"How can I help you today?"

"I just want us to have a look at our accounts and make sure they are still the best ones for me. Let's start with the mortgage. Is there a more flexible mortgage with fewer fees? I am seeing a lot of them advertised right now."

Your bank manager will be more than helpful, making sure that you have the mortgage that best suits to your needs. Some people may need easy redraw, or a fixed interest rate, or fortnightly repayments. In our case, we wanted maximum flexibility to make extra repayments and no monthly fees.

"No problem" says the bank manager. Now here's the kicker. You ask... 

"What is the best interest rate we can get on that?"

Your banker at this point may smile wryly at you. It may seem brazen to put the squeeze on your banker, but the reality is that the mortgage market is massively competitive, and if your bank won't compete on interest rates, there are plenty of competitors that will.

We did this recently and the bank manager came to the party, reducing our already competetive interest rate. When you are done your banker will ask...

"Is there anything else?" To which you reply...  

"Yes there is. What is the interest rate on my credit card at the moment?"

Rinse and repeat.

That it pretty much an exact account of the conversation we had with our banker just recently, and it worked. We reduced our mortgage interest rate by 0.7% and our credit card interest rate by 4%! I have to admit it was my wife that did all of the talking (she is quite an attack dog), I glad she did though, because it has saved us $2000 per year. 

It works Dads, and it costs nothing to try. If you don't ask, you don't get.

Good luck, and let us know if you have a win.