Lenders announce rate cuts

Suncorp Bank's three-year fixed rate for its Home Package Plus product has been reduced by 35 basis points to 3.99 per cent for new owner occupier or investment loans of at least $150,000 and with a maximum LVR of 90 per cent.

Steven Degetto, head of intermediaries at Suncorp, said the new rate gives home owners and investors the option to lock in one of the most competitive rates available in the market for decades.

“We understand the competitive environment in which our brokers operate, and we wanted to give our broker partners access to a proposition that supports both their investor and owner occupier customers,” he said.

“It is also a great option for consumers who want a split loan.”

Suncorp’s Home Package Plus standard variable owner occupier and investor rates have been discounted by 155 basis points to 4.15 per cent and 4.42 per cent respectively for loans of at least $150,000 and with a maximum LVR of 90 per cent.

The regional bank’s Back to Basics investment rate has been reduced by 116 basis points to 4.23 per cent for loans of at least $150,000 and with a maximum LVR of 90 per cent.

Meanwhile, Advantedge Financial Services has reduced rates across its interest-only loans for investors and owner occupiers under the brands of its white-label aggregation partners.

The mortgage funder has made reductions of up to 23 basis points on its interest-only variable rate for owner occupiers, up to nine basis points on its interest-only fixed rates for owner occupiers, and up to three basis points for its interest-only variable rate for investors.

The rate reductions coincide with Advantedge’s restructuring of its pricing by loan purpose (investor and owner-occupied) and repayment type (principal and interest and interest-only).

Brett Halliwell, general manager of Advantedge, said the pricing changes demonstrate the group’s ability to adapt and remain competitive in a changing regulatory environment.

“We are a nimble business and remain committed to developing competitive products for our aggregator and broker partners,” Mr Halliwell said.

“Through our new pricing structure, Advantedge is empowered to be more flexible, and can deliver products tailored to specific loan segments.”

Advantedge also announced it plans to work closely with brokers to improve submission standards.

“We want brokers to help us help them to provide a better experience for their customers. If we receive top quality submissions, we can in turn deliver top quality service, convenience and more consistent turnaround times,” Mr Halliwell said.

“I enjoy receiving broker feedback that our operations team has delighted by delivering an unconditional approval on first touch, often within 16 working hours. We want more brokers to experience this kind of service, more often.

“If brokers can assist us by following a few simple submission requirements, we’re confident we can dramatically increase our rate of first-touch unconditional approval responses, which is really the ultimate in broker and customer experience.”

Advantedge’s new loan application submission standards include:

• Pre-ordering a valuation and not submitting until the valuation has been completed and the valuation report has been attached.
• Completing and signing the broker declaration, including file note.
• Customers completing, signing and dating the privacy consent form.
• Submitting identity verification documents with 100-point ID form.
• Providing income documents satisfactory to income verification.
• Completing the submission checklist.
• Supplying submission coversheet and document section headers used for supporting document uploads.

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