Kiwibank, ASB cut floating, raise fixed mortgage rates

Kiwibank has followed BNZ in cutting its variable mortgage rates while raising fixed rates this morning. Kiwibank is the last of the regular banks to move in this latest round of fixed rate rises.

BNZ and Kiwibank are the only two banks to have lowered their variable rates in the latest round of changes, and this may well put pressure on other banks to revise their previous moves. Pressure has been placed on the banks by the Reserve Bank and politicians recently to lower their variable mortgage rates.

Kiwibank lowered its standard variable rate by 20 basis points (bps) to 5.79 per cent following BNZ's surprise move to lower its 'TotalMoney' variable rate to 5.85 per cent. Meanwhile, Kiwibank raised its two to five year fixed rates by 30 to 55 bps. Six month and one year rates were unchanged.

BNZ has followed other banks in raising fixed mortgage rates by between 30 and 46 bps, but in a surprise move cut its variable rate, putting some pressure on state-owned Kiwibank, which had coveted its position as the bank with the lowest variable rate.

To read the full NZ Herald article click here

Posted: 13 Aug 2009

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