Australia’s largest credit union, CUA, will lower variable interest rates across all owner-occupied and investor home loans.
A reduction of 0.25% p.a. will be passed on to most CUA home loan products including the Standard Variable, Discount Variable and Fresh Start home loans, benefitting almost 80 per cent of CUA’s home loan borrowers.
Reductions of between 0.10% p.a. and 0.15% p.a. will be applied to the Accelerate and Balance variable home loan products, which already offer lower interest rates. The change will take the Owner Occupier rate for Principal and Interest repayments to 3.50% p.a. for Balance Variable and 3.69% p.a. for Accelerate Variable, meaning they will remain extremely competitive.
CUA will also make some changes to interest rates on interest earning accounts. However, more than 90 per cent of savings accounts will be buffered from the full impact of the rate cut.
CUA’s interest rate changes come after the Reserve Bank this week reduced the official cash rate by 0.25%. CUA has reflected a range of considerations in its decision including economic conditions, business performance, increasing compliance cost, continued investments in product and service improvements and the need to preserve a degree of equity across savings and lending products.
“Market forces, rather than the RBA cash rate, are the primary driver of CUA’s funding costs,” CEO Rob Goudswaard said.
“However, being a mutual, CUA’s focus is on acting in the best interests of all members, which means we have decided to distribute the rate changes as equitably as possible across our broad portfolio of accounts.
“This will ensure every CUA member with a variable rate home loan will benefit and continue to enjoy highly competitive rates, while we are also shielding many savers from the full impact of the rate cut.
“Our lending margins are among the tightest in the market and this decision ultimately impacts profitability. But in keeping with our mutual ethos, CUA is returning value to a large proportion of our members, while still enabling us to make significant ongoing investments in service improvements and digital offerings that members expect.”
Notably, CUA’s recent investments include the iM CUA app, the first in Australia to enable members to choose their own Personal Banker who they can message from their smart phone at a time and place that is convenient to them.
CUA has also provided its members with the convenience of tap and pay purchases using Apple Pay, Google PayTM and Samsung Pay, as well as the ability to send and receive faster payments in under a minute from both Mobile and Online Banking, via the New Payments Platform.
Members who wish to discuss the changes are encouraged to contact their personal banker via iM CUA, visit their nearest CUA branch or call 133 282.
A full list of rate changes across CUA home loan products, including comparison rates, is available below.
CUA VARIABLE HOME LOAN RATE CHANGES
Effective 18 June 2019
Achieve Variable
Achieve Variable
Principal & Interest repayments
3.75%
-0.25%
3.50%
3.55%
Interest Only
4.15%
-0.15%
4.00%
3.64%
Construction Interest only
3.85%
-0.25%
3.60%
3.56%
Accelerate Variable
Accelerate Variable
Principal & Interest repayments
3.79%
-0.10%
3.69%
3.74%
Interest Only
4.29%
-0.10%
4.19%
3.83%
Construction Interest only
3.89%
-0.10%
3.79%
3.75%
Fresh Start Basic
Fresh Start Basic
Principal & Interest repayments
4.32%
-0.25%
4.07%
4.09%
Interest Only
4.67%
-0.25%
4.42%
4.15%
Construction Interest only
4.32%
-0.25%
4.07%
4.09%
Fresh Start Variable
Fresh Start Variable
Principal & Interest repayments
4.51%
-0.25%
4.26%
4.28%
Interest Only
4.86%
-0.25%
4.61%
4.34%
Construction Interest only
4.51%
-0.25%
4.26%
4.28%
Achieve Variable Reference Rate
Achieve Variable Reference Rate
Principal & Interest repayments
4.75%
-0.25%
4.50%
N/A
Interest Only
5.15%
-0.15%
5.00%
N/A
Construction Interest only
4.85%
-0.25%
4.60%
N/A
Standard Variable
Standard Variable
Principal & Interest repayments
5.24%
-0.25%
4.99%
N/A
Interest Only
5.24%
-0.25%
4.99%
N/A
Construction Interest only
5.24%
-0.25%
4.99%
N/A
Discount Variable
Discount Variable
Principal & Interest repayments
5.04%
-0.25%
4.79%
N/A
Interest Only
