ING Direct, the nation’s sixth-largest mortgage lender, is the latest lender to slash out-of-cycle interest rates across some variable and fixed home loans for new customers.

One of the bank’s biggest reductions was to three-year fixed loans, with a rate cut ranging from 0.19 per cent to 3.69 per cent for split variable and fixed loans. ING Direct also sliced its popular Orange Advantage loan by 15 basis points to a record low of 3.79 per cent. The deal applies to mortgages with a loan-to-value ratio below 80 per cent.

According to ING Direct’s head of product Tim Newman, the drops were a way to reward their customers with good value home loan deals. 

“It’s a very competitive market at the moment and we’re seeing record low home loan rates, which is great news for borrowers,” he said. “This is the perfect time for people to evaluate their current loan, do some research, and make sure they’re still getting the best value.”

ING Direct has more than $40 billion in home loans in Australia catering to 190,000 mortgage customers. While the lender has not yet confirmed whether it would further drop rates if there is a rate cut in August, Homeloanexperts.com.au’s managing director Otto Dargan cautioned customers not to expect their lenders to pass the prospective rate cut in full.

“The market is expecting the RBA to drop rates in August, however, that doesn’t necessarily mean the banks will pass on the full cut,” he said. “People should talk to their mortgage broker who can do a pricing request and if their bank won’t match it, they should go elsewhere.”

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