And then there were 9: Westpac subsidiaries to step out of the cashback game

Westpac subsidiaries St George, BankSA and RAMS have announced they will be shelving their home loan cashback incentives from next month.

St George and BankSA currently offer $2,000 cashback to refinancers, while RAMS is offering $3,000. Borrowers now have until 30 June 2024 to apply and must settle by 31 October 2024 for the cashback.

The move comes almost a year after Australia’s biggest bank, CBA, dropped the controversial incentive on 31 May 2023, with Westpac and NAB ending their cashback offers a month later on 30 June 2023.

ANZ is the only big bank still offering the perk, with a $2,000 cashback for refinancers and a $3,000 cashback for first home buyers, provided they meet the eligibility criteria.

When the Westpac subsidiaries wrap up their cashback deals at the end of next month, there will be just nine lenders still advertising home loan cashback incentives, provided no others pull the pin before then.

List of lenders currently still advertising home loan cashback deals

Source: RateCity.com.au. Notes: Credit Union SA only offers cashback to current and former members of the SA education community. Excludes cashback deals with third-parties. LVR requirements may apply.

RateCity.com.au research director, Sally Tindall, said: “Westpac’s decision to pull the pin entirely on the cashback game comes as no surprise.”

“While the bank has seen decent growth in its home loan book over the last 12 months, it’s likely to have decided the equation no longer stacks up, particularly under the current profit margin pressures,” she said.

“Over the last 12 months, banks big and small have ditched their cashback deals in a bid to end the refinancing wars – and it’s worked.

“The latest ABS statistics show the value of refinanced loans in the month of March has dropped by 25 per cent since the peak in July 2023, on the back of a mass exodus of lenders from the cashback game.

“When St George, BankSA and RAMS end their cashback offers on 30 June, just nine lenders will still be offering these incentives, provided more don’t pull up stumps before then. That’s a huge drop from the 35 lenders that were offering this incentive in March 2023.

“ANZ is the only big four bank still in the cashback market, but with Westpac subsidiaries now exiting stage left, there’s every chance ANZ’s incentive will meet a similar fate in coming months.

“The offer of cold hard cash at a time when borrowers are strapped financially can be hugely tempting, but one-off perks only get them so far.

“Households looking for long-term rate relief are likely to find they’re better off opting for a cracking rate, particularly on larger loans and especially in the longer term,” she said.

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