Tuesday, April 03, 2007

Interest Rates...

Am in the process of refinancing the mortgage after becoming disillusioned with Westpac... Never have I seen such grubby fee grabbing tactics that has eroded what I had envisaged as a good relationship over the 11 years I have been with them.

The TV advertisement showing how the niceties of the bank are ripped away as soon as the mortgage contract is signed has never really felt so true as my most recent escapades with Westpac.  I wont go into the specifics but I went from an account set up that was 100% fee free to perhaps having a structure that was cost me over $1000 per annum in fees alone and any dispute / change / transaction that I was involved with invariably resulted in a further fee or charge.

I am signing up with Suncorp Metway, a firm I have no particular association with in the past, but based on a mortgage broker's recommendation it seems to good to be true when compared with my current Westpac arrangements.  But what I really like about Suncorp is that they are not one of the 4 major banks and I think this will in turn be a good thing as Suncorp clearly have other income streams and hence can balance themselves when it comes to making a profit.

I am not against profit and I hardly want to put my investments and savings into a firm that is going backwards, but blatant price gouging has to stop... and this article this morning is clear that banks are simply doing just that.  Raising interest rates before the RBA actually announces a rate rise is horrendous when looked at in comparison to the profits they make.

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