Smaller lenders – which write 20 per cent of mortgages – have opted to improve profit instead of market share by following the majors' rate hikes in varying degrees, citing capital imposts still well above the big banks.

Regional lender, Bank of Queensland, with roughly $35 billion in loans, and the country's biggest credit union, CUA, with about $11 billion, completed much of the rate change announcements for banks on Wednesday.