CBA Wealth Package

simplyme on 14/02/2015 - 13:58

Hi, any thoughts on CBA Wealth Packages? My son has home loan, credit card, house insurances, plus bank accounts in this package. He wanted to negotiate a lower rate for his home loan. After the 25 points reduction I think the rate will be 4.84%. His loan is for $550000. I am guarantor. After contacting the CBA several times this week and getting the same response, that he is on the best rate with the discounts on his insurance and low credit card rate CBA flatly refused to reduce his home loan rate. I was wondering what ozbargainers think, whether the CBA wealth package is worth it?

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Comments

  • Amaris on 14/02/2015 - 14:51
    +1

    I have the same problem. They are refusing to reduce the rate unless we borrow more. I think the way to go is to get a better quote from another bank and take that to CBA to bargain. If they still will not budge I will actuakly switch. If they don't want to reward loyal customers I don't want them to have my custom.

    • thirtysixd on 15/02/2015 - 20:00
      +1

      CBA only overcharge because they know that a majority of people are too lazy to bother shopping around.

      You should be able to get something around 4.5% so just go elsewhere.

      Odds of another rate cut are also quite high.

  • Bikkylover on 14/02/2015 - 18:26
    +1

    I pay 4.89% for my home loan and I have loans totalling 1.3m, all with CBA, so I am not doing as well as your son. I still think it's a good deal given the awful experiences I have had with NAB and ANZ over the years. I have been with CBA for many years for credit cards etc but only the last 18 months for a homeloan. The service and communication is excellent and I know I could save perhaps a thousand dollars a year on fees, but to me it's worth the lack of stress of having to deal with banks that just treat their customers as numbers. Yes, I'm a fan,for now, but I have yet to have a really bad experience with CBA. However after reading the answers on this forum I may as well ask for at least a slight discount!

  • akyeeeahdude on 14/02/2015 - 20:03

    I've been on a Commonwealth Wealth Package for a bit over 5 years now.
    After the 0.25% drop is passed on, my variable will be on 4.65%.

    You need to negotiate with them hard as they don't make it easy to achieve a discount from their retention team.
    Your son's lending balance is much higher than mine so they should go lower.

    I've been through their Retention team four times and three out of the four times I got a rate discount. The time I didn't they gave me a free lifetime no annual fee upgrade from their Gold Credit Card to Platinum.

    LVI has an influence on their decision too but they have always said to me they would go lower for me if my loan was a greater sum.

  • Lequ83 on 14/02/2015 - 21:43

    I'm with CBA (loans totalling just over $1m plus credit cards and insurances) and after the latest drop will be on 4.5%. I've been hassling them constantly over the last 3 years for rate reductions. I also don't pay the wealth package fee.

    It pays to build up a relationship with one of their personal lenders if you can and funnel any new business and queries through them.

    As others have pointed out your LVR, risk profile and other factors would of course impact on what rate they offer you.

    At the end of the day it depends on what you're after. You'll never get the best variable rate with the big banks. With CBA I think the functionality in netbanking is fantastic and I like having branches and ATMs everywhere when required.

    • dontask on 14/02/2015 - 23:28

      Wow, thats pretty good. I'm with CBA with over 3M in loans and my rate is still 4.6%, and will be 4.35% after the rate cut.

      Thats after I got a discount recently. I basically had to go to a competitor (NAB) and apply for a loan. Only then did CBA give me the low rate (or what I thought was low).

      I did find that the customer service at CBA was streets ahead of NAB. If the CBA contact I dealt with was away someone else would respond. Also, their netbanking is easily the best. NAB didn't get back to me for over a week at one stage because their banker was sick. No one else picked up his files. Seriously?!

  • bargainchampion on 15/02/2015 - 07:23

    I notice that the annual fee of wealth package is very expensive. I borrowed $520K from loans.com.au with full offset on 4.48% with no annual fee. Expect less service since they are online but the rate is well worth it in the long run.

    I'm still with CBA to deposit my salary and then immediately transfer 95% of them to my offset account. This way I'm still enjoying best of both worlds.

    • shaun-o on 04/11/2015 - 13:38

      Can you please elaborate? I'm in the process of getting the wealth package with an offset account.

      • naritas on 05/11/2015 - 09:47
        +1

        What Bargainchampion is suggesting is similar to what we are hearing as feedback from most of our clients who have evaluated CBA's offering. That is: The total cost (the combination of interest rate plus fees and charges) does not justify the added service/functionality you get from having a CBA Wealth Package. That said, the product reviews for loans.com.au and uBank (two of the most prolific discount lenders) are abysmal (http://www.productreview.com.au/p/loans-com-au.html & http://www.productreview.com.au/p/ubank-uhomeloan.html). So one really needs to look to strike a balance. An example of this is PLAN Lending (also marketed as Choice Lend). They are funded by Advantedge who are the same funders of uBank (all of which are owned by NAB). Our client feedback for PLAN Lending is excellent despite it being money and systems provided by the same source as uBank. The price is nearly congruent (sometimes uBank is cheaper, sometimes PLAN is cheaper https://www.naritas.com.au/widgets/rates-widget/?t=hl#variab…). If you are paying a premium for PLAN it is typically justified by the fact that the SLAs and access to support options are better than the base offering from uBank.

