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Banks are offering substantial mortgage 'cashback' rewards of up to $5000, but they may be yours for the asking from other banks too, even if not advertised

Personal Finance / news
Banks are offering substantial mortgage 'cashback' rewards of up to $5000, but they may be yours for the asking from other banks too, even if not advertised
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Banks are offering substantial cash-bank rewards to entice new home loan customers with TSB currently offering up to $5000 and, though they may not advertise the fact, other banks are matching the promotions.

A minimum 20% deposit and staying with a lender for at least three years are pretty standard terms and conditions. If a borrower moves before the term is up, they pay back either the full or a pro-rated cashback amount.

Though these offers usually run for a set period, they are now an established part of the marketing toolkit for several of the larger banks.

It's a bit like the start of a romance: banks shower you with gifts, free TV's and tropical holidays have even been used in the past, but the long-term relationship, in this case 20 or 30 years, is less certain. It's important to consider if the initial sweeter comes with higher interest rates in the long term that could cancel it out.

Cashbacks can help spark competition within the sector, providing inroads for first-home borrowers to negotiate with their current day-to-day bank for a similar deal, if they prefer the convenience of staying put.

"Generally speaking the banks match each other, whether it's rates or cashbacks, you can generally get the same deal across all banks. The reality is we get some form of cash back for every client, usually a negotiated amount," says John Bolton, chief executive of mortgage broker Squirrel.

Refinancing is one exception and though a bank may match an interest rate to retain a customer, they generally will not match a cashback offer.

In many cases customers have already received a cashback from them in the past and, in general, they're a tool for drumming up new home loans rather than retaining existing ones, says Bolton.

When they first came on the scene, a cashback was known as a 'legal contribution' and was usually a maximum of around $1500.

They became popular when ANZ culled the National Bank brand and were a tool for other banks to target former National Bank customers who were potentially disillusioned by the merger, he says.

While valuations, building inspections and other upfront costs may be a useful way to use a cashback offer, over time they evolved to feel like more of a 'reward' and though they have included non-cash rewards in the past, banks are sticking with cash again now.

If your mortgage terms allow it, you could even pay the cashback amount directly towards your new loan.

"Banks moved away from TV's and holidays, they're trying to stand out in a noisy market and it didn't always work well for them. With cashbacks it's simple, it's easy," says Bolton.

Right now, three banks are promoting cashbacks - see below for the amounts and conditions:

Lender Cashback offer Conditions
TSB Bank 0.70% of the new lending amount, up to $5,000  Minimum $100k new lending
Minimum 20% deposit
Stay for 4 years 
Detail
ASB $3000 minimum Up to $600 cashback on home, contents & car insurance Minimum $250k new lending
Stay for 3 years
Must be owner-occupied first home
Detail
Insurance offer for first home buyers only, valid to 10 April 2022
Detail  
ANZ $3000 Stay for 3 years
Must be first home buyer
Detail
Kiwibank $2000 Stay for 4 years
Set up a 'notice saver' account first and save regularly for 6 months before applying for your loan
Detail  
None advertised  
Westpac None advertised  
HSBC None advertised  
Co-op bank None advertised  

 

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16 Comments

Size of the cash back depends on the size of the loan. Westpac is 0.7% of loan with no max limit when I secured a loan.

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I secured a cashback from Westpac in October 2021 along with a good low LVR bonus, totaling to 2%.

Shop around and counter your bank rep on deals other banks are offering, they will try to beat it if you are creditworthy.

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Property prices are falling by more than 5k a month. 

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7

And idiots usually rush out and spend this at Harvey Norman as soon as they get it.  Reducing the interest rate instead would be more beneficial for everyone.  Surprised our government still allows financiers to offer inducements.

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Lending rules are designed to make our money markets fair and equitable for everyone, not to idiot-proof the entire system.

FMA should not be making up for the failings of the Ministry of Education; that's responsibility has already been handed to Immigration NZ.

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The key here though is "If you stay for X years" because if you are tied in for say 3 years and you only have a 1 year fixed rate you'll be paying the advertised rate when you fix again. Consequently it's typically best practice to select a fixed rate period that's at least as long as the agreement.

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I had a cash back agreement from BNZ that had a 4 year claw back period (ended last year). Every time I refixed my mortgage during that period I received interest rates lower than the carded rate.

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Just ban this already.

It allows the banks to artificially push up the house sale price which is in their very best interests.

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3

Not really, it just means interest rates are higher. Since most customers can't really avail themselves of the offers, they pay higher rates.

Basically the same thing the power companies do - if you don't swap between companies regularly and get their 'new customer' offers, you end up paying more over time.

 

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Do banks make more money with more mortgage debt on their books or less?

Answer, more.

What would be a good way to increase the amount of mortgage debt they lend every year?

Answer, house prices go up.

What would be a good way to help house prices go up?

Answer, loan more money to borrowers to bid up the price, even if you just give a little bit of it back to them.

 

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Got a cool $5k when we traded up in December, which was based on our "bridged" finance amount until our place sold.

The bank didn't care that we paid off 1/3rd of the loan that was on a flexi-facility a month later from proceeds of sale, no claw back unless we switched banks.  

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I don't get it.. What's the angle here.  Why not get a loan $5K less.

Car sales sometimes offer a cashback.  Again why?  I have imagined there is a tax 'dodge'  ie: The ute purchase is on the company, thus deductible, but the casback gets paid 'elsewhere' . Is this true? 

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The angle is the bank is lending half or a million dollars to someone who has just been cleaned out and doesn’t have a spare grand to pay the first rates bill

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It's just a way to acquire new customers without offering lower rates to them, and thus lower rates to others too.

It's also a lot more tempting - a specific cash amount you receive now, not some abstract 0.3% rate discount you benefit from over 12+ months.

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worm on the hook that is.

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Pure marketing.

Banks make such high profit yet they can't even offer instant/weekend online payments/transfers unless I use Visa, Ping, or Bitcoin. Joke.

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