NAB has slashed its advertised home loan rates to bring them into line with the rates borrowers actually pay.

Comparison sites RateCity and Canstar reported yesterday that NAB cut the advertised owner occupier variable rate for its Tailored Home Loan by 78 basis points to 6.79 per cent and the investor rate by 108 bps to 8.17 per cent.

RateCity research director Sally Tindall said the changes reflected marketing decision to advertise rates that better reflect the actual rate customers end up receiving.

Tindall said: “While advertising high rates might seem like an odd strategy, it’s a marketing tool that big banks have been employing for years.

“They do this so that customers walk away feeling like they have won lotto by being offered a special discount.” 

Tindall said Commonwealth Bank made a similar change late in 2022. These moves mean CBA and NAB are offering variable rate loans with offsets at rates between 6 and 7 per cent, while ANZ and Westpac are advertising rates above 7 per cent for similar products.

Canstar group executive financial services, Steve Mickenbecker, said NAB’s move might prompt NAB home loan borrowers with rates above 6.79 per cent to ask for a better rate.

“This change underlines just how much existing borrowers can potentially benefit by negotiating with their lender,” Mickenbecker said.