National Australia Bank (ASX: NAB) says it will continue to waive the mortgage early exit fee because it is good for business.

NAB Group Executive Personal Banking Lisa Gray said today “what is good for customers is good for business.

A motion was introduced to the Australian Senate yesterday to disallow new mortgage exit fee regulations. The regulations would ban mortgage early exit fees across the industry.

NAB abolished mortgage early exit fees for all customers in late 2010.

“At NAB, we abolished mortgage early exit fees for existing and new customers in December. We call on all the other banks to do the same,” Ms Gray said.

“Of all the major banks, NAB has done the most to drive competition in the Australian banking industry, to give Australians a better deal.

“As well as abolishing mortgage early exit fees in December, we have been offering
Australians the lowest standard variable home loan rate of the major banks for two years this month. At NAB we know what’s good for our customers, is good for our business,” Ms Gray said.

Ms Gray said abolishing mortgage early exit fees was good for competition and gave bank customers looking for a fairer deal on their home loan more power to walk down the road and get a better rate.

The bank said its customers continue to save up to $47 a month on an average $300,000 variable rate home loan compared to the other major banks.

Gavin Slater becomes director of BNZ board

In a separate statement, NAB announced today that Gavin Slater has been appointed as a Director of the Bank of New Zealand Board. The appointment follows Michael Ullmer’s retirement from the Board and is subject to final approval from the Reserve Bank of New Zealand.

NAB CEO, Cameron Clyne said Gavin brings strong leadership skills across a number of different areas and has proven experience in prior board roles for the Group.

“Gavin’s appointment to the BNZ board demonstrates the quality and calibre of executives within the NAB Group.”

Mr Slater is currently NAB Group Executive, Group Business Services where he is accountable for the Australian-based operations and service functions for the bank.

He is also responsible for critical enterprise transformation initiatives such as the Next Generation Program to upgrade NAB’s core banking systems and the upgrade to the technology infrastructure and network services.

Since joining NAB in 1999, Mr Slater has held a number of key executive positions including Chief Financial Officer for the Australian Bank, Group General Manager, and most recently, Executive Director (Deputy CEO) for NAB’s Clydesdale and Yorkshire Banks in the UK.