        Since you are considering a package that includes a 100% offset account, one important point to note is safety of offset funds. With an ADI (such as CBA) your funds will be guaranteed by the Commonwealth government under their Deposit Guarantee Scheme (http://www.guaranteescheme.gov.au/qa/deposits.html). Our understanding of loans.com.au is that the funds are not protected under this scheme. Contrast this with a lender such as Newcastle Permanent where you do get the protection of such a guarantee and an organisation that is over 100 years old, which is pricing at 3.69%p.a. (CR N/a) for a 2 year fixed and 3.99%p.a. (CR 4.35%p.a.) for a variable (https://www.naritas.com.au/latest-news/3-69p-a-cr-na-mortgag…) - their Premium Plus package provides much of the same functionality that the Wealth Package does, but is coupled to a vastly superior set of interest rates.

        Hope this helps.

        • blackfrancis75 on 05/11/2015 - 11:07

          This is a great analysis, so thank you. However… call me judgemental, but when I visit http://www.newcastlepermanent.com.au/ and navigate their 90's style website, asking "Am I confident putting my money here" the answer is "Nope".

        • naritas on 05/11/2015 - 11:29

          @blackfrancis75: LOL - we'd be lying if we said that Newcastle Permanent offered internet banking and phone apps that were as good as CBA. They don't. CBA is definitely a market leader so far as banking technology is concerned. However, for bargain shoppers, it's not hard to cost-effectively split your transactional banking, home loan borrowings and credit card needs between different providers.

          Genuinely speaking, the days of needing to have all of your banking in one spot to get a good deal are gone. Sure, if you are a very high income earner and large borrower, the banks will provide many of the bells and whistles they would otherwise charge for at little to no cost. For most people, however, you are probably better off choosing a cheap but reliable home lender (there are many of those that aren't banks - we'd look to the credit unions and building societies recently), a good offer from a credit card provider (there are plenty on Ozbargain, in fact https://www.ozbargain.com.au/tag/credit-card nearly always has a decent offer to choose from) and a bank with a phone app/internet banking that you like for your transactional needs. Most transactional accounts you can get for free if you deposit your pay into them - otherwise $10p/m is becoming fairly standard if you shop around (even Ozbargain has some okay deals https://www.ozbargain.com.au/tag/transaction-account - but we'd recommend actually calling the banks to see what they'd offer given your individual circumstances).

        • shaun-o on 05/11/2015 - 19:30

          I've been with CBA for about 15-20 years & have never had a problem, we have a good relationship with our lender so I'm getting a pretty good deal & all fees waived. Thanks, but I'm not interested in switching to a lender I've never heard of. Anyway, back to the question I was asking the OP…

  • lfclad on 15/02/2015 - 12:37
    +2

    Of all the comments above I'd be interested to know how many have tried home loans a outside of the big 4?

    I left commonwealth many years ago and wouldn't dream of going anywhere near a big 4 now (or subsidiary), for me there are much better rates and for nil charges with banks outside the big boys, these institutions actually want your money/loans and work for it!

    • blackfrancis75 on 15/02/2015 - 21:46

      I was with you all the way up until the last comment:

      these institutions actually want your money/loans and work for it!

      because with CBA's wealth package we get assigned a Relationship Manager who either contacts us or we can contact to negotiate on cards/loans/credit or any of the products on offer. I can believe that the Big 4 either charge a higher rate or higher fees, but I can't fault the customer services they've provided us.

      Years ago I had an investment property mortgage with ING, and while I wouldn't say they provided poor customer service, it certainly wasn't like there was someone I could just call up who knew my situation and from whom I could immediately get straight answers like I can now.

  • Pumpkin_rrr on 16/02/2015 - 10:25
    +1

    I have wealth package for years and had contemplated to stop it a few times. They convinced me that I benefit by having discounted loan interest rates blah blah blah…

    I just checked and looks like we had been paying 5% since Feb-2014! Could it be because our loan is very low now (under $300k)? Not happy, will talk to them straight away.

    BTW, if you have investment property the fees on the wealth package should be tax-deductible.

  • GoogleFroogle on 16/02/2015 - 23:47
    +1

    I went through what you did a few weeks ago, too.

    In two weeks, I will be a former CBA customer. I am refinancing (elsewhere) and getting better rates with zero annual package to do so.

    Cya CBA! Every other place I went to made a better offer than what CBA offered (and I am on my second loan with them)

    • draistlin on 26/02/2015 - 22:54

      I've been offered 4.55% on the wealth package. Thoughts?

      • Yacht on 27/02/2015 - 09:54

        Depends on your LVR. I've got them down to 4.40%.

        • draistlin on 27/02/2015 - 12:28

          Its around 55% not really borrowing much. How did you get them down to 4.4%?

  • GoogleFroogle on 27/02/2015 - 10:11

    sounds good by CBA standards but not by other bank standards

    cba didnt even try for me really, great lvr and history payment and loans. maybe i just didn't get the best staff. FYI, I sent off my ubank refi docs yesterday

  • gibspmuh on 01/03/2015 - 16:54

    For me it wasn't worth it. I was on the wealth package with a similar loan size to you and they wouldn't get me within 0.3% of what was on offer at loans.com.au. So I made the switch and I've been pretty happy overall since then.

    In relation to the ancillary benefits, the fee free Citibank Signature Credit Card took care of that side of things. From the insurance perspective I found them more expensive than other options even after the discount - so no extra value there either.

  • BensonP on 08/11/2015 - 22:21

    My partner and I pay the wealth package, and our Standard Variable interest rate is 4.3% on about $340000 loan.

    Hope this help in some way :)

  • cupcake on 17/08/2017 - 14:37

    I've switched loans now. Does anyone know how long it takes for CBA to refund me the wealth package fee??? I've requested it.

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