Consumers to save with non-bank lenders
(10 February 2010 – Australia) A study conducted by InfoChoice has revealed that Australian consumers could save a staggering A$11 billion a year by choosing non-bank lenders and credit unions instead of the big four.
The study, conducted for The Daily Telegraph, ranked banks by calculating how their products stacked up against the cheapest offers in the market.
Westpac came out as Australia’s worst value bank, ranking bottom of the nation’s largest banks, while NAB feared better off achieving the title of best of the big four.
The Daily Telegraph reported that if a customer had a home loan of A$300,000, an instant access savings account of A$10,000, a A$25,000 car loan and A$3000 on a credit card; a Westpac customer would be A$4,615 worse off than a consumer that had accessed the markets best value products.
The study examined the charges, fees and rates on a range of popular banking products.
The majority of savings comes from mortgage costs, around A$6.7 billion per year; around A$3 million a year is lost in interest by consumers who do not select the best savings products.
Australian’s are paying an extra A$440 million a year on over priced car loans and based on low rate credit cards, consumers could save A$365 million a year by switching to better deals.
Shaun Cornelius, InfoChoice, chief executive officer, said that for mortgages, car loans and credit cards, the lowest price in the market is based on an average of the cheapest four products to avoid one tiny provider skewing the results.
A spokesman for Westpac hit back at the survey, saying that it only focused on a narrow selection of banking products offered by Westpac and therefore did not provide an accurate representation of the competitive suite of mortgages, credit cards, savings accounts and personal loans currently on offer.
Westpac came out as Australia’s worst value bank, ranking bottom of the nation’s largest banks, while NAB feared better off achieving the title of best of the big four.
The Daily Telegraph reported that if a customer had a home loan of A$300,000, an instant access savings account of A$10,000, a A$25,000 car loan and A$3000 on a credit card; a Westpac customer would be A$4,615 worse off than a consumer that had accessed the markets best value products.
The study examined the charges, fees and rates on a range of popular banking products.
The majority of savings comes from mortgage costs, around A$6.7 billion per year; around A$3 million a year is lost in interest by consumers who do not select the best savings products.
Australian’s are paying an extra A$440 million a year on over priced car loans and based on low rate credit cards, consumers could save A$365 million a year by switching to better deals.
Shaun Cornelius, InfoChoice, chief executive officer, said that for mortgages, car loans and credit cards, the lowest price in the market is based on an average of the cheapest four products to avoid one tiny provider skewing the results.
A spokesman for Westpac hit back at the survey, saying that it only focused on a narrow selection of banking products offered by Westpac and therefore did not provide an accurate representation of the competitive suite of mortgages, credit cards, savings accounts and personal loans currently on offer.
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