Base rate cut, will we really feel it?

With the Bank of England making the dramatic move of a 1.5% base rate cut, everyone seems to be commenting on how this move should look to boost consumer and business confidence. Surely the only way that this will be of any boost to the consumer is if we have this cut passed on to us? Otherwise the businesses will surely just get a little extra?

I saw that Lloyds TSB and Cheltenham & Gloucester promised to fully pass this on. Have there been any others? Otherwise why should consumer confidence increase?

Well, it looks like HSBC are also intending to pass the rate on, apparently 97% of their mortgage customers will see their mortgage rate fall.

According to Paul Thurston, Managing Director forHSBC Bank plc ; "HSBC will be passing on the base rate change to the vast majority of our mortgage customers. Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) customers whose borrowings are linked to the bank base rate will also see their rates reduce by the full 1.5%."

Following the MPC decision to lower the Bank of England base rate, HSBC will now review all its savings rates.

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According to the BBC it looks like Gordon Brown has put Mr Darling on the case. Apparently he is thought to have breakfasted with Abbey, Barclays, HBOS, HSBC, Lloyds TSB, Nationwide, Royal Bank of Scotland and Standard Chartered.  With Gordons "We are determined to get banks to resume lending" ringing in his ears.

Meanwhile David Cameron has said that all banks bailed out by the government should be forced to pass on the cut as well as other lenders, although whether this will happen or not seems to depend on the lenders monitoring of the Interbank offered rate. So we keep waiting...

Some more have joined the trend - NatWest and RBS today announced that its Standard Variable Rate mortgages will be cut by 1.50 per cent from 6.69 per cent to 5.19 per cent. The rate change is effective from 1 December 2008 for existing customers.

So perhaps after today's change in the Interbank offer rate we will see even more