CBA have recognised electrification as a business opportunity.
Snippets from AFR: CBA wants to corner the $2trn market for household electrification. There is potentially billions of dollars of loans to be made to customers electrifying their homes by switching from coal-fired power and gas appliances to solar and battery power.
As a world leader in the use of behavioural science to “nudge” customers to overcome emotions and make rational financial decisions, it is not surprising that Commonwealth Bank is switching the focus of its behavioural economics team to climate change.
It is possible the federal government will step in with its own loan products for electrifying households as suggested by scientist Saul Griffith in AFR Weekend. But with the likelihood of means testing there will still be an enormous lending opportunity for the banks.
CBA has an advantage over its competitors in climate financing because it offers loans of up to $30,000 for financing solar energy systems in the home at an interest rate of 3.9 per cent, and it offers an “interest free” instalment payment option with no cap on the loan amount provided it has monthly repayments over five years.The concessional $30,000 loans are only available to existing CBA mortgage holders, but that is still a large pool of potential customers.