5.04%
-0.25%
4.79%
N/A
Construction Interest only
5.04%
-0.25%
4.79%
N/A
Platinum Variable
Platinum Variable
Principal & Interest repayments
4.24%
-0.25%
3.99%
N/A
Interest Only
4.24%
-0.25%
3.99%
N/A
Construction Interest only
4.24%
-0.25%
3.99%
N/A
Basic Variable
Basic Variable
Principal & Interest repayments
5.08%
-0.25%
4.83%
N/A
Interest Only
5.08%
-0.25%
4.83%
N/A
Construction Interest only
5.08%
-0.25%
4.83%
N/A
Basic Variable > $250K
Basic Variable > $250K
Principal & Interest repayments
5.08%
-0.25%
4.83%
N/A
Interest Only
5.08%
-0.25%
4.83%
N/A
Construction Interest only
5.08%
-0.25%
4.83%
N/A
Fresh Start Access
Fresh Start Access
Principal & Interest repayments
4.71%
-0.25%
4.46%
N/A
Interest Only
4.71%
-0.25%
4.46%
N/A
Construction Interest only
4.71%
-0.25%
4.46%
N/A
Kick Start Variable
Kick Start Variable
Principal & Interest repayments
4.12%
-0.25%
3.87%
N/A
Interest Only
4.47%
-0.25%
4.22%
N/A
Construction Interest only
4.12%
-0.25%
3.87%
N/A
Advance Variable
Advance Variable
Principal & Interest repayments
3.90%
-0.25%
3.65%
N/A
Interest Only
4.49%
-0.25%
4.24%
N/A
Construction Interest only
4.24%
-0.25%
3.99%
N/A
Balanced Variable
Balanced Variable
Principal & Interest repayments
3.65%
-0.15%
3.50%
N/A
Interest Only
4.15%
-0.15%
4.00%
N/A
Construction Interest only
3.75%
-0.15%
3.60%
N/A
1 Year Intro Variable
1 Year Intro Variable
Principal & Interest repayments
4.48%
-0.25%
4.23%
N/A
Interest Only
4.48%
-0.25%
4.23%
N/A
Construction Interest only
4.48%
-0.25%
4.23%
N/A
MCU Basic Variable
MCU Basic Variable
Principal & Interest repayments
4.88%
-0.25%
4.63%
N/A
Interest Only
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
Construction Interest only
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
CUA VARIABLE HOME LOAN RATE CHANGES
Effective 18 June 2019
Achieve Variable
Achieve Variable
Principal & Interest repayments
4.08%
-0.15%
3.93%
3.98%
Interest Only
4.43%
-0.15%
4.28%
4.13%
Construction Interest only
4.18%
-0.15%
4.03%
3.99%
Accelerate Variable
Accelerate Variable
Principal & Interest repayments
4.22%
-0.10%
4.12%
4.17%
Interest Only
4.57%
-0.10%
4.47%
4.32%
Construction Interest only
4.32%
-0.10%
4.22%
4.18%
Fresh Start Basic
Fresh Start Basic
Principal & Interest repayments
5.08%
-0.25%
4.83%
4.89%
Interest Only
5.43%
-0.25%
5.18%
5.03%
Construction Interest only
5.08%
-0.25%
4.83%
4.89%
Fresh Start Variable
Fresh Start Variable
Principal & Interest repayments
5.16%
-0.25%
4.91%
4.93%
Interest Only
5.51%
-0.25%
5.26%
5.07%
Construction Interest only
5.16%
-0.25%
4.91%
4.93%
Achieve Variable Reference Rate
Achieve Variable Reference Rate
Principal & Interest repayments
5.08%
-0.15%
4.93%
N/A
Interest Only
5.43%
-0.15%
5.28%
N/A
Construction Interest only
5.18%
-0.15%
5.03%
N/A
Standard Variable
Standard Variable
Principal & Interest repayments
5.79%
-0.25%
5.54%
N/A
Interest Only
5.79%
-0.25%
5.54%
N/A
Construction Interest only
5.79%
-0.25%
5.54%
N/A
Discount Variable
Discount Variable
Principal & Interest repayments
5.59%
-0.25%
5.34%
N/A
Interest Only
5.59%
-0.25%
5.34%
N/A
Construction Interest only
5.59%
-0.25%
5.34%
N/A
Platinum Variable
Platinum Variable
Principal & Interest repayments
4.74%
-0.25%
4.49%
N/A
Interest Only
4.74%
-0.25%
4.49%
N/A
Construction Interest only
4.74%
-0.25%
4.49%
N/A
Basic Variable
Basic Variable
Principal & Interest repayments
5.56%
-0.25%
5.31%
N/A
Interest Only
5.56%
-0.25%
5.31%
N/A
Construction Interest only
5.56%
-0.25%
5.31%
N/A
Basic Variable > $250K
Basic Variable > $250K
Principal & Interest repayments
5.56%
-0.25%
5.31%
N/A
Interest Only
5.56%
-0.25%
5.31%
N/A
Construction Interest only
5.56%
-0.25%
5.31%
N/A
Fresh Start Access
Fresh Start Access
Principal & Interest repayments
5.21%
-0.25%
4.96%
N/A
Interest Only
5.21%
-0.25%
4.96%
N/A
Construction Interest only
5.21%
-0.25%
4.96%
N/A
Kick Start Variable
Kick Start Variable
Principal & Interest repayments
4.40%
-0.25%
4.15%
N/A
Interest Only
4.75%
-0.25%
4.50%
N/A
Construction Interest only
4.40%
-0.25%
4.15%
N/A
Balanced Variable
Balanced Variable
Principal & Interest repayments
4.08%
-0.15%
3.93%
N/A
Interest Only
4.43%
-0.15%
4.28%
N/A
Construction Interest only
4.18%
-0.15%
4.03%
N/A
