Another credit card day another million dollars for your bank

Every day that your credit card interest rate remains high, it gifts every the major bank almost $900,000. No wonder you can't pay your bills or your card card down!
Australia's four big banks have failed to deliver any relief on the nation's credit card holders despite the RBA discounting official cash rates by a full 1 per cent.
Fears of global recession yesterday wiped $56 billion from the value of local shares and sent the dollar plunging to a five-year low.
The Australian stockmarket dived 5 per cent. Bank stacks were hit hard.
In a move that had been anticpated by Mr Mortgage on Tuesday, lobal central banks took the necessary step last night of co-ordinating a series of interest rate cuts in a bid to stop further stockmarket plunges.
But as world markets melt down analysis commissioned by The Courier-Mail shows that each day the interest rate on credits cards remains unchanged, Australian banks pocket an extra $886,500.
If the rates remain frozen for a whole month, banks will score a windfall profit of almost $27 million, according to finance research house Cannex.
A leading consumer advocate yesterday angrily hit out at the banks, accusing them of hurting ordinary Australians doing it tough.
"Not passing on any interest rate cut to credit card holders is just punishing people who are already struggling," said Nicole Rich, of the Consumer Action Law Centre.
Almost every Australian adult has at least one credit card and the nation's collective card debt, attracting interest, has blown out to $32.4 billion.
As the global economic firestorm gathers pace and hits the Australian economy, many households will find it harder to pay off ballooning credit card debts.
Many popular Australian credit cards have interest rates as high as 20 per cent and Cannex calculates the average credit card interest rate is 16.8 per cent.
On Tuesday, all big four banks moved swiftly to cut home lending rates by 0.8 per cent when the Reserve slashed the cash rate to 6 per cent, but it is a different story when it comes to credit.
The Courier-Mail contacted the Commonwealth, the ANZ, National Bank and Westpac, who all conceded credit card interest rates remained unchanged but insisted they were "under review".
A spokeswoman for the Australian Bankers Association refused to comment on credit card rates, saying it was a matter for individual banks.
Sharemarket battered
In another day of high drama, there were further signs the Australian economy could be tanking.
The Australian sharemarket dived yesterday with the All Ordinaries shedding a hefty 228 points.
Consumer sentiment fell to near 17-year lows and the number of owner-occupied housing loans fell for the seventh straight month.
Craig James, of Commonwealth Securities, said the new data justified the Reserve Bank's decision to go for a 1 per cent cash rate cut on Tuesday.
The four major banks have all opted to pass on 80 per cent of the cut – 0.8 per cent – on home loan rates.
But Opposition Leader Malcolm Turnbull tried to claim credit, saying if it was not for the Opposition then the banks would not have passed on such a large amount.
"I have stood up for borrowers and I think borrowers have got a better deal as a result," he said.
Treasurer Wayne Swan hit back, accusing Mr Turnbull of letting his arrogance get out of control.
"I know Mr Turnbull thinks that the whole world revolves around his ego, but there are some events in the world which are much bigger than Mr Turnbull's ego," Mr Swan said.
Meanwhile, economic researcher, David Richardson, of The Australia Institute, estimated Australia's big banks could boost their annual profits by $1.4 billion by not passing on the full 1 per cent rate cut on home loans.
But the Commonwealth Bank has vowed to reduce its mortgage rates by more than 1 per cent when markets return to normal.
The Commonwealth yesterday also announced a takeover of BankWest in a deal worth more than $2 billion.
Queensland Premier Anna Bligh said although the Prime Minister had insisted banks absorb some of the cut, the full savings should be passed on as a "matter of principle".
"I understand the Prime Minister has been saying he believes that this interest rate cut should be passed on as fully as possible," she said.

Banks boost lending rates ahead of RBA official interest rises

Aussie retail banks are getting ahead of the Reserve Bank of Australia and are raising fixed lending rates as financial markets price in an interest-rate rise this week.
Major financial institutions are already starting to anticipate a rate hike from the central bank on Wednesday and have marginally shifted fixed lending rates.
Since last week ANZ has moved the one to five-year fixed rate up 0.1 per cent, while ING also raised its three to five-year products by the same amount.
NAB added an extra 2 to 7 basis points to its fixed rates and BankWest and Bank of Queensland have moved higher.
The increases were ordered after the three-year money market rates rallied 18 basis points over the past month on interest rate expectations.
Aussie dollar soars to 10-year highMeanwhile, the Australian dollar has reached a 10-year high as domestic financial markets raise expectations that a stronger economic outlook will prompt the Reserve Bank to tighten monetary policy today.
The prospect of the central bank lifting the cash rate to 6.5 per cent has soared to 65 per cent, after higher retail sales numbers and building approvals spiked sharply.
The 0.9 per cent monthly increase in national spending was interpreted as the possible trigger for the central bank to adjust rates when it meets today.
The dollar shot up following the news and last night was trading at US81.45c, just off its intraday high. The dollar's level has prompted some strategists to extend their forecasts as to how long the currency can stay high.
Overnight, the dollar traded between a low of $US0.8134 and a high of $US0.8180.
BT chief economist Chris Caton said the Reserve Bank would be concerned that higher spending, coupled with greater credit borrowing, would lift inflation.
"The news adds to the impression that the Australian economy is still travelling quite well," Dr Caton said, "although it is not clear to what extent one should allow one's view to be affected by a freak rise in multi-unit dwelling approvals."
Stocks could take a hitThe share prices of the major banks were weaker on the market yesterday, in anticipation of the interest rate rise and the implication it would have for borrowing levels.
The concerns about a possible trade stoush between China and the US injected a fresh bout of nerves into the Australian stock market.
Grange Securities chief economist Stephen Roberts said the share market, at the current heights, was susceptible to potentially negative news from around the world.
"It is a risk to global economic growth," Mr Roberts said of the US situation.
"At the moment it is no more than that."
Source: The Australian