  lenders offer better deals. Comparison rates for
  the ive cheapest car loans of $20,000 ranged
  from 5.99 per cent (loans.com.au) to 6.38 per
  cent (RACV) at the time of writing, according
  to RateCity data. None came from a major, with
  16th the top spot that ANZ could muster
  with a comparison rate of 11.87 per cent.AW W

lets you

down

When

your bank

HOW TO

SWITCH

BANKS

The Australian

government banking

reforms that became

active from July 1, 2012

made it very easy to

change banks, says

finder.com.au. Once

you have shopped

around and chosen

your new bank, credit

union or building

society, all you need

to do is fill out one

form and your new

institution will do

the work for you. The

bank will contact all

institutions you have

automatic debit and

credit arrangements

with and give them

your account details.

As recent behaviour from the

Big Four banks make customers

think about taking their business

elsewhere, the time is right to

consider changing banks.

WITH

PAM

WALKLEY

Money

GETTY IMAGES. THE OPINIONS CONTAINED WITHIN THIS ARTICLE ARE MEANTONLY AS A GUIDE. READERS SHOULD SEEK THEIR OWN FINANCIAL ADVICE.