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Commonwealth Bank was this week charging 6.34 percent for a variable rate in Australia. File photo Photo: 123RF Do Australians get a better deal on their mortgage rates? If you're part of the small proportion of New Zealanders who prefer a floating rate, the answer is probably yes. But if you prefer a fix, it's probably no. Floating rates across the ditch are lower than what New Zealanders pay. While the cash rate is 4.35 percent, Commonwealth Bank was this week charging 6.34 percent for a variable rate and ANZ was advertising 7.4 percent. But fixed rates don't look so competitive. On Friday, Macquarie was offering a two-year rate of 5.39 percent for two years and Westpac 5.89 percent, while ANZ was offering 6.54 percent. In New Zealand this week, the cash rate was 5.25 percent and ASB ...

A man loads boxes onto an Armourguard truck. Photo: Armourguard / supplied The Commerce Commission has allowed a merger of two firms in the cash handling and transport sector, even though it will create a monopoly for the enlarged company. It has cleared Evergreen - which runs Armourguard Security - to take over rival ACM, a part of the Linfox Armaguard Group. Both firms transport cash and other precious goods (mainly for banks) restock automated teller machines and store bulk cash. Commission chairperson John Small said it had decided competition would not be substantially lessened, given the financial position of the businesses. "It is very likely that either Evergreen or ACM would cease to operate in the near future, resulting in a single national provider of wholesale cash-in-transi...

Photo: RNZ/Marika Khabazi TVNZ is lining up to buy new technology to help it sell more ads. The struggling broadcaster is planning to scrap its 1News website and invest more in TVNZ+, its on-demand platform. A tender seeking more information from the market about what it calls its 'Total TV' project closes on Tuesday. The project, to align and boost its advertising on both linear and on-demand TV, will 'transform' its capabilities, TVNZ said. It wants new technology to enable "realtime, cross-platform buying decisions and forecasting" and converged selling, optimisation and measurement of online and offline audiences for customers through a single transaction, according to a tender document. It is a significant commercial move for the company, whose revenue dropped $39m in the last finan...

Reserve Bank data shows while fixed-term rates have dropped significantly this year, floating rates have remained high. Photo: RNZ Kiwibank is cutting its floating home loan rates by 50 basis points, from 8.25 percent to 7.75 percent. The Reserve Bank will update the official cash rate tomorrow, and calls have been growing for a drop of 50 basis points, which would take the OCR to 4.75 percent. Its data shows that while fixed-term rates have dropped significantly this year, floating rates have remained high. Borrowers were taking out floating rates of 8.45 percent on average in September, compared to a peak of 8.6 percent. In comparison, the average one-year rate had dropped from a peak of 7.76 percent to 6.9 percent, and rates have fallen further since. Kiwibank chief customer officer ...