(8 November 2010 – Australia) Commonwealth Bank business customers have fallen victim to the same rate increase as homeowners, after the bank hiked the small business lending rate to 8.32%.Peter Strong, chief executive, Council of Small Business of Australia, said that the move by the Commonwealth would damage the small business sector and could reduce CBA’s customer base in the long term.
The Commonwealth Bank not only passed on the Reserve Bank of Australia’s 25 basis point rate rise, but added another 20 basis points, sky-rocketing the small business lending rate from 7.87% to 8.32%.
The increase came after CBA increased its mortgage rate by 0.45% to 7.81%.