ANZ easing yields results
(23 February 2010 – Australia) ANZ’s effort to ease lending restrictions has yielded dramatic results for the bank; signalling the aggressive approach it will use to become a bigger provider of home loans in Australia’s A$1.2 trillion market.
Despite CBA and Westpac’s normal domination of the home loan market, which soared due to the Federal Government’s first-home owner’s grant, ANZ has now taken over the reigns after easing lending restrictions.
In 2009, ANZ was only prepared to lend to customers with a 15 percent deposit and as a result began to lag in the Australian market.
Leading mortgage broker, Mortgage Choice, has reported that they originated more loans for ANZ than any other bank in January.
ANZ originally tightened qualifying standards on its lending criteria amid concerns over funding costs and the long-term capacity of new borrowers to service debt.
Phil Chronican, ANZ’s new retail banking chief, said that the bank would be ‘selectively easing’ lending criteria and upgrading its mortgage processing capacity to take on more borrowers.
The bank last year decided to dial back the risk in all loan books, which included some risk settings on mortgages, and was pretty conservative in hindsight, but understandable at the time, Mr Chronican told BusinessDaily.
The bank is now easing it selectively and will take a more flexible approach to lending, particularly with existing customers who have consistent track records, Mr Chronican added.
In 2009, ANZ was only prepared to lend to customers with a 15 percent deposit and as a result began to lag in the Australian market.
Leading mortgage broker, Mortgage Choice, has reported that they originated more loans for ANZ than any other bank in January.
ANZ originally tightened qualifying standards on its lending criteria amid concerns over funding costs and the long-term capacity of new borrowers to service debt.
Phil Chronican, ANZ’s new retail banking chief, said that the bank would be ‘selectively easing’ lending criteria and upgrading its mortgage processing capacity to take on more borrowers.
The bank last year decided to dial back the risk in all loan books, which included some risk settings on mortgages, and was pretty conservative in hindsight, but understandable at the time, Mr Chronican told BusinessDaily.
The bank is now easing it selectively and will take a more flexible approach to lending, particularly with existing customers who have consistent track records, Mr Chronican added.
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