UBank slashes variable rates by up to 10 basis points

The online lender has broken precedent amongst a string of variable rate hikes from its competitors.
UBank has announced variable rate cuts for its owner-occupier customers. From 18 July, borrowers with loans of $700,000 and above on principal and interest repayments will have their rate cut from 3.62% to 3.59%. Borrowers with loans from $200,000 to $700,000 will see their variable rate on principal and interest loans fall from 3.69% to 3.59%.
The move comes as a number of lenders scramble to hike variable rates in the face of higher funding costs and tighter regulations. Thus far in July, six lenders in the finder database have raised their variable rates. The steepest hike came from Heritage Bank, which raised investor rates by 0.30%.
Macquarie Bank recently made headlines when it lifted owner-occupier rates by 0.06% and investor rates by 0.10%. The move prompted UBS analyst John Mott to predict in a note to clients that the Big Four could be next to move on variable rates.
"It is possible that the major banks could reprice their mortgage books in the coming months to pass through higher wholesale funding costs to customers," Mott said, according to the Australian Financial Review.
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