Thoughts on Bankwest?

Discussion in 'Loans & Mortgage Brokers' started by izzy16, 16th Oct, 2020.

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  1. izzy16

    izzy16 Well-Known Member

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    Hi all,

    Sat down with my broker yesterday and based on my financials he recommended two options for me:

    1. Bankwest
    2. CBA

    I'm a current CBA customer (business and personal banking) but was told it could take over 3 weeks to get a pre-approval with them and we are keen to house-hunt ASAP.

    I was told Bankwest would be much faster (under 10 days).

    So I agreed to lodge with Bankwest without knowing too much about them.

    Now I'm wondering if I've made the right choice given I've been with CBA for 4+ years.

    Would love to hear some opinions on Bankwest...
     
  2. Trainee

    Trainee Well-Known Member

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    Whats your concern, exactly? Bankwest is fully owned by CBA.
     
  3. The Y-man

    The Y-man Moderator Staff Member

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    If you're second guessing your broker, maybe time to get a new broker?

    The Y-man
     
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  4. izzy16

    izzy16 Well-Known Member

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    Mainly customer experience and service.

    I've read quite a few negative reviews online but many of them seem quite old.

    I'm just trying to field some more opinions on them that are separate to what my broker is telling me.

    If they are rubbish I might just wait out the extra few weeks on pre-approval and stick with CBA.
     
  5. The Y-man

    The Y-man Moderator Staff Member

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    I've rarely - if ever? - dealt with banks directly (regarding loans). Always through my broker.

    The Y-man
     
  6. Trainee

    Trainee Well-Known Member

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    What customer experience and service mean here? You need a loan. Choosing a lender based on fast response time is important, especially in NSW, where the purchase timing is tighter.
    Your broker will deal with the lender.
    Focus on whats important.
    Still don't understand what the question is. Will you refuse to use a lender because their call centre has bad phone manners?
     
  7. jaybean

    jaybean Well-Known Member

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    I hear this a lot from new investors. It doesn't matter. I was also told recently by a new investor she wanted to stick with her current bank even though they had worse terms because they had all her details anyway so it would make the application easier. That's a pretty poor reason to choose one bank over the other too.
     
  8. Redom

    Redom Mortgage Broker Business Plus Member

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    BW pretty decent lender and has some upsides. Process, speed, tech, etc are all very good.

    Overall, right now, the actual marginal difference in lender selection may be a lower priority than 'getting it done'. There's scope going to very slow lenders at the moment and missing out on what your really looking for. Overweighting a branding/product difference that likely doesn't matter too much or have a significant cost difference.

    This is often hard to appreciate, but brokers lodging lots of deals will know that getting loan approvals some some places can lead to delays, slowness, etc - which can be better managed with different product selection.

    E.g. Macquarie have significant growth because they get things done very well.
     
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  9. izzy16

    izzy16 Well-Known Member

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    Thanks for your insight Redom, that was really helpful.
     
    Redom likes this.
  10. Rolf Latham

    Rolf Latham Inciteful (sic) Staff Member Business Plus Member

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    BWA are like all lenders

    Perfect sometimes, average other times, and whooooooooooaaaaaaaa what I have done .....rarely.

    BWA have a couple of policy niches around the High LVR Space and in Active Debt Recycling cirlces

    ta
    rolf
     
  11. Rolf Latham

    Rolf Latham Inciteful (sic) Staff Member Business Plus Member

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    wise words

    ta'rolf
     
  12. Jamie Moore

    Jamie Moore MORTGAGE BROKER - AUSTRALIA WIDE Business Member

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    BWA are fine.

    CBA are better/easier to deal with when it comes to post settlement service and their online banking is superior.

    BWA are usually a bit cheaper on rate.

    Cheers

    Jamie
     
  13. Shazz@

    Shazz@ Well-Known Member

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    Go with your gut!
    Personally I love CBA.. good customer service, usually pretty fast with getting things done, I like their netbank interface (the others don’t really compare), I’ve got a pretty good relationship manager etc. But these are things which are important to me, besides getting a loan. Each to their own.
     
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  14. Tony Xia

    Tony Xia Structured Loan Advisor Business Member

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    Both are about the same, but time is key right now.

    CBA has a 25 business day turnaround time, hence not a good choice if you're purchasing.
     
  15. Paul@PAS

    Paul@PAS Tax, Accounting + SMSF + All things Property Tax Business Plus Member

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    OK BW made a mistake. All organisations make errors and have processes. They didnt compromise your data did they ? The privacy officer at BW would be interested in your report of the mater and would act to limita repeat of what seems a fundamental oversight
     
  16. gach2

    gach2 Well-Known Member

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    Have you seen both branches?
    CBA - most amount of branches but it looks like a nightclub with people waiting outside to be let in to queue again

    Bankwest - walk through barely anyone in there and some are open on weekends. Only problem is not many branches (specially in eastern states)
     

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