Amid increasing bank competition, St.George Bank has slashed its two-year, fixed packaged home loan to 6.99 per cent per annum.The Westpac-owned bank today announced it would increase its Advantage Package discount from the normal 0.15 to 0.25 per cent p.a.

The offer applies for new St.George two-year Fixed Rate Advantage Package loans of $150,000 or more, for applications from today until 20 June 2011 and is available for new and existing customers.

St.George Bank Chief Executive, Rob Chapman, said the special offer fixed home loan rate is the bank’s response to rising costs of living.

“Our customers are telling us that they are concerned about rising costs of living and managing their budgets, so we’ve listened to their concerns and provided an attractive fixed rate home loan offer which offers customers the certainty of knowing exactly how much their mortgage repayments will be each month,” Mr Chapman said.

“This competitive 2 year packaged fixed rate now represents even better value for money for customers seeking greater interest rate certainty.
St.George’s move follows National Australia Bank Ltd (ASX:NAB)’s announcement of selling discounted mortgages online on Monday. NAB is offering until the end of this month an online-exclusive standard variable mortgage rate of 6.59 per cent, which is more than 1 per cent lower than most competitors.