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Speaker 1: Regular listeners will be aware of my ongoing angst over

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Speaker 1: the banks and whether or not they are legit players

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Speaker 1: in our marketplace. Now, the Reserve Bank this week, in

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Speaker 1: one final stab this year, will most likely cut the

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Speaker 1: cash rate again, which will leave it at two point

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Speaker 1: twenty five percent. Now. The Cooperative Bank last week claim

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Speaker 1: they're the only ones who are fully passed on the

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Speaker 1: cash rate cut so far. In fact, as of the

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Speaker 1: current cash rate which is two and a half percent,

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Speaker 1: they have cut their floating rate three point one percent

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Speaker 1: against the cash rate fall of three percent. Now, on

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Speaker 1: the surface, if their claim is correct, that would back

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Speaker 1: up the broad based argument that retail banks are creaming

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Speaker 1: it and things need to be done about it. Certainly,

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Speaker 1: the bank margins remain high, and as of a couple

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Speaker 1: of weeks ago when the banks were reporting, they reported

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Speaker 1: their margins were in fact expanding. Now counter to all

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Speaker 1: of that is the Cooperative Bank themselves. If what they

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Speaker 1: say is correct, Good on them. But what does that prove.

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Speaker 1: It proves as competition, doesn't it. It proves that the

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Speaker 1: market is dynamic. It proves that if you see their

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Speaker 1: claim and think to yourself, oh, hold on, how come

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Speaker 1: I don't have a deal that good. You can, in fact,

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Speaker 1: have always been able to change banks. So in offering

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Speaker 1: the insight inferring a lack of competition and competitive behavior,

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Speaker 1: do they not to aggree shoot themselves in the foot? Further,

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Speaker 1: I think it's fair to suggest that in reference to

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Speaker 1: the floating rate, not many people generally are on the

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Speaker 1: floating rate, and even if you have a few at

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Speaker 1: the moment, you know, waiting to lock up when a

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Speaker 1: final cut comes. The overarching theme of New Zealand lending

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Speaker 1: generally is one of fixed rates. So perhaps a better

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Speaker 1: example would be what the competition is like around that

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Speaker 1: part of the market that is most used and therefore

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Speaker 1: I'm assuming the most competitive. So you can see my

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Speaker 1: dilemma here my ongoing issue. I can find you examples

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Speaker 1: of banks behaving, if not badly, at least suspiciously, thus

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Speaker 1: giving weight to those who argue oligopolies. But I can

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Speaker 1: find examples of good, clean, open competition where deals are

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Speaker 1: to be done. So once again, the simple question was

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Speaker 1: seemingly no solid answer. Who is right? For more from

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Speaker 1: the Mic Asking Breakfast, listen live to news talks that'd

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Speaker 1: be from six am weekdays, or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio,