A TOTAL of 22 lenders have announced rate cuts since RBA cash rate announcement on Tuesday February 3, 2015, according to comparison website finder.com.au.

According to finder.com.au money expert Michelle Hutchison, all four big banks have announced rate cuts and borrowers will be about $82 out of pocket per month because of delays in passing on the cut and the fact that full rate cuts have not been passed on in past cycles.

"With all four major banks now announcing rate cuts, the total number of lenders to so far make announcements is 22 according to finder.com.au," Ms Hutchison said.

"Six lenders announced cuts yesterday including AMP, ANZ, BankVic, National Australia Bank, P&N Bank and RAMS.

"Twenty-one of the 22 lenders have announced variable home loan rate cuts of 0.25 percentage points, while Westpac still remains the only lender to move beyond the Reserve Bank cut, passing on 0.28 percentage points.

"There has only been one lender to so far drop its variable rates this week, with Loans.com.au cutting rates effective Wednesday February 4, 2015. BankVic follows by reducing its rates on February 9 then ANZ on February 12. The remaining 19 lenders will pass on the Reserve Bank's rate cut from February 20-27," Ms Hutchison said.

"Despite the rate cuts, the average borrower with a $300,000 home loan will still be $82 out of pocket per month on average because most lenders haven't passed on the full rate cuts since November 2011.

"Borrowers with a $700,000 home loan are missing out on almost $200 on average per month.

"But since November 2011, borrowers with an average $300,000 home loan will be paying $400 less in monthly repayments when the latest round of rate cuts kick in next month. For a $700,000 mortgage, that's almost $1,000 less in monthly repayments.

"Borrowers can get even more if they compare home loans and ask their lender for a discount. Variable rate home loans are now starting from as low as 4.23 percent by Loans.com.au so if you have a variable home loan, keep an eye on your rate and don't settle for paying more than you need to."

Click here to view a table of the lenders that have so far announced rate cuts and we will be updating this page as we hear more announcements: 

www.finder.com.au/rba-cash-rate

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THE Australian Retailers Association (ARA) said retailers were calling for all credit card systems to be regulated in the same way, as outlined in the David Murray Financial Services Inquiry (FSI) submission and further confirmed by the latest Ipsos survey.

ARA Executive Director Russell Zimmerman said 94 percent of all businesses surveyed said credit card systems should be regulated in the same way.

“This overwhelming response confirms what retailers were telling us as part of our David Murray FSI submission.

“In the final report to government, the FSI report confirmed there was a need to bring all card systems under the same rules and regulations as the two big card systems.

“The ARA will be writing to the new Assistant Treasurer Josh Frydenberg as part of the FSI process and is meeting with him today to reinforce retailers’ position on this issue - that the excessive merchant fees charged by card schemes such as Amex and Diners Club need to be addressed so retailers can reduce or remove surcharging as with the two big card systems.

“The truth is there is a distortion in the marketplace by not regulating Amex and Diners Club cards, and with 55 percent and 23 percent market reach respectively, retailers feel they need to accept these cards because of promotional schemes and to ease transactions for consumers.

“Because of this skew retailers either have to absorb the excessive merchant cost or pass on a surcharge to consumers, when they don’t in most circumstances if they use the regulated MasterCard or Visa schemes.

“It is time to address this imbalance and create a level playing field for all payment systems,” Mr Zimmerman said.
 
*Click here to view survey infographic
 
Since 1903, the Australian Retailers Association (ARA) has been the peak industry body representing Australia’s $265 billion retail sector, which employs over 1.2 million people. The ARA ensures retail success by informing, protecting, advocating, educating and saving money for its 5,000 independent and national retail members throughout Australia.

Visit www.retail.org.au or call 1300 368 041.

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THE Council of Small Business Australia (COSBOA) is calling for all Members of Parliament to focus on the job of running the country, not on chasing votes through opinion polls as internal divisions and lack of confidence within the Liberal Party threatens to destroy the nation’s leadership.

Paul Nielsen, Chairman of COSBOA said today, “Our members are sick and tired of continued leadership uncertainty and policy stonewalling in the federal sphere. SME owners know that a business without leadership fails, a business where leadership is uncertain fails and businesses without a plan or a strategy and the capacity to execute it is going to fail. 

