Commonwealth Bank CEO Ralph Norris has admitted his bank's 0.45 per cent interest rate rise will cost some of his customers their homes but says it causes him immense angst. He added that it was better to see "a few" foreclosurers than have an economy hamstrung by a low-profit banking system.
The 16.2 million dollar man urged customers feeling mortgage stress to contact the bank and seek temporary relief. See, he's not a despicable corporate monster, this man has feeling. He's on a kind of performance bonus, the more money he screws out of the people, the richer he gets. And get this - he's a Sir - Sir Ralph Norris - and he's a Kiwi.
Sydney radio king Alan Jones has been chasing Sir Ralph for weeks but he can't catch him. He's called him a coward on several occasions but he refuses to be interviewed. He's created such bad publicity for the Commonwealth Bank, it's a wonder he hasn't been told to go to the media and clean up his mess.
Sir Alan visited Cabramatta High School yesterday, right smack bang in the middle of the Sydney mortgage belt. The kids wanted to know why there was a need to raise the interest rate yet again. When they backed him into a corner, that's when he trotted out the information that he grew up in a rough neighbourhood in a Housing Commission house in New Zealand. Somehow he thinks this should make a difference. If anything, it should make him more compassionate towards needy people.
"I have done all I can to try to minimise the impact by making sure we've got good customer assistance programs for those customers in genuine need. That's all I can do" he said. You're breaking my heart mate.
The governmnt and the banks say it's all about competition. Really? What happens if you want to opt out of your loan and go with a cheaper provider? They stick you with a huge exit fee somewhere around $1000. But here's the good news, ING Direct is about to offer $1000 to home owners if they will switch to one of its products, effectively paying the banks' greedy exit fees for them. Now we are getting somewhere.
The Commonwealth Bank of Australia made $6.1 billion profit last financial year but Sir Ralph said his bank was not gouging customers. The other big banks have yet to announce their interest rate hike, but they are just as greedy. We urgently need help from the government to pull them all into line.
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