ANZ Under Fire: Mortgage Boss Claims Rate Hike a “Quiet Profit Grab” to Fund Cashback War
By Lions Roar News Finance Desk
AUCKLAND, NEW ZEALAND (Monday, January 19, 2026) — One of the biggest names in New Zealand’s mortgage broking industry has launched a stinging attack on ANZ, accusing the country’s largest bank of hiking interest rates simply to pad its profits and subsidize aggressive cashback offers.
David Cunningham, Chief Executive of Squirrel, says ANZ’s decision last week to lift its floating home loan rate by 0.1 percent—bringing it to 5.79 percent—is a calculated move to “take a bit more profit” in a stagnant market.
💰 The $12 Million Calculation
Cunningham estimates that this seemingly minor 0.1% increase will funnel an additional $12 million in annual profit into ANZ’s coffers. He argues that the bank is capitalizing on its position by moving out of a “no man’s land” of pricing to align more closely with its major competitors.
“Why have your floating rate lower than the bulk of your competitors? Just quietly put it up and go ‘we may as well just take a bit more profit’. It’s as simple as that,” Cunningham said.
He noted that market conditions and other major influences on home loan rates have remained unchanged since late November, suggesting the hike was driven by internal margin goals rather than external economic pressure.
🎁 Funding the “Gold Rush”
The rate increase comes at a time when ANZ has been making headlines for its massive 1.5 percent cashback offer for new home loan customers. This promotion has been so lucrative that one Squirrel client reportedly received a staggering $30,000 payment just for switching banks.
Cunningham believes the floating rate hike is effectively taxing existing customers to pay for these new customer acquisitions.
- The Broker Perspective: Cunningham described the recent surge in switching as a “gold rush,” admitting that even seasoned mortgage advisers were “gobsmacked” by the scale of ANZ’s cashback incentives.
- The Competitive Shift: Banks are now fighting for market share using cash handouts rather than lowering interest rates.
🏦 ANZ Responds: “Competitive and Aligned”
An ANZ spokesperson defended the move, pointing out that the bank has still been more aggressive than its peers in cutting rates over the long term.
- Long-term Cuts: Since the Official Cash Rate (OCR) began its descent in August 2024, ANZ has lowered its floating rate by 2.95 percent—more than any other major bank.
- Market Alignment: The spokesperson stated the 0.1% change was a “small adjustment” to align with current market conditions and that their rate remains highly competitive compared to other Tier-1 lenders.
🛡️ Why the Big Banks are “Unbreakable”
Cunningham warned that the New Zealand banking system remains incredibly difficult for new competitors to disrupt. Because the “Big Four” banks offer a wide range of products—from credit cards and personal loans to cheap deposits—they can “subsidize” low rates in one area by hiking them in another.
“You’ve always got a bunch of products you can compete with to protect your margin,” he explained. This resilience makes the system almost “attacker-proof” against smaller, mono-line lenders who don’t have multiple high-margin products to lean on.
