Top 3 ASX Banking Stocks to Benefit from Interest Rate Hikes

Following are the banks which, with benefit from interest rate hikes, are supported by strong fundamentals and solid recent results.

Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA)

Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA) is one of the largest bank stocks listed on the ASX, with a market capitalization of $252.40 billion and a current annual fully franked dividend yield of 3.34%.

CBA announced on 16 September 2026 that it had issued US$1.25 billion worth of subordinated notes under the CBA US$50 billion senior and subordinated medium-term note program.

The bank had also announced its 2026 Notice of Annual General Meeting on 10 September 2026.

CBA's operating income grew 6% year-over-year to $30.2 billion, with a net interest margin of 2.05%. The group's cash NPAT increased 7% year-over-year to $10.98 billion, with Retail Banking Services contributing the most at $5.58 billion.

Statutory NPAT also grew 8% year-over-year to $10.91 billion.

CBA declared a fully franked dividend of $5.05 per share.

National Australia Bank Limited (ASX: NAB)

National Australia Bank Limited (ASX: NAB) is one of the leading bank stocks listed on the ASX, with a market capitalization of $120.14 billion and an annual fully franked dividend yield of 4.41%.

NAB announced on 14 September 2026 that it had issued JPY15 billion subordinated fixed reset notes due September 2036. The notes have an initial interest rate of 3.19% per annum, payable semi-annually in arrears on each interest payment date up to the reset date.

On 17 August 2026, NAB announced its third-quarter trading update for the period ended June 2026.

Net operating income grew 5% year-over-year to $5.5 billion, while underlying profit grew 30% compared with 1H26 and 6% year-over-year to $2.9 billion.

Cash earnings grew 39% compared with 1H26 to $1.8 billion, while statutory net profit also rose 32% from 1H26 to $1.8 billion.

The group's gross loans and acceptances reached $817 billion, while customer deposits reached $685 billion.

NAB reported a group Common Equity Tier 1 (CET1) ratio of 11.93%.

ANZ Group Holdings Limited (ASX: ANZ)

ANZ Group Holdings Limited (ASX: ANZ) is one of the leading bank stocks listed on the ASX, with a current market capitalisation of $114.12 billion and a current annual partly franked dividend yield of 4.38%.

ANZ announced its third-quarter results on 13 August 2026 for the period ended June 2026.

Operating income increased 2% year-over-year on a constant currency basis to $5.6 billion, while cash profit grew 2% year-over-year to $1.90 billion.

ANZ Group reported a statutory profit of $1.95 billion.

The cash-to-income ratio reached 49.66%, while cash return on tangible equity reached 11.54%. Reported cash return on equity was 10.65%.

Net loans and advances reached $846 billion, while customer deposits increased to $786 billion.

The APRA Level 2 CET1 ratio increased by 57 basis points year-over-year to 12.51%.

Conclusion

When interest rates increase, banks generally start increasing their adjustable loan interest rates immediately, while they do not change the interest rate on deposits immediately.

This can increase the net interest margin and interest income of banks, which ultimately helps banks take advantage of interest rate hikes.

CBA will get the most benefit from interest rate hikes, as it has the highest net interest margin among these three banks.