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Non-major bank ING is rolling out a Home Energy Helper offering and a Green Upgrade Loan from next month.
ING Australia has announced that customers will soon be able to access new solutions and products to improve the energy efficiency of their homes.
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From December, ING customers will be able to source quotes from accredited green energy installers, see what rebates they may qualify for, assess the potential impact of their renovation on their energy bills and household emissions, and access a new Green Upgrade Loan (if they already have an ING home loan).
Under a new partnership with BOOM! Power, ING customers will be able to identify whether they could make cost and emissions savings by retrofitting their homes with green upgrades, such as solar panels or double glazing. The savings are calculated by estimating how much gas and electricity they currently use on an hour-by-hour basis and comparing that to use after energy upgrades are installed.
Customers in Victoria, NSW, and the ACT will be the first to access the Home Energy Helper, before it is rolled out nationally in early 2025.
Eligible ING home loan customers can then opt to apply for between $5,000 and $50,000 through ING’s new Green Upgrade Loan – a five-year fixed-rate loan with an interest rate of 3.74 per cent per annum (5.16 per cent p.a. comparison rate, based on a loan amount of $150,000 over a loan term of 25 years).
The loan is available through the broker channel.
In order to qualify, existing ING home loan customers must have:
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A property security in NSW, Victoria, or the ACT that does not exceed $2.5 million in value.
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A total balance of $150,000 or more left on their mortgage at the time of application.
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An active ING Orange Everyday account with the same name as their home loan.
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A total loan-to-value ratio (LVR) of the existing ING home loan and the new Green Upgrade Loan of 80 per cent or less once the Green Upgrade Loan has been settled.
Speaking of the new green offerings, ING Australia CEO Melanie Evans said: “Household emissions are one of the biggest contributors to Australia’s carbon footprint, which is why ING, together with BOOM! Power, are helping customers to make improvements to their home to try to reduce their household emissions.
“We know that Australians find renovating their home for energy efficiency complex, costly and time consuming. The Home Energy Helper and Green Upgrade Loan aims to remove the complexities and barriers that are stopping people from making their homes more energy efficient.”
Foreshadowing the launch of the new green loan when speaking at The Adviser’s Non-Major Bank Roundtable earlier this year, George Thompson, ING’s head of mortgages, said: “ESG is also centre of our strategy now and moving forward. Collectively, households are among the greatest contributors of carbon emissions. We see it as our societal role to not only help customers understand the emissions that are being generated from their home, but also help customer[s] reduce them.
“So, we are developing mortgage products in this space.”
ING has said that the low rate of the Green Upgrade Loan has been made possible due to funding from the Clean Energy Finance Corporation’s (CEFC) $1 billion Household Energy Upgrades Fund™ (HEUF™).
Under a memorandum of understanding (MOU) signed by both parties, the CEFC will consider investing up to $75 million to support the Green Upgrade Loan.
ING is the latest lender to launch a green energy upgrade loan, with several others – including Westpac – having also released CEFC-backed offerings in the last year.
CEFC has also partnered with non-bank lenders, such as Metro and Firstmac, to offer green vehicle loans, too.
CEFC CEO Ian Learmonth said: “Helping households lower their carbon footprint is a critical factor in achieving net zero emissions by 2050.
“Our work crowding in additional private capital through the HEUF will help deliver a catalytic outcome, providing low-cost financing together with a range of co-financiers for home upgrades that improve energy performance.”
[Related: Rub of the green]
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