K62 Finance

Risk of mortgage stress dropped to lowest for three years in January, but is set to increase as interest rates rise in 2026

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 11-Mar-26

New research from Roy Morgan shows that 23.9% of mortgage holders were ‘At Risk’ of ‘mortgage stress’ in January 2026, down 4% points from August 2025. This is the lowest proportion of mortgage holders ‘At Risk’ of ‘mortgage stress’ since January 2023. The number of Australians ‘At Risk’ of mortgage stress has decreased by 449,000 compared to a year ago, when the RBA began a cycle of interest rate cuts. Meanwhile, the number of Australians considered to be ‘Extremely At Risk’ of mortgage stress is now numbered at 789,000 (15.9% of mortgage holders); this is just below the long-term average over the last two decades of 16.3%. These are the latest findings from Roy Morgan’s Single Source Survey, based on in-depth interviews conducted with over 60,000 Australians each year, including over 10,000 owner-occupied mortgage-holders.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA

CBA plans to retrain workers to head off anger over job cuts

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Original article by James Eyers
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 17 : 25-Feb-26

The Commonwealth Bank of Australia will launch a new skills program that aims to retrain its staff and provide them with the AI skills and other expertise that will be needed in the future. CEO Matt Comyn says employers have an obligation to help workers to build up their AI skills, and he argues that Australian companies must embrace AI technology in order to remain internationally competitive. CBA’s focus will be on training staff in areas that will be in demand, with the aim of shifting thousands of workers into higher-value roles. Meanwhile, CBA has advised of another 300 job cuts across its banking and human resources teams, although they have not been specifically linked to AI.

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COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA

Elliott drops legal case against ANZ over unpaid bonus

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Original article by Angira Bharadwaj, James Eyers
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 18 : 25-Feb-26

The ANZ Bank withheld some $32m worth of bonuses to some current and former executives in 2025, in response to the regulatory failing that resulted in a record fine. The executives included former CEO Shayne Elliott, who subsequently pursued legal action to recover more than $13.5m in bonuses that had been cancelled. Elliott contended that ANZ had breached the terms of his departure by withholding his bonuses. The bank has welcomed Elliott’s decision to abandon the lawsuit, and has advised that both parties will pay their own legal costs. Elliott is entitled to an additional $8m worth of future bonuses, which may also be in doubt.

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AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ

Macquarie’s plan to grab more market share in deposits

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Original article by James Eyers
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 19 : 11-Feb-26

Data from the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority shows that Macquarie Bank’s household deposits topped $100bn for the first time in December. Macquarie’s deposits grew by 3.6 per cent in December, outperforming all other banks. Head of personal banking Ben Perham says Macquarie aims to increase its market share with regard to term deposits, which is curently one per cent; in contrast, its share of transaction and savings accounts is now seven per cent. Meanwhile, its home loan market share has risen to 6.8 per cent, and Perham says it is approving mortgage loans "considerably faster" than other lenders.

CORPORATES
MACQUARIE BANK LIMITED, MACQUARIE GROUP LIMITED – ASX MQG, AUSTRALIAN PRUDENTIAL REGULATION AUTHORITY

Interest rate increases set to hit mortgage holders in Victoria, Queensland, and Tasmania the hardest

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 10-Feb-26

The most recent Roy Morgan data on mortgage stress shows that 24.5% of mortgage holders are now ‘At Risk’ of mortgage stress. Last week’s interest rate rise is expected to increase this to 25.3%, and a 25 basis point interest rate rise in March to 4.1% would increase this to 27.2% (1,322,000 mortgage holders). A deep dive into Roy Morgan’s data on mortgage stress by State shows that the situation is worst in Tasmania; 29.8% of mortgage holders are classified as ‘At Risk’, and this will increase by 3.8% points to 32.6% if the Reserve Bank increases interest rates again in March. In clear second place is Victoria with 27.2% of mortgage holders classified as ‘At Risk’ and set to increase to 29.9% (up 2.7% points) following another RBA interest rate increase. However, a potential RBA interest rate increase will hit hardest in Queensland and would mean 26.8% of mortgage holders are ‘At Risk’ – an increase of 3.2% points. Overall, 17.1% of mortgage holders are ‘Extremely At Risk’, and this will increase by 2.4% points to 19.5% if the Reserve Bank increases interest rates in March (947,000 mortgage holders).

