More banks fail to pass full cut to borrowers

Bankwest is one of nine lenders in Australia that have not passed on the full 25 basis point cut to their standard variable home loan rates since the Reserve Bank dropped the official cash rate last Tuesday.

The WA-based bank passed on a 19 basis point cut to its customers, taking its standard variable home loan rate down to 6.59 per cent.

A total of 13 Australian banks have passed on cuts since the RBA lowered the official cash rate, with only four - Bank MECU, ING Direct, MyRate and Yellow Brick Road – passing on the full 25 basis point cut.

St followed the lead of the major banks and said it would lower its standard variable home loan rate by 17 basis points to 6.69 per cent from October 15, it said in a statement.

Three of the four big banks cut their standard variable rates on Friday.

NAB and Commonwealth Bank cut their interest rates by 20 basis points, to 6.58 per cent and 6.6 per cent respectively, and Westpac, which owns St George, cut by 18 basis points to 6.71 per cent.

The Reserve Bank of Australia cut the cash rate by 25 basis points to 3.25 per cent on October 2.

ANZ will review its lending rates at its regular monthly meeting on October 12.

St George retail banking general manager Andy Fell said the bank's cost of funding loans was not solely reliant on the RBA's cash rate.

"The RBA cash rate is only one factor we need to take into account when setting our interest rates," he said in a statement.

"The continued high cost of wholesale funding and the consistently high interest rates we pay for deposits, are also important factors."

St George's strategy is to increase the deposits it holds in order the reduce its reliance on wholesale funding markets, Mr Fell said.

St George has also cut its fixed home loan interest rates by 10 basis points.