Economist John Adams, and Analyst Martin North reviews the recent Senate hearing relating to the cash ban, and highlight seven key issues which were revealed.
In this extended show I discuss property investment, asses classes, risks, and fractional reserve banking (versus credit creation) with Adam Stokes, who runs a channel on YT with a focus on Crypto.
This is my version of the show, Adam posted his at https://youtu.be/OrXUlTuBBqE
You can find our earlier discussion here: https://youtu.be/m8RQztfl78c
The
Commonwealth Bank of Australia has confirmed that brokers will be able
to apply for CBA’s First Home Loan Deposit Scheme loans for their
clients from 2 January 2020, while NAB has outlined that brokers will
need to wait a while longer.
The federal government’s First Home Loan Deposit Scheme (FHLDS) is due to commence operations on 1 January 2020.
The
scheme aims to allow up to 10,000 FHBs per year to get into the
property market sooner, requiring just a 5 per cent deposit, yet still
giving them access to competitive interest rates and waiving the need
for lender’s mortgage insurance (LMI).
The
government has agreed to guarantee the difference between the
borrower’s 5 per cent deposit and the standard 20 per cent deposit
required to take out a home loan without paying LMI.
It
has previously been announced that the two major banks involved in the
scheme, NAB and CBA, would be the first two lenders to start accepting
applications for the scheme from borrowers, while the other 25 non-major
lenders on the lending panel (mainly mutual banks and credit unions)
will be accepting applications from 1 February 2020.
Brokers can offer CBA FHLDS loans from 2 January
CBA customers will be able to apply for the scheme via the CBA website and call centres from 1 January.
However, given that
1 January 2020 is a public holiday, CBA has confirmed that it will make
FHLDS loans available to customers on 2 January, via all channels –
including branch and broker.
A
Commonwealth Bank spokesperson told The Adviser: “We’re excited that,
from 2 January 2020, customers will be able to apply for the First Home
Loan Deposit Scheme with Commonwealth Bank through our home loan
channels, including brokers.
“As
Australia’s largest lender, we help more Australians buy their first
home than any other bank, and its exciting that we can help get more
first home buyers into the market under the scheme.”
NAB to offer FHLDS loans online first
However,
brokers wishing to write FHLDS loans via NAB will need to wait a while
longer before applying, as the bank will be taking a “phased approach”.
According
to the bank, eligible customers will be able to apply for the scheme
through NAB via its website and call centres from 1 January 2020, as
well as through “select direct and retail channels”.
No
date has yet been released for full rollout of the FHLDS loans via
broker or the wider branch network, but NAB has said it will update
broker partners in January with how the phased approach is tracking.
A NAB spokesperson told The Adviser: “It
has always been our intention to offer the scheme through the broker
channel. However, given the short timeframe between being announced as a participant lender and the go-live date, we’ve needed to take a phased approach to implementation.
“We are working hard to implement the
scheme in the broker channel, and across our branch network, as quickly
as possible,” the spokesperson said.
The
delay will be a blow to brokers looking to write FHLDS loans for their
clients, especially given the fact that the scheme is capped at just
10,000 loans per year and the choice of lenders available to brokers is
limited.
While
Minister for Housing Michael Sukkar commented that the “composition of
the panel should also enable strong activation of mortgage broker
channels and promote choice for first home buyers”, many brokers have
highlighted that many of the smaller/regional lenders (who are expected
to take up 50 per cent of the 10,000 loans) are not members of their
aggregator’s panel – and therefore brokers would not be able to write
loans to these lenders unless they directly accredit with them.
For
example, brokers operating under the larger broker groups – AFG,
Aussie, Connective, Loan Market and Mortgage Choice – are unable to
access more than half of the lenders chosen under the FHLDS, as they are
not on the groups’ lender panel (according to the lender panels listed
on the groups’ websites).
These
include: Australian Military Bank, Bank First, Bank of us, Community
First Credit Union, Defence Bank, G&C Mutual Bank, Indigenous
Business Australia, Mortgageport, People’s Choice Credit Union,
Queensland Country Credit Union, Regional Australia Bank, The Mutual
Bank or WAW Credit Union.
Nonbank online lenders are becoming more mainstream alternative providers of financing to small businesses. In 2018, nearly one-third of small business owners seeking credit reported having applied at a nonbank online lender. The industry’s growing reach has the potential to expand access to credit for small firms, but also raises concerns about how product costs and features are disclosed. The report’s analysis of a sampling of online content finds significant variation in the amount of upfront information provided, especially on costs. On some sites, descriptions feature little or no information about the actual products or about rates, fees, and repayment terms. Lenders that offer term loans are likely to show costs as an annual rate, while others convey costs using terminology that may be unfamiliar to prospective borrowers. Details on interest rates, if shown, are most often found in footnotes, fine print, or frequently asked questions.
The report’s findings build on prior work,
including two rounds of focus groups with small business owners who
reported challenges with the lack of standardization in product
descriptions and with understanding product terms and costs.
In addition, the report finds that a number of websites require prospective borrowers to furnish information about themselves and their businesses in order to obtain details about product costs and terms. Lenders’ policies permit any data provided by the small business owner to be used by the lender and other third parties to contact business owners, often leading to bothersome sales calls. Moreover, online lenders make frequent use of trackers to monitor visitors on their websites. Even when visitors do not share identifying information with the lender, embedded trackers may collect data on how they navigate the website as well as other sites visited.