Mortgage Shopper

ANZ Bank air outrageous ads on Australian TV, as it desperately tries to stay in touch with the bigger banks.

ANZ Bank ad blunder exposed.

In one of the worst cases of hypocrisy by a bank ever seen by Mr Mortgage, the ANZ uses its own bad behaviour as an example of how customers are treated by other banks. They include using deceit to snare a customer, then being sarcastic and surly with the customer when the customer make a complaint to the the bank assistant.

Great if ANZ Bank was innocent of the practice portrayed and want to exposed but cynical if the ANZ Bank uses these kind of tactics themselves.[And believe me, they do!]

The sad truth is that the ANZ Banks uses the very tactics that they suggest that other banks are guilty of!

How do I know this? Because I was the intended mark of this practice by anz bank last Christmas.

Why the ANZ Bank ad stinks

The scenario of the ad was a victim, a client who wants to complain with the person who signed her up for a bank account. The assistant twists the meaning of the words 'know" and "no" [you, the customer have made a mistake], and says no need to thank me when she is actually complaining about her bad service].

She then goes on to abuse the customer and suggesting that she had read the terms and conditions, and these were full of loop holes and she had signed this agreement. Well that sums up my experience the the ANZ Bank!

Why is Mr Mortgage so angry about this ANZ Bank ad?

There are several reasons why this ad is bad. Its bad for banks and its bad for the ANZ Bank. Why?

1. Most bank customers can identify this sort of behaviour by grumpy bank staff, desperate to make their budgets. So it plays on people's anger, in the hope that throwing enough muck and some of it will stick. The problem is that the muck also sticks on your hands and can bounce back over the ANZ Bank, as it surely will here!
2. Bagging other banks by making vague disparaging remarks or mimicing how bank staff treat their clients in the banking industry generally is bad practice, because it lowers confidence in the banking industry. 
3. People remember the ad, but soon forget who the good guys were, and who the bad guys were. Soon the bad behaviour is associated with the ANZ. The link is "a Bank", and the ANZ Bank are the only big four bank who's name starts with an "a". Dumb move.
4. They work on the theory that no bad act should go unpunished. without checking their own complaints records.

How ANZ Bank treats its own customers

I was a victim of ANZ Bank behaviour that the ANZ bank infers that you get from other banks. [They charged me this three times in three days, for a total of $126 in fees.]

When I rang to complain they  were deceptive, surly and sarcastic, just like they showed in the ad!

The ANZ bank trained girl said that I had agreed to the terms of the agreement and they were entitled to collect the fees. The fees and other monies were covered by payment within days of these small transactions. The first transaction pushed the account to overdrawn a few dollars, but they pinged me $40.00! That a hefty interest on a few dollars over a few days! The total overdraw was under three hundred dollars over three days~ and this was if I recall included the $126.00 overdraw fee.

My response was simple. That this interest charge was excessive, and that whist I may have signed an agreement, I cannot agree to an unlawful contract. That is, the contract is voidable my me if not lawful, and that making excessive interest charges is unlawful. So they should know this, and the contract would be deemed fraudulently unlawful. I said that I would agree to a pay a reasonable interest rate for the overdrawn funds, and that should be a few cents.

I further advised them that it was their mistake to allow the overdraw because that was not agreed, and that if they allowed it again, I would not be responsible for any future charges or overdraws. They tried to say that I was responsible for overdraws, but I stated that in my view the bank was responsible for any money that it forwarded that was not in my account, not me,in the same way that I would be responsible for making unlawful payments to the ANZ Bank. 

After she checked with her supervisor, the "honour fees" were reversed. Many banks have since dropped these fees, maybe because they are unlawful and complaining customers were giving them heat? 

So if you are having problems with surly, deceitful ANZ Bank or other bank staff or being harrassed over unfair contracts let us know here.

Please share this article.

Mr Mortgage

Mortgage Smoothie Wealth Machine. How Westpac Bank convinced nearly 30% of Australians to hand over more bananas for their mortgages in a single year!

Westapac Bank have discovered the secret to mortgage wealth! 

Unfortunately for its customers, its not "Always work hard, tell the truth, put the customer first and fear God" I was once told that analogies are the most powerful force in persuasion. This is the secret that Westpac Bank used on its staff, managers and customers, and it seems to work like a charm, even if your facts and figures are all out of whack, or the analogy is not relevant. 