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA

AI leads Australian start-ups’ $5b funding boom

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Original article by Tess Bennett
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 15 : 3-Feb-26

Funding for Australian technology start-ups increased by $1 billion to $5.1 billion last year, according to the State of Australian Start-up Funding report. Investments linked to artificial intelligence dominated funding, with 61 per cent going to start-ups using AI in their product offerings, while the 20 biggest deals accounted for 58 per cent of the total capital deployed. Commenting on the 2025 figures, Airtree Ventures partner James Cameron said VC sentiment was "buoyant" again after a subdued couple of years, while diversity among funded start-ups still remains a major issue; all-female founding teams received just two per cent of total capital invested in 2025

CORPORATES
AIRTREE VENTURES PTY LTD

Risk of mortgage stress drops to lowest for three years, but rising inflation poses a risk of interest rates heading up in 2026

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 29-Jan-26

New research from Roy Morgan shows that 24.5% of mortgage holders were ‘At Risk’ of ‘mortgage stress’ in the three months to December 2025, down 3.4% points from August. This is the lowest proportion of mortgage holders ‘At Risk’ of ‘mortgage stress’ since January 2023. The number of Australians ‘At Risk’ of mortgage stress has increased by 380,000 since May 2022, when the Reserve Bank of Australia began a cycle of interest rate increases. Meanwhile, the number of Australians considered to be ‘Extremely At Risk’ of mortgage stress is now numbered at 830,000 (17.1% of mortgage holders); this is just above the long-term average over the last two decades of 16.3%. These are the latest findings from Roy Morgan’s Single Source Survey, based on in-depth interviews conducted with over 60,000 Australians each year, including over 10,000 owner-occupied mortgage-holders.

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ROY MORGAN LIMITEDRESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA

Big four banks cash in on zero interest

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Original article by Max Aitchison
The Australian – Page: 13 & 14 : 21-Jan-26

Analysis by Jarden shows that customers of Australia’s four major banks hold a combined $320bn in transaction and business accounts that do not pay any interest. This equates to about 10 per cent of each of the four major banks’ total deposits, and nearly 20 per cent of the estimated $1.7trn in deposits held by all of the nation’s lenders. Jarden’s analysis also shows that the four big banks’ implied earnings from zero-interest accounts have risen sharply in recent years. Matt Wilson from Jarden says the major banks have benefited from customer loyalty and inertia in recent years; he adds that this may change in 2026, and customers may begin seeking better deals for their bank deposits.

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JARDEN GROUP LIMITED

Big four banks slammed over deposit deception for savings

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Original article by Max Aitchison
The Australian – Page: 13 & 14 : 20-Jan-26

Research published in 2023 showed that two-thirds of customers at Australia’s four major banks are not earning the maxium interest rate on savings accounts that offer bonus rates. Data released by National Australia in response to a written request from Liberal MP Aaron Violi shows that this situation has not changed since then; NAB revealed that only 34 per cent of customers with a Reward Saver account earned the advertised bonus interest rate of 4.15 per cent in the last six months. Violi has called for an end to this ‘deposit deception’ and contends that all banks should be more transparent and remove hurdles to ensure that the majority of customers with such accounts can earn the maximum bonus interest rate.

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NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB

Festive shoppers left with $90bn debt hangover

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Original article by Cameron Micallef
The Australian – Page: 20 : 7-Jan-26

Australians’ credit card debt has increased every January since 2015. Canstar’s analysis of credit card data from the Reserve Bank suggests that consumers are likely to have spent about $86.8bn using credit cards since the start of November; based on trends over the last five years, an additional $28.9bn is likely to be spent using credit cards for the full month of January. Meanwhile, it is estimated that Australians now pay a combined $9.4m in credit card interest charges each day. Canstar notes that interest-free periods may be much shorter than the advertised length, depending on whether a purchase was made near the end of a card-holder’s billing cycle.

CORPORATES
CANSTAR PTY LTD, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA