News

For the third year running, The Mutual Bank’s Budget Home Loan* has won a Mozo Experts Choice Home Loan Award in the coveted Low-Cost Home Loan category. The Mozo Experts Choice Awards have been helping consumers make informed purchase decisions for over a decade, with their extensive award selection process evaluating thousands of products. The Mutual Bank’s CEO, Mark Williams, said the triple win for the Budget Home Loan was fantastic news for the Hunter-based bank. “Our commitment to offering competitive products and making our Members’ mortgage journey more manageable has been recognised for the third year with a win in these awards, and that recognition highlights our dedication to helping people thrive,” he said. “We know people are always looking for better value products and services, particularly given the cost-of-living pressures.  Our Budget Home Loan has been consistently popular with home buyers looking for a no-frills home loan with a low, variable interest rate that is complemented by personalised and attentive service.” AJ Duncanson, Data Director and Mozo Experts Choice Awards Judge said The Mozo Experts Choice Home Loan Awards for 2025 help Aussie consumers cut through the noise and identify great value options. “The Mutual Bank’s Budget Home Loan stood out for its combination of a low interest rate and the fact it has no application fee and no monthly or annual service fee - features that can make a real difference to borrowers looking to keep costs down,” he said. Mozo considered thousands of rate variants across 444 home loans from 97 lenders.  For the Low Cost Home Loan category, the Mozo judges assessed variable rate loans for owner-occupier borrowers making principal and interest repayments, identifying these as the lowest cost for several different loan-to-value ratios. More information about the Mozo Experts Choice Awards and the full list of winners here. *The Mozo Experts Choice Low Cost Home Loan award was awarded to The Mutual Bank’s Budget Home Loan Special Variable Rate for owner-occupied loans with ≤80% LVR and Principal and Interest repayments. Eligibility and lending criteria, terms, conditions, fees, and charges apply and are available on application.

The Mutual Bank is throwing its support behind a new campaign from the National Anti-Scam Centre to help Australians become more aware of scams. The Stop. Check. Protect campaign aims to educate the community about current scammer tactics, reminding us that anyone can be scammed, and for us not to be afraid to report a scam. The campaign launched on Sunday 19 January and asks us to take these three simple steps: Stop: Don’t give money or your information to anyone if unsure. Scammers will pretend to be from organisations you know and trust like businesses, the police, your bank or government services. They will offer to help you or ask you to verify your identity with them. Check: Ask yourself if the message or call is fake. Never click a link in a message. Only contact businesses or government using contact information that you find yourself from their official website or app. If you’re not sure, say ‘no’, hang up or delete. Protect: Act quickly if something feels wrong. Contact your bank if you notice unusual activity or if a scammer gets your money or information. Seek help and report the scam to Scamwatch. When you report scams, you help stop the scam and warn others. You can even find out how safe you are from scams and how to better protect yourself by taking a simple quiz: https://www.scamwatch.gov.au/scam-quiz.                    

As faster and more secure payment options have become available, more Australians are choosing alternative payment services to cheques. With cheque use in rapid decline, the Australian Government has announced that the cheque system in Australia will wind down no later than 2030. The Australian banking industry is now planning for this phase-out, with some banks and many merchants already no longer accepting cheques as a form of payment. We understand that ongoing changes in the payments landscape can be challenging for some Members, and we want to ensure you are provided with sufficient notice and support to adjust to a world without cheques. As a result of these changes to the Australian cheque system, The Mutual Bank will phase out cheques by 31 December 2025. We will be in contact with impacted Members to explain the phasing-out timelines and provide support with switching to the many alternative payment services available. We are here to help you navigate through this transition – please talk to our friendly Contact Centre Team on 1300 688 825 if we can assist you. You can learn more about the timeline and read our Frequently Asked Questions here.

