Just like you can't buy a generic car, you can legislate a generic mortgage.
Hi Jim
You want to drive an automatic top of the range car with a brand name because you like driving and do a lot of it and often have family members in it. It's great that you have a choice of lots of different cars, brands, fuel systems, colours etc.
I drive 5,000 km a year and am happy with a reliable small car. Even then, I have a choice of colours, models , etc.
But money is fungible.
The €200,000 I borrow from Bank of Ireland is exactly the same €200,000 I borrow from AIB
The only difference is the price. The banks will complicate this as much as possible to confuse me and charge me a higher price.
We tell lenders
If you provide a product to new customers, you must provide the same product to existing customers who meet those criteria.
You cannot offer cash back as an inducement.
Most of our lenders operate like that anyway. Most mortgage lenders operate on that basis in other countries.
So I doubt it would put off any overseas lenders or investors.
In fact, I think it would encourage them. Because at the moment the fair lenders are losing market share to the likes of Bank of Ireland and ptsb who dazzle customers with cash back.
We have very strict regulation of car manufacturing. Safety standards, emission standards, etc. But that has not stopped companies entering the market.
Brendan