Login
ISCOVER
ING has reversed a number of the credit restrictions it imposed in response to COVID-19.
ING was one of a number of lenders that tightened their risk appetite in response to economic uncertainty amid the pandemic.
To continue reading the rest of this article, please log in.
Looking for more benefits? Become a Premium Member.
Create free account to get unlimited news articles and more!
Looking for more benefits? Become a Premium Member.
The new changes declared on Thursday (20 May) are effective immediately and include eased limits on self-employed borrowers and applicants working on a casual or contractual basis.
The bank has also slimmed down its list of COVID-impacted industries, with applicants in those sectors still triggering additional caution in their assessments.
The restricted sectors include accommodation, aviation, arts, hospitality, gambling, heavy engineering and civil engineering construction; libraries, archives, museums and other cultural activities; sports, amusement and recreation; and tourism.
For self-employed borrowers:
- Cash out will be permitted unless the individual’s self-employed income is from a COVID-19-impacted industry, as defined in ING’s list.
- Where an applicant’s income is from a COVID-hit industry, ING has said it will exercise caution in its assessment and may ask for additional documentation to further verify income.
For casual and contractor borrowers:
- Casual and contractor income will be assessed for serviceability unless the applicant is employed in a COVID-19-impacted industry.
- Where an applicant is employed in a COVID-hit industry, casual or contractor income can only be assessed as secondary income for owner-occupied loans. For investment loans, casual or contract income will not be serviceable.
Bonus, commission and overtime income will also now be assessed at 80 per cent, rebounding from the COVID restriction of 50 per cent. But where an applicant is employed in a COVID-impacted industry, only 50 per cent of their income will be assessed for servicing purposes.
On refinance applications, for loans with an LVR of up to 65 per cent, ING will no longer require upfront evidence of six months of repayment history for loans being refinanced to the bank.
However, there are no changes to ING’s residential mortgage rates.
Other lenders such as Westpac, Latitude and Pepper Money have also reverted to their pre-COVID policies.
JOIN THE DISCUSSION