"Federal politicians, whether on the Government front bench, the back bench, or on the Opposition parties must put the wellbeing of the country before their personal agendas. All MP’s must work to fix these issues one way or the other and stop playing shallow politics.  Small business must have certainty to reboot our economy.”

Peter Strong, CEO of COSBOA added, “In times of uncertainty it is those people who control organisations with money and power who often see the opportunity to push their personal agendas.

“In the last twelve months the small business community has had the best policy focus we have ever had due to the efforts of the likes of Bruce Billson, Josh Frydenberg and Ian MacFarlane. The focus has been on competition policy, contract law, the performance of regulators, the future appointment of a Small Business Ombudsman, the improved franchise code of conduct, the outing of Large Corporates as toxic corporate partners for small business as well as a focus on fixing the vocational training problems in our country, this has been extraordinary. 

“We do not want to lose the focus on these issues that are so important to the social fabric of Australia and to the economy. Those small number of big businesses and organisations, including a lot of big businesses that do not contribute an equitable share of tax dollars, may well use this  uncertainty to remove the focus on the economy and replace it with their vested needs. The extremes of left and right ideology may also use this to push their own agendas” Mr Strong concluded.

Paul Nielsen added that, “The country has had far too many years of policy and leadership uncertainty and that has to change. Next month our CEO will be outlining the threats to our nations continued prosperity generated by a minority of unelected people and organisations whose vested agendas can promote their own welfare not national wellbeing.

"In the meantime we do not want to see the current leadership issues in the Federal Parliament dominate the business of Government and we call upon all MP’s and Senators to resolve these issues once and for all.”

www.cosboa.org.au

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AN INTEREST RATE cut by the Reserve Bank of Australia tomorrow (Tuesday) would risk stoking the real estate fire a QUT economist has warned

QUT financial economist Dr David Willis said the RBA should not move on interest rates while inflation and the Australian dollar were at reasonable levels.

The RBA has kept the cash rate at 2.5 per cent for the past 18 months.

"The risk of lowering interest rates is that the market may assume the RBA will continue to cut further and the currency will fall below its preferred level," Dr Willis said.

"Last year the RBA made it quite clear that it would like to see the Australian dollar at about 75 US cents so with it currently sitting at 78 cents it is close to their preferred level.

"In addition the RBA doesn't want to risk stoking the real estate fire and potentially creating an artificial bubble in the housing market.

"So I cannot see any hard and fast reason why the RBA should move."

Dr Willis said he expected growth in the Australian economy would be below the long term average but the chances of a recession were "close to nil".

"With inflation still in the middle of its preferred range, there is no really compelling reason to lower rates as the economy is not in danger of deflation, as it is in Europe and Japan, and is in no danger of recession," he said.

"The AUD will fall over this year but it will be a slow decline which the economy can adjust to as it falls.

"The Australian economy is still under structural change from mining to consumption-led growth. But with low interest rates already and low petrol prices, there is enough stimulus in the economy and plenty for the consumer to either spend, save or pay debt down."

Dr Willis said the rate of unemployment was the main issue for the RBA.

"But dealing with this may be more a need for fiscal stimulus than anything the RBA can do as monetary policy is already quite accommodating," he said.

www.qut.edu.au

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THE 2015 Australian Small Business Champion Awards applications are set to close on February 18.

The awards recognise small business leaders in wide variety of industry categories. Small business people dedicate their lives in serving their communities and deserve recognition.

These awards are the only dedicated national program recognising small business.

All small businesses in Australia’s retail, services and manufacturing industries are eligible to enter the awards – there are 39 categories in total.

Everybody loves a winner, and the awards will put outstanding businesses on the map, making customers, suppliers and communities stand up and take notice.

Steve Loe, founder of the awards and managing director of Precedent Productions said, “Now in its 17th year, the national awards program has established a reputation for excellence and has become known as the ‘Oscars’ of the small business community in Australia.

“It provides an opportunity for small businesses to celebrate and receive national recognition for their achievements.”

Entries for the 2015 Australian Small Business Champion Awards are now being accepted and close on Wednesday, 18 February 2015.

The Australian Small Business Champion Awards are proudly supported by major sponsors TrueLocal, and associate sponsors BizCover, Castaway Financial Forecasting System, FrontLine and Key Person of Influence.

Businesses throughout Australia will be competing on a national level to be named Australian Small Business Champion in their category at the national awards ceremony in April at The Westin Sydney.