Money mule scams are becoming more common in Australia, with criminals recruiting victims through job ads and romance offers. Money mules transfer the proceeds of crime – such as fraud or scams – into a third party’s bank account to hide them from authorities. Sometimes, unsuspecting victims get caught up in these scams because they’re disguised as an employment opportunity or even a new romance. Here’s how people get caught out and how you can help stop it from happening to you. How money mule scams work Money mules are intermediaries who act on behalf of other criminals, who are trying to launder or hide money derived from crime. To cover their tracks, money mules may try to recruit new people to get involved in the transfer of large sums of money. One common way of recruiting new people is under the guise of a legitimate employment opportunity, where the employee can earn sums of money quickly by making transfers. Another way involves a potential partner asking their online match to transfer money for them. Shielding yourself from a money mule scam These scams can be quite sophisticated, with fraudsters creating legitimate-looking email addresses and websites to reduce their chance of being detected; however, there are often red flags. The following tips may help: • The old adage ‘if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is’ applies when it comes to money mule scams. Beware of any offers of large sums of money for minimal or easy work. • If you’re offered a job, conduct research on the company, including their ABN, how long the company has been registered and who its director/owner is. Be extra wary of businesses that are listed overseas. • Ask a trusted friend or family member for advice if something seems fishy. • Don’t send money to anyone you don’t know or have not met in person. • Protect your banking details and update your passwords periodically. • Always treat links in emails and text messages with caution. What to do if you think you’ve already been scammed: Immediate actions to take If you believe you’re the victim of a money mule scam, it’s important to report it to both the police and your bank as soon as possible. Call our Hunter-based Contact Centre Team during business hours on 1300 688 825. The sooner you contact us, the more likely it is we may be able to stop the transactions. However, some transactions – such as wire transfers – cannot be stopped. Money mule scams can involve identity theft. After you’ve spoken to us, consider contacting IDCARE – the national identity and cyber support service – on 1800 595 160. You can also report the scam to Scamwatch, the website run by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) to help consumers. Remember, The Mutual Bank may contact Members from time to time but: • We will never ask you for your full card details including your CVV. • We will never ask for your passwords, access codes or One Time Password. • We will never ask you to make a transaction on your account. • We will never ask you to download a program or request remote access to your device. Learn more about how we protect your account and information here. Report a suspected fraud here.

For the second year running, The Mutual Bank’s Budget Home Loan* has won a Mozo Experts Choice Home Loan Award in the Low Cost Home Loan award category. The win follows the news earlier this month that The Mutual Bank’s Budget Home Loan was named one of the best refinance home loans in the market with a 2024 RateCity Gold Award. The Mozo Experts Choice Awards have been helping consumers make informed purchase decisions for the past 10 years and their extensive award selection process evaluates thousands of products. For the Low Cost Home Loan category the Mozo judges assessed 270 variable rate loans for owner-occupier borrowers, making principal and interest repayments, and identified these as the lowest cost for several different loan-to-value ratios. The Mutual Bank’s CEO, Mark Williams, said the double win for the Budget Home Loan was fantastic news for the Hunter-based bank. “Our commitment to offer competitive products has been recognised with these two awards, and that recognition highlights our commitment to helping people thrive,” he said. “We know the cost-of-living pressure means people are looking to trim their budgets where they can, and our Budget Home Loan has been consistently popular with home buyers looking for a no-frills home loan with a low, variable interest rate.” Mozo Experts Choice Awards Judge Peter Marshall said when it comes to choosing a home loan, key factors that people look for are competitive rates, low fees and a lender they can trust. “The Mutual Bank has demonstrated that it delivers on all three fronts,” he said. “This is the second year running that the Budget Home Loan has taken out a coveted award in the low cost home loan category, and is to be congratulated on this achievement. “These awards were designed to showcase the products in the market that deliver best value and The Mutual Bank is a great example of a small member-owned challenger competing with the big guys.” * The Mozo Experts Choice Low Cost Home Loan award was awarded to The Mutual Bank’s Budget Home Loan Special Variable Rate for owner occupied loans with ≤80% LVR and Principal and Interest repayments. Eligibility and lending criteria, terms, conditions, fees and charges apply and are available on application.  

Alongside our commitment to local sport, The Mutual Bank has partnered with high profile professional rugby league players Hannah and Jesse Southwell. The Southwell sisters, born and raised in the Hunter, who played their junior rugby league with the Kotara Bears, are both contracted to the Newcastle Knights for the next five years. Hannah is a NSW and Australian rugby league representative and has also represented Australia in rugby sevens as well as playing elite-level soccer. Jesse collected a Commonwealth Games gold medal in rugby sevens before switching codes to rugby league and was named the NRLW Rookie of the Year in 2022. Chief Member Officer Matthew Dunnill said the partnership with the Southwell siblings is in addition to our earlier announcement of a partnership with Newcastle Knights player Sheridan Gallagher and aims to contribute to the momentum of raising the profile of women’s sport. “The Hunter really got behind The Matilda’s during their FIFA Women’s World Cup campaign and that was tremendous to see,” he said. “Women’s rugby league is an emerging sport with increasing participation and profile, and the back-to back premiership wins by the Newcastle Knights Women has certainly lifted the profile even more.” The Mutual Bank will run a campaign featuring some of the homegrown talent that we support, from grassroots clubs to stars, in sports from netball to triathlon and various codes of football. As a member-owned bank, our profits don’t go into the pockets of shareholders, but rather are invested back into better products and services and sponsorship of community organisations and initiatives. “We are excited to be supporting through sponsorship, the Maitland Pickers Rugby League Club’s first women’s team in the Newcastle Rugby league competition,” said Matthew. “That’s alongside our long-standing sponsorship of Maitland and District Netball Association and sponsorship of Maitland Touch Football Association, Maitland Triathlon Club and Maitland Football Club.” Keep an eye on our social media channels to see more of Hannah, Jesse and Sheridan along with the local community organisations backed by The Mutual Bank.