Some would consider it discrimination…and in a way, they’d be right. It seems banks are taking the old adage; “Never work with children or animals” – on board and slashing the amount they’ll lend to couples with children as opposed to childless applicants.

It’s not that the banks don’t like kids, it’s just that new legislation introduced as at January 1st this year dictates that banks must practice “responsible lending”. In other words, they have to do everything in their power to ensure borrowers have the capacity to meet their monthly repayments.

Borrowers prayers have been answered yet again this month as the Reserve Bank decided to keep the official cash rate on hold at 4.75% – where it’s been since November last year when horror of horrors, it jumped by a quarter of a percentage point.

This increase fueled speculation that soon we would be making enormous monthly repayments as the RBA moved to keep inflation in check in the wake of an impending and unprecedented resources boom, hiking rates up goodness knows how many times between that fated Melbourne Cup Day and Christmas 2011.

Borrowers are being bombarded every which way right now by the apparent new-found generosity of corporate big-wigs who are in the business of selling money. The banks are at war, but it’s those with mortgages who stand to become the forgotten casualties in this epic battle between good and evil…errr…maybe that’s between evil and the lesser of two evils?

At the moment, you can barely turn the page of a newspaper or flick the TV on without being assailed by another offer from some lender or another. Ironic really, considering not long ago (in the wake of the GFC when terror regarding lending practices reined supreme), you virtually had to sell your soul to secure a loan from these gun shy institutions.

While the Reserve Bank of Australia became the enemy of many borrowers early last year, hitting mortgage holders with a number of consecutive rate rises before taking a short breather, only to then slug us again in November, the true boogeyman in the closet was the banks.

Just before Christmas they decided to get into the spirit – of bumping up profits that is – and make a move on their own retail rates independent of the RBA. Mind you, while this rather unwelcome gift was widely publicised and just as widely vilified, the fact that it was the icing on an overall 1% increase on top of any official rate rises that the banks slyly snuck in over the course of the previous 24 months went largely unmentioned.