Suncorp mortgage customers could see their minimum repayments rise by more than $1,000 a month as their loans move to ANZ. The catch? It happens only if they do nothing.
ANZ bought Suncorp in 2024 and is now moving hundreds of thousands of borrowers from Suncorp’s books onto ANZ loan platforms. More than a million Suncorp customers are due to make the move by 2027. For borrowers who’ve been getting ahead on their loans, the changeover carries a very real price tag.
The Warning
A Suncorp email sent to customers on October 13 spelled out the risk. “If you’ve made advance payments and have funds available in your Cashback/redraw, your minimum loan repayment at ANZ is likely to increase,” it said. One customer who contacted the ABC said the email indicated their home-loan repayments could climb by more than $1,000. The bank said the size of the increase would depend on the loan balance, the amount paid in advance and the remaining loan term.
The difference comes down to policy. Suncorp let customers with redraw and cashback facilities lower their minimum monthly repayments. ANZ doesn’t. Borrowers who sit tight could therefore find their minimums reset higher.
What Borrowers Can Do
Suncorp says borrowers can avoid the hit. Suncorp Bank CEO Malcolm Stedman said: “For most customers there will be no change to their repayments. Those customers ahead on their repayments may see an increase in their minimum repayments, if they choose to take no action.”
Sally Tindall, director of data insights at interest-rate comparison site Canstar, agreed customers could sidestep the increase if they followed the instructions in Suncorp’s email. But she warned that thousands could still face an “unwelcome shock” when minimum repayments rise with the changeover to ANZ in June next year. Suncorp and ANZ calculate minimums differently, she said, and most banks exclude or discount extra payments or available cash.
Tindall’s example shows the gap. Take a $600,000 mortgage with 25 years remaining and $100,000 in extra funds in the loan. One method bases the minimum repayment on the $600,000 debt while charging interest on $500,000. At an average owner-occupier variable rate of 6.49 per cent, that’s $4,047 a month. A bank calculating repayments on the $500,000 owing over the remaining 25 years sets a minimum of $3,373.
Competition Concerns, Revisited
The deal faced a rocky road. The ACCC initially rejected the acquisition. In August 2023, ACCC deputy chair Mick Keogh said: “We are not satisfied that the acquisition is not likely to substantially lessen competition in the supply of home loans nationally, small to medium enterprise banking in Queensland, and agribusiness banking in Queensland.” He argued reduced competition “will lead to customers getting a worse deal”.
The Australian Competition Tribunal later overturned the ACCC decision, and the Queensland and federal governments approved the acquisition.
Political Finger-Pointing
Queensland Treasurer David Janetzki pointed to the previous government. “This deal was agreed to by the former Labor government and it is up to former Treasurer Cameron Dick to explain why these protections weren’t included in the arrangement,” he said. The ABC said it had contacted the Queensland deputy opposition leader.
A spokesperson for Federal Treasurer Jim Chalmers said: “While these are commercial decisions for ANZ we expect the bank to treat its customers fairly and with respect, otherwise they’ll look for better deals from others.”
Consumer Policy Research Centre CEO Erin Turner called for more regulation. “Australians deserve better protections in the mortgage market to give them more certainty about what they will pay and the conditions for their loan,” she said. Most Australians, she noted, hold a home loan that is “variable at the bank’s discretion”, leaving borrowers little control over what they pay.
Why This Matters:
This episode shows how a large, government-approved bank takeover affects households at the kitchen table. The fix is simple: borrowers who read the email and act can avoid the jump, and the Treasurer’s office itself points to customers shopping elsewhere as a check on the bank. That’s the market doing its job.
Still, the deal raises a fair question about the conditions attached to a merger once regulators and governments sign off, and who’s accountable when terms change. Borrowers who are ahead on repayments did the responsible thing by paying down debt early, yet they’re the ones most exposed here. More than a million customers are due to move by 2027, so how clearly banks explain the change, and how easily customers can respond, will matter well beyond this deal.
- anz
- suncorp
- mortgage repayments
- home loans
- bank acquisition
- australian competition tribunal
- accc
- queensland