Customers navigate higher rates as Westpac backs housing and growth

Marina Karpathios
07:32am November 02 2026

Westpac says most Australians are continuing to navigate higher interest rates and cost-of-living pressures amid ongoing economic and geopolitical uncertainty.
 

Handing down Westpac’s full year result, CEO Anthony Miller acknowledged customers’ resilience, noting the current economic environment is “presenting challenges for many households and businesses, although impacts are uneven across the economy.”
 

Housing remains one of the key challenges for Australians, with supply shortages adding to affordability strain for buyers and renters.
 

Buyer activity softened as customers adjusted to higher interest rates and policy changes during the year, although Westpac said the slowdown remained consistent with previous cycles.
 

The bank has announced an enterprise-wide target to facilitate $100 billion in housing related lending by 2030. The focus is to support new housing supply, social and affordable housing, opportunities for renters and pathways to home ownership.
 

“Housing is one of Australia's most significant economic and social challenges and as a bank we have an important role to play,” Miller said.
 

The commitment comes as Westpac continues to grow across its core businesses, with Business lending up 12 per cent over the year and Institutional lending rising 18 per cent.
 

The bank’s total deposits increased to $766.2 billion while gross loans grew to $901.3 billion including $532 billion in Australian mortgages. Westpac is writing more mortgages through its own bankers, with first party origination increasing to 42 per cent for the Westpac brand.
 

Demand was particularly strong across agriculture, health, professional services, energy, infrastructure and resources.
 

“This year we’ve built momentum across the bank, delivering a solid result while investing in Westpac’s transformation,” Miller said.
 

“We’ve improved the customer experience, grown our core businesses and maintained a strong balance sheet.”
 

Miller reported a net profit excluding notable items of $7 billion for FY26, broadly in line with the previous year, with deposits increasing 6 per cent and lending growing 5 per cent.
 

Westpac ended the year with a CET1 capital ratio of 12.5 per cent, a measure of the financial buffer a bank holds to help it absorb unexpected losses. Expenses fell by 1 per cent while pre-provision profit was up 4 per cent. The Board declared a final dividend of 77 cents per share, fully franked, taking total dividends for the year to 154 cents per share.
 

Technology changes start reaching customers

 

Westpac also continued its investment in technology and the broader transformation of the bank, including several milestones under UNITE, a multi-year program to streamline technology systems.
 

Around 60,000 BT customers were migrated from Asgard to wealth management platform Panorama and the migration of Commercial Bank customers to Westpac also got underway.
 

Miller highlighted the ongoing investment in customer experience as a key priority for the bank.  More than 100,000 home loan appointments have been made through the online Book a Banker tool since February, in addition to further investment in digital onboarding and self-service.
 

Customer measures also improved during the year, with record increases in Consumer and Business Net Promoter Scores, while reported customer losses to scams fell 23 per cent.
 

Artificial intelligence is also becoming a bigger part of how the bank operates, with 95 per cent of employees using AI tools.
 

“AI is an important capability for the bank and the take-up by our people is outstanding,” Miller said.
 

“We know trust and literacy are critical. We’re investing in the foundations required to scale AI responsibly, while continuing focus on education for our people.”
 

Looking ahead, Miller said Westpac remained laser-focused on supporting customers, tipping interest rates to “remain elevated into 2027”.
 

”We have made good progress this year and I am confident in the opportunities ahead as we simplify and transform the bank.”

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