CBA hikes interest rates

The Commonwealth Bank of Australia has increased rates for its variable home loan customers by 0.25 percentage points following RBA’s historic cash rate hike earlier this month.

Australia’s biggest bank is the last of the big four banks to lift its rates. NAB and ANZ hiked their variable rates for both new and existing customers by 0.25% on May 13. This was followed by a 0.25% rise in Westpac’s home loan variable interest rates on May 17.

When CBA first announced the hike early this month, Angus Sullivan, CBA group executive for retail banking, admitted the interest rate hike would be the first for many customers but said the bank was there to support those who might struggle with the change.

Read more: Big four banks lift variable interest rates

“This is an important time to support customers as some may not have experienced an interest rate increase since they took out their loans,” Sullivan said. “We are here to help customers who have loans and are considering how repayments might change.”