Co-op: No cuts to standard mortgage rate

Friday, 16 January 2009 12:00

The Co-operative Bank is not cutting its standard mortgage rate but has vowed to maintain savings rates at or above one per cent.

The decision, which comes in response to the Bank of England's 0.5 per cent cut to the base rate last week, has been made in a bid to "look after the interests of both savers and borrowers".

According to John Barker, head of retail liabilities at the Co-op, its customers who were saving outnumbered those who were borrowing.

He explained: "We have ten times the number of savers compared to mortgage borrowers, and we have a clear duty of care to also look after the interests of these customers too."

The Co-op said its main savings products, including its Cash ISA, would be maintained at or above one per cent with reductions made of up to 0.25 per cent.

This included, it said, cuts of 0.25 per cent on products which tracked the base rate.

Its mortgage standard variable would remain at 4.74 per cent.

Barker said the Co-op had consistently passed on interest rate reductions to its mortgage borrowers in the past.

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