The Commonwealth Bank of Australia has launched a new financing option for businesses looking to purchase ‘green’ vehicles, equipment and machinery, with the goal of supporting companies with their sustainability goals. It’s joining other large banks (such as NAB and Westpac) in offering this kind of thing to both individuals and businesses. So – what ‘ green’ financing loans do the banks offer for electric vehicles and sustainable tech?
Last year, Bank Australia made headlines with its plan to only offer car loans for electric vehicles from 2025. It’s an ambitious policy, especially considering that electric vehicle are still quite inaccessible to most people due to their high prices, but notable nonetheless.
With most Aussies banking with the big four though, do these banks offer financing solutions that directly incentivise buying electric vehicles or solar panels? Yeah, they absolutely do – but they’re each quite different from eachother.
Let’s go through the green loans of offer from the big four banks. If you reckon we’ve missed something, give us a hoot.
CommBank green loans
Kicking things off, CommBank offers green loans, allowing customers to borrow between $4,000 and $100,000 to go towards the purchase of electric vehicles, hybrids, solar panels, battery systems, solar hot water systems, heat pump systems or electric vehicle charging stations. Specific plans apply to some purchases, including a 1.99 per cent fixed interest rate for the above products (excluding EVs and hybrids).
Keep in mind that for personal loans, only a Clean Energy Council-approved retailer or installer can install eligible solar panels, inverters and battery packs.
For EVs and hybrids specifically, a discounted interest rate is applied at 5.49 per cent per annum at the time of writing (typically 5.99 – 11.99 per cent for ICE vehicles), with customers able to repay the money over between one and seven years.
Meanwhile, the green financing plan for businesses offers discounts “Of up to 1 per cent off the standard rate for new and used electric or hydrogen-powered cars, trucks, vans or buses valued up to $250,000, and discounts of up to 0.5 per cent on other qualifying assets including electric and hydrogen-powered machinery, solar, wind and hydro-powered equipment and charging and storage equipment.”
Westpac green loans
Westpac offers green loans to both individuals and customers, offering fixed-rate discounts for sustainable purchases. For solar panels and batteries, a loan period of between one and seven years is offered, with a fixed interest rate of between 7.99 per cent and 17.49 per cent per annum. Loans can vary from between $4,000 and $50,000.
Meanwhile, for new or used electric vehicles or hybrids, a fixed rate of between 4.99 per cent and 9.99 per cent is available (while ICE vehicle interest rates range from between 5.99 per cent and 10.99 per cent), with the potential to borrow between $10,000 and $100,000 over one to seven years.
Westpac doesn’t have any specific green loans listed for businesses, but it is open to receiving expressions of interest from businesses trying to secure green loans.
NAB green loans
NAB bank offers ‘green’ tech loans for things like solar panels and electric vehicles, however, they’re not coupled to a discount – instead, they come with extra perks, such as no penalties or exit fees, flexible borrowing terms, extra funds redrawing and no asset requirements.
NAB offers loans of between $5,000 and up to $55,000 on green technology (with an interest rate of 6.99 per cent to 19.99 per cent per annum). Solar panel systems, batteries, EVs and hybrids (and chargers), and energy-efficient appliances can be purchased with this loan, to be paid back over between one and seven years.
Business customers can apply for a green loan on a fixed rate of 6.79 per cent. This covers electric vehicles and hybrids, solar technology, LED lighting and other sustainable technologies.
ANZ green loans
At the time of writing, ANZ doesn’t offer green personal loans to individuals. You won’t get a discounted rate for purchasing an electric vehicle with ANZ.
However, ANZ offers green business loans for electric vehicles and hybrids, renewable energy systems and energy-efficient tech, aimed at small to medium businesses. These loans include an interest rate of 5.95 per cent per annum (on the Business Green Loan floating interest rate) with loans of up to $3 million, depending on the number of purchases the business is making.
And that’s about it from the big four
It’s good to see the big four commit to financing plans like this and have a place in the green energy transition.
Making sustainable technology cheaper and therefore more accessible is an attractive prospect and it’s difficult to find a fault in.