Westpac announces interest rate cuts and financial support for...

Westpac announces interest rate cuts and financial support for small business and consumers.

Reducing rates for small business customers on overdrafts (down 2%) and cash loans (down 1%). New fixed home loan rate of 2.29% for 1,2,3 years sounds like a great deal. Probably this is the lowest our home loan rates will go considering the fact that they have increased term deposit rate for 1 year from 1.00% to 1.70% for Australians under 65 years. They are also offering higher term deposit interest rate of 2.00% for those aged 65 years and over. RBA is is unlikely to reduce rates any further from 0.25% and it appears that interest rates in Australia may have hit the rock bottom.

"As Australia’s oldest bank, we have a long history of helping customers and communities through times of uncertainty and we are using this experience to put the plans and processes in place to support our business and retail customers through the challenges ahead,” Mr King said

Westpac is proving yet again that it is a true Australian company. It is once again stepping up and offering to look after Australians who might have to rough it out in the near future. Australians need support and Westpac is willing to provide necessary support. Westpac is a company that is not driven by greed to generate high profit from its customers during difficult times. Westpac is thinking about the long term future of its business from shareholders point of view. This is what you need to look for when investing in a company.

Sitting on paper losses is hurtful but the above news gives me happiness that Westpac is a company that thinks beyond profits. My plan is to refinance my loans and divert my banking from my current provider to Westpac. Share price just hit $16.40 and it is up almost 13% today. Let us see how it goes for the rest of the day.