hold on is the landscape about to change ???

Japanese banks

December 29, 2011, 6:18 pm James Thomas Today Tonight

Japanese home owners pay less than one percent for their home loan and our high rates have Japanese banks eyeing an invasion of our market.

Allan Ashton's family lost their home to the bank. He tried to buy it back but couldn't get the finance.

His family joins the other 10,000 Australian families who lost their homes this year because they couldn't keep pace with their mortgage.

Now, a shock to the banking sector which will save thousands from scenes like these.

It is the foreign invasion that our banks will hate. But Australians with home loans will love.

Some of Japan's strongest banks are planning an assault on our mortgage market.

Financial commentator, Tony Boyd says the Australian Banks have had it too good for too long. And now, the Japanese banks want a slice of the action.

Tony says: "The biggest of these banks is NUFJ, which is basically Mitsubishi. It probably ranks around the top five banks in the world in terms of assets."

And, Tony argues, Japanese banks pay a lot less than Aussie banks for their assets which puts them in a very strong position.

"The thing about the Japanese banks that gives them this competitive advantage to be able to offer home loans in Australia is their low cost of funding. The average deposit rate in Japan at the moment is 0.1%. It's just incredible, it's one tenth of 1%."

That's about 600% less than Australian banks pay for their deposits. In effect, they get money more cheaply, so they can afford to give it cheaply. In Japan, you can get a home variable home loan and pay as little as 1%. Imagine that.

Tony says there is no reason for the Japanese banks to offer rates as low as they do back home but we can definitely expect rates that are a good deal lower than they are now.

"Even if they came in at 4% or 5%, what are they going to do? People are going to go for that lower rate."

Wayne Ormond knows what it's like to be screwed by our banks. He recently lost his mortgage broking business because the banks refused to offer him flexibility on his own loans. He says the foreign invasion will smash the banking cartel and he's looking forward to it.

"Let's hope it absolutely makes the big banks rethink their pricing. We saw recently with the last interest rate reduction by the reserve bank - the big banks were even slow to pass it on. It will make it a lot faster to pass it on if there's a Japanese bank siting there with rates considerably less than theirs."

So, when will these banks arrive? Well, they're already here.

According to Tony: "My information is that they've been working on this for quite a while and I was told that 2012 they would get the green light. So let's hope all the stars are aligned and it happens."

One thing that a foreign bank will need is the nod from our government.

Wayne Swan has previously given his approval for competition.

"Another competitor in the market can only be good, to keep the big banks honest."

If Mr Swan remains honest to that statement - it looks like the coast is clear. And it could be more than just the Japanese.

Tony says: "I've heard that some of the Arab banks are looking at Australia. I've heard about banks in singapore. I've heard about banks in Malaysia and other Asian countries. I've even heard again of US banks. And the reason why is that we are a safe place to lend."

And Wayne is confident, when it comes to saving money - loyalty to Aussie banks is the last thing on our minds.
"Doesn't matter whether they'll come from Japan, doesn't matter whether it comes from Hong Kong, if it comes from the Arab nations - we don't care. All we want is a good deal."

http://au.news.yahoo.com/today-tonight/latest/article/-/12470050/japanese-banks/