The ANZ Bank will be reducing interest rates on its local ANZ Variable Rate Home Loans in May, to a record national low of 6.79 per cent per annum.

The new rate, which takes effect from 1 May, represents a major reduction of 1.70 per cent a year in the bank's previous lending rate.

In a statement released on Thursday, the bank announced that all ANZ Samoa existing and new ANZ Variable Rate Home Loan customers will benefit from the new interest rate of 6.79 per cent per annum. 

The bank will also waive any loan approval fees on new variable rate home loans taken out.

ANZ Bank Country Head, Bernard Poort said the reduction in the ANZ Home Loan Variable Rate enables customers to benefit from significant savings in interest over the lifetime of their loan as a result of the new rate.

“We are delighted to be able to pass on these benefits to our ANZ Variable Rate Home Loan customers,” Mr Poort said.

“This is the best home loan proposition in Samoa today.

“ANZ is committed to making the cost of borrowing cheaper and more transparent for our customers. In March 2020, we removed the monthly loan administration charge for ANZ Variable Rate Home Loans and we will continue to review our pricing and fees for the benefit of our customers.”

Last year, in September, the bank announced a temporary waiver of its $7 online international money transfer fee for 10 Pacific countries including Samoa, in response to the coronavirus-led economic downturn.

ANZ’s Regional Executive for the Pacific, Tessa Price, said removing the fee will help boost Pacific economies by encouraging people to go online and send money quickly and cheaply to their family and friends, according to the statement.

“Money sent home by family and friends is a stable source of household income for many Pacific families. In some cases it can be up to 25 per cent of a household’s disposable income,” Price said.

“So it’s really important that we keep costs as low as possible, especially given the economic conditions here in the Pacific which are tough due to Covid-19 and the impact it has had on tourism.”

Two months later, the bank noted that customers were sending more money to family and friends in the Pacific since it temporarily waived its transfer fees from Australia and New Zealand.

Since the introduction of the waiver of its $7 transfer fee, ANZ customers have made more than 8,000 transfers totaling NZD$15million.  

In the same month, online transfers from New Zealand to the Pacific increased by 86 percent and transfers from Australia increased by 77 percent, compared to the same period last year.