Entry forms are available at www.businesschampions.com.au

For further information about the Australian Small Business Champion Awards visit www.businesschampions.com.au.

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THE Australian Retailers Association (ARA) today welcomed the re-elected Baird Government’s announcement of new vocational education and apprenticeship measures – making it easier for at least 240,000 young people to gain employment.

The plan is to make it free for 200,000 disadvantaged young people to go to TAFE and other vocational education and training providers.

ARA Executive Director Russell Zimmerman said the program will fit perfectly into the work retailers are already doing to skill staff into jobs.

“The ARA has been running a number of programs to assist job seekers with the assistance of the NSW and Federal Governments, with today's announcement an fitting addition to help young job seekers into known retail developments and new career pathways.

“Premier Baird is continuing to support retail in NSW as a corner stone of the state's growing economy and this initiative will see benefits for job seekers and employers alike,” Mr Zimmerman said.

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Since 1903, the Australian Retailers Association (ARA) has been the peak industry body representing Australia’s $265 billion retail sector, which employs over 1.2 million people. The ARA ensures retail success by informing, protecting, advocating, educating and saving money for its 5,000 independent and national retail members throughout Australia.

Visit www.retail.org.au or call 1300 368 041.

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SIX lenders out of more than 100 monitored by finder.com.au have so far announced rate cuts to their variable home loans since the Reserve Bank announced the cash rate drop yesterday.

These include Bank of Queensland, Commonwealth Bank, ING Direct, Maitland Mutual Building Society, ME Bank and Westpac.

"The biggest rate cut was by Westpac, announcing a 0.28 percentage point reduction effective February 20, 2015," Finder.com.au money expert Michele Hutchison said.

"However Westpac still holds one of the highest standard variable rates, which will drop to 5.70 percent on February 20.

"The lowest standard variable rate out of these six to have dropped so far is by ING Direct, which will be offering a standard variable rate of 4.97 percent.

"We're expecting all lenders to make their announcements some time over the next week and the effective dates are so far from February 20.

"Borrowers need to be careful with the announcements they hear to make sure they understand their home loan details because the effective date could be several weeks after the announcement.

"For instance, if you repay your variable mortgage on a monthly basis, your reduced repayments won't come into effect until next month," Ms Hutchison said.

"Borrowers will receive notification by their lender with a rate change, usually by the post, and it will explain the new interest rate and new minimum monthly repayments. Keep in mind that you don't have to reduce your repayments – you can call your lender and ask them to keep your repayments at the former amount as this will save you on interest charges and pay off your home loan sooner.

"For instance, let's say you have an average $300,000 home loan at 5.35 percent average variable interest so monthly repayments are about $1,675. If your lender passes on a 0.25 percentage point discount and offers a new minimum repayment of about $1,629. By keeping your repayments at $1,675, you could potentially save over $20,000 and shave almost two years off the 30-year loan term."

To find the latest updates as they come through: www.finder.com.au/rba-cash-rate

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DIVERSITY Council Australia welcomes the Prime Minister’s announcement that the Government would shelve the expanded Paid Parental Leave scheme in favour of reforms focusing on improving access to and affordability of childcare.

Lisa Annese, DCA’s CEO, said one of the biggest factors affecting the participation of female employees in organisations is childcare.

“In a survey of our employer member organisations in 2014, nearly 95% of employers said access to and availability of affordable childcare presented difficulties for their employees," Ms Annese said.

"There is no doubt that this is a major disincentive to women participating more fully in the workforce.”

Paid Parental Leave (PPL) is important but childcare is a bigger issue for employers, according to Ms Annese.

“The existing government funded PPL scheme provides a very important safety net for new parents," she said.

"However, as suggested by the Productivity Commission and in line with feedback from our members, we support the Government’s plan to direct funds allocated for the expanded PPL scheme towards improving accessibility and affordability of childcare as this is likely to have a greater positive impact on the workforce participation of women,” said Ms Annese.

Access to flexible working and careers is also critical to women’s workforce participation, added Ms Annese.

“DCA encourages the Government to ensure that an emphasis on workplace flexibility is promoted and supported as a critical part of maintaining progress on workplace gender equity and supporting parents – especially those with younger children – to remain in paid work. Clearly, more needs to be done to support the cultural shift in Australian business necessary to mainstream flexibility to the benefit of Australian parents."

www.dca.org.au

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