MEDIA RELEASE

Thursday 12 December 2019

CBA and 25 smaller lenders appointed to First Home Loan Deposit Scheme panel

The National Housing Finance and Investment Corporation (NHFIC) is pleased to announce that, following a competitive procurement process, it has appointed the Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) as the second major bank lender, and a further 25 non-major lenders to the initial panel of residential mortgage lenders to offer guaranteed loans under the Australian Government’s new First Home Loan Deposit Scheme, which commences 1 January 2020.

The full list of initial participating lenders* is:

Major bank lenders National Australia Bank Commonwealth Bank of Australia Non-major lenders Australian Military Bank Auswide Bank Bank Australia Bank First Bank of us Bendigo Bank Beyond Bank Australia Community First Credit Union CUA Defence Bank Gateway Bank G&C Mutual Bank Indigenous Business Australia Mortgageport MyState Bank People’s Choice Credit Union Police Bank (including the Border Bank P&N Bank and Bank of Heritage Isle) QBANK Queensland Country Credit Union Regional Australia Bank Sydney Mutual Bank and Teachers Mutual Bank Limited The Mutual Bank Endeavour Mutual Bank (including Firefighters Mutual Bank, (divisions of Australian Mutual Health Professionals Bank, Teachers Bank Ltd) Mutual Bank and UniBank) WAW Credit Union

* Legal entity names for these lenders are scheduled to this announcement.

The initial panel composition achieves the Australian Government’s objective of promoting competition between the big and small lenders, and also ensuring that the Scheme has broad geographic reach, including in regional and remote communities.

The composition of the panel should enable strong activation of mortgage broker channels and promote choice for first home buyers.

All participating lenders are supporting the Scheme by not charging eligible customers higher interest rates than equivalent customers outside of the Scheme.

Both NAB and CBA will offer guaranteed loans from the Scheme’s commencement date of 1 January 2020.

Consistent with NHFIC’s Investment Mandate, the non-major lenders will receive no less than 50 per cent of the initial 10,000 guarantees allocated in the current financial year. The 25 non-major lenders will begin offering guaranteed loans from 1 February 2020.

In accordance with the terms of the RFP, panel members have been selected on the basis of a range of criteria including the competitiveness of their home loan offering, geographic reach and readiness to meet Scheme implementation timelines.

Applications for the Scheme are not yet open. Once the Scheme commences, applications will only be made through participating lenders and their authorised representatives. NHFIC will not accept applications directly.

Information about the Scheme is available on NHFIC’s website including online tools to assist prospective first home buyers determine their potential eligibility and identify the relevant property price threshold that will apply to any potential purchases.

ENDS

Media contact:

Fiona Benson E: [email protected] M: 0407 294 620

Schedule

Major bank lenders

National Australia Bank Limited (ACN 004 044 937)

Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ACN 123 123 124)

Non-major lenders

Australian Central Credit Union Limited (People’s Choice Credit Union) (ACN 087 651 125)

Australian Military Bank Ltd (ACN 087 649 741)

Australian Mutual Bank Ltd (Sydney Mutual Bank; Endeavour Mutual Bank) (ACN 087 650 726)

Auswide Bank Limited (ACN 087 652 060)

Bank Australia Limited (ACN 087 651 607)

B&E Ltd (Bank of us) (ACN 087 652 088)

Bendigo and Adelaide Bank Limited (Bendigo Bank) (ACN 068 049 178)

Beyond Bank Australia Limited (ACN 087 651 143)

Community First Credit Union Limited (ACN 087 649 938)

Credit Union Australia Limited (ACN 087 650 959)

Defence Bank Limited (ACN 087 651 385)

Gateway Bank Limited (ACN 087 650 093)

G&C Mutual Bank Limited (ACN 087 650 637)

Indigenous Business Australia (ABN 25 192 932 833)

Maitland Mutual Limited (The Mutual Bank) (ACN 087 651 983)

Mortgageport Management Pty Limited (Mortgageport) (ACN 082 753 679)

MyState Bank Limited (ACN 067 729 195)

Police Bank Limited (ACN 087 650 799)

Police & Nurses Limited (P&N Bank) (ACN 087 651 876)

QPCU Limited T/A QBANK (ACN 087 651 036)

Queensland Country Credit Union Limited (ACN 087 651 027)

Regional Australia Bank Limited (ACN 087 650 360)

Teachers Mutual Bank Limited (Firefighters Mutual Bank; Health Professionals Bank; Teachers Mutual Bank; UniBank) (ACN 087 650 459)

Victoria Teachers Limited (Bank First) (ACN 087 651 769)

WAW Credit Union Cooperative Limited (ACN 087 651 787)