Some good news from ACCC chairman Rod Sims.
It looks like the ACCC wants the banks to be more accountable for their interest rate settings. Rod Simms has said the regulator sent out information notices to the big four banks and Macquarie bank.
“We’ve used information notices to seek to understand how banks have made interest rate decisions in the recent past,” he said.
“Are they looking at each other? What are the assumptions they make? How much do they look at small regional banks?”
The ACCC was also examining how much banks rely on the RBA’s official cash rate when setting mortgage rates, whether they consider other influencers, and how they measure profitability against the interest of consumers.
It’s good to know the banks are being questioned on their interest rate settings.