The tool allows them to plan ahead for future interest rate changes
BNZ has rolled out a new online tool to help home loan customers plan ahead for future interest rate changes.
“We know that rising interest rates and the impact these can have on mortgage repayments is top of mind for many New Zealand homeowners,” said Karna Luke, BNZ executive customer, products, and services.
The new BNZ tool, called MyProperty, automatically groups a customer’s mortgages together, so they can see their all payments in one chart. The tool, available to BNZ home loan customers via internet banking, allows them to enter different interest rates, so they can see the impact these could have on their repayments.
With MyProperty, users don’t need to manually add their details as with other mortgage calculators. The BNZ tool automatically provides them an estimate based on their actual bank data, factoring in details such as customers’ loan rollover dates and their projected loan balances at that time.
“Empowering our customers with knowledge and information on their repayments can give them more comfort, help them manage their finances and allow them to have early conversations with their banker if needed,” Luke said.
For customers with BNZ home loans split across different interest rates, MyProperty looks at repayments across all of their loans and shows them how they might be able to increase or decrease repayments on different loans, to manage their total loan.
MyProperty also has the added benefit of helping customers understand when they’ll be mortgage-free and provides options showing how they can be mortgage-free faster.
“Even in the current economic environment, our customers are still telling us they haven’t lost sight of the goal of being mortgage-free,” Luke said. “For many, the idea of being mortgage-free is more than simply a significant financial milestone. From talking to customers, we know that being mortgage-free carries with it a sense of emotional freedom and overall peace of mind. So, it’s not surprising that paying off their mortgage as soon possible continues to be the primary goal for the majority of home loan customers we talk to.”
BNZ said the tool is not currently available for customers with interest only loans or loans which are split across different payment frequencies.
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