If I told you about it, you would not believe it, so here is their video. The opposing arguments [also in analogy form]are below. 

They contain some rude [par-cut words] and [pixelated] guestures, so some may find this a little rude, but as shown on prime time national TV. This is the Australian bank that in one year single handedly grabbed approaching 30% of the entire mortgage business in Australia for themselves by being greedy and talking down to its customers in a" parent to stupid child" manner. [In other words, everything you learned about customer service is wrong]

The Westpac bank wealth Secret. How to outsell your competitors at a higher price than your competitors and swipe your customer's bananas before their very eyes.

How to deal with A Westpac Mortgage banker if he tells you this story, from the 7.00 PM Project.

Finally I forgot to sent you a Christmas card, so here's one you may find amusing.

Mr Mortgage

Big banks to profit from market muscle in 2010

Australian home buyers and homeowners will feel the squeeze of the big banks' market muscle in 2010. 

 With the demise of sub-prime lending, the collapse of the non bank lenders and the securitised lending brands now being controlled by the banks,  and tighteneing credit rules by the Reserve Bank of Australia, the scene is set for higher lending margins by the big banks. 

And that means higher interest rates for homeowners with a mortgage, as well as mortgage shoppers.

According to recent Australian Prudential Regulation Authority data The commonwealth Bak and Westpac wrote nearly 60 percent of the home loan mortgage business between them in 2009.

When you add the ANZ and NAB figures in that 90% of all home loans written be the top four players. That is what I call market muscle on steroids.

Small fry, Bank of Queensland, Suncorp-Metway and Bendigo Bank have been left with 1.8 per cent, 2.9 per cent and 2.2 per cent of the mortgage market, respectively.

As you can see there is no space left for the rest of the players in the micro-bank, international bank, credit union, building society, and non-bank home loan sectors.

If I were buying shares in 2010, I would seriously look at the potential rise of profits that this market position offers the big four banks.

On the other hand, if I were looking for the best loan deal, now and next years, I would be looking at a non bank lender.

Rick Adlam, Mr Mortgage

Mortgage Rates: Reviewing 2009 and what's ahead for 2010

The lowest mortgage rates ever in 2009 have given home buyers and homeowners a welcome relief in 2009, with the Reserve Bank of Australia delivering the lowest cash rates in history.

 With the unchartered waters of the World Financial crisis, ironically created by US banks in the mortgage industry, house prices remained flat in Australia, and started to rise again in the second half of the year, when it became clear that Australia had dodged the Recession bullet, and unemployment fears had evaporated, the Australian property market was in a business as usual mode.

And for that we have to thank the Rudd Labor Government's swift action on economic stimulus packages, and its execution of the roll-out, which continues into infrstructure building for the next few years.

Looking back on 2009, one thing that joe public did not see was the demise of the non-bank mortgage sector, with capital raisings for mortgage securitisation on the nose, the mortgage securitisation industry was on it knees.

The Rudd Government rescued the mortgage securitisation industry with a couple of large cash injections, and now the industry has sprung back to life.

But not before the damage was done. The non-bank mortgage sector has less than 5% market share right now, when you take out all the brands that the banks have recently acquired, including RAMS, Aussie and Challenger. The sub-prime mortgage market was virtually wiped out in 2009, though its now making a comeback.

Most of the big origination players were picked up for peanuts by the big banks, and now the Australian mortgage borrower will pay, with banks moving to improve their margins by rising their rates above the recent increases of the base rates by the RBA. [Why the ACCC allowed this to happen is beyond me. The banks have bought out their biggest competitors.]

Wespac in particular were rapacious in their price increases. This just goes to show that Australia's mortgage industry in controlled by the big banks, and as soon as the opportunity presents they will sting you.

So for 2010 the message is clear. Banks put you second to their shareholders profits. By supporting your local mortgage originator, and refinancing away from the banks, you will secure better mortgage rates for yourself, and bring margins at the banks down nationally. A well supported non-bank mortgage sector like Mr Mortgage is your best guarantee for lower mortgage rates in 2010, regardless of how many rises the RBA imposes this year.