Term deposits and savings thread

[Plonk 3]

Citibank Online saver @ 6.01% for 6 months:

http://www.citibank.com.au/AUGCB/APPS/portal/loadPage.do?path=/prod/det/deposits_onlinesaver.htm&tabId=Deposits

Looks like it's a guaranteed rate too, for those 6 months (guaranteed not to go down, I mean).

Citibank have been great at leading these accounts in interest rates. This rate is now .16% over UBank's 5.85%.

[Plonk 3]

Article about how UBank has given nothing post-April rate rise, but has reduced its 6 month TD rate. Way to go, UBank!

http://www.infochoice.com.au/banking/savings-account/news/ubank-savings-rates-fall-back-in-line/38110/2/26,42,43,14

On the other hand, UBank has reinstated a form of rate assurance- honeymoon rates not included- they were in the last rate assurance:

https://www.ubank.com.au/ub/web/usaver/online-savings-rate-assurance

They giveth, they taketh away.

[sydney3000 17]

They giveth, they taketh away.

If UBank is so horrible, why didn't you post a competitor offer which beats UBank instead?

Edited April 18, 2010 by sydney3000

[Plonk 3]

I thought I did- citibank offer above yours and my posts- 6.01% at-call, rate kept for 6 months.

Then we have AMP Easysaver @ 6%, Bankwest Regular Saver @ 6%- rate kept until June, ING Direct @ 6% - rate kept for 4 months, St George Direct Saver @ 6%- rate kept for 4 months, Westpac reward saver @ 5.95%, Hunter United Premium online investor Account @ 5.88%.

http://www.infochoice.com.au/banking/savings-account/list.aspx (untick "show sponsored listing first" to get the entire range as above).

The thing is, people baulk at honeymoon/intro rates with savings accounts, but there is also a danger with UBank's fully variable rate, that it has no guarantee of remaining at that rate even tomorrow, whereas with the honeymoon rates, at least it is going to be at the higher level for 4 or 6 months.

I have my money with UBank, but their rate is beginning to look a bit ordinary. I can't find the person's quote now, but a Facebook person said UBank had passed on something like .36% of the last 1% of OCR rises.

Anyhoo, this thread is about keeping abreast of savings rates. Feel free to update it yourself, sydney3000, if you come upon good rates.

[Mr Medved 44]

In a rising IR limate, it's probably a risk-free strategy.

Nothing is risk free, particularly term deposits with a maturity of 5-10 years.

[hamish 14]

NAB spokesperson wrote in an email that “whilst rate remains very important to our customers, product functionality, service and ease of application remains critical.” UBank also shaved 10 basis points off its six-month term deposit over the last week.

No, interest rate is the most important factor. Ease of use is nice, but I'm happy to sacrifice some bells and whistles for a better rate. It's the reason i moved my money there in the first place.

Does anybody know if you get penalised for jumping from intro rate to intro rate between various banks. Like putting your money into say ING and getting 6% for 4 months, then swapping to whoever else is running the best rate at that time?

I note that Rabo is offering 6.31% on 180 day term deposits.

[Plonk 3]

Nothing is risk free, particularly term deposits with a maturity of 5-10 years.

In that post, I was referring to tor's notion/practice of several rolling short-term deposits. I should have changed paragraphs for my next sentence relating to 5-year TD's.

[Plonk 3]

No, interest rate is the most important factor. Ease of use is nice, but I'm happy to sacrifice some bells and whistles for a better rate. It's the reason i moved my money there in the first place.

Yes. UBank is currently finding out that Twitter and Facebook BFF's mean nothing- people care only about rates and terms. Some people have around enough to purchase a property outright or invest in other assets- they're hardly going to care about UBank on Twitter.

Does anybody know if you get penalised for jumping from intro rate to intro rate between various banks. Like putting your money into say ING and getting 6% for 4 months, then swapping to whoever else is running the best rate at that time?

No penalty, hamish- except for some lost interest during the interaction. For example, UBank has about a 1 day delay between shifting money to another bank transaction account, so check with them that the delay won't be too much. You'd have to get approval from them to be able to shift more than a certain amount a day.

I found this great little trick- it might mean you don't lose anythinhg in the transaction- money for free! There's a service called moneybackco: http://www.moneybackco.com.au/ You can apply for a St George account through them (I think SG is the only one on their database, but I may be wrong). The site (clearly paid by St George) gives you $50 to open the account through the site. You pay $10 to join (taken from your earnings- not paid upfront), and can get cashback on loads of stuff. So, you get $40 cash to get the St George account that pays higher than UBank. Just noting what you get, though, by changing banks- I did a little post on CC about it- if you moved your cash to Citibank's 6.01% account, you would be getting 33c a week more than UBank's 5.85%- on each 10k:

http://www.creditcrunch.co.uk/forum/index.php?s=&showtopic=1859&view=findpost&p=65807

The only problem that I can see on rate changing for each good rate is that if one of the banks gave a really great rate later on, we wouldn't be eligible for it, because many of them have a "new customers only" clause, and if you've ever had an account with them, you may not get the new rate.

I note that Rabo is offering 6.31% on 180 day term deposits.

Yes, it's a good rate, but simple interest. If you have a large amount of savings, compound interest is brilliant. It's whay makes the FHSA account so attractive- not the 17% govt contribution, but the compound interest over time. The beauty of that one, of course, is that it can't have withdrawals made- only deposits, so the compound interest works. I was feeling tempted by the Rabo 6.31%, but most of the providers have actually given more with the most recent IR rise. There's still 1, 2, or 3 X .25% rises expected before year's end. I am not sure Rabo's figure will look so attractive in 6 months. TD's are always a risk. 7%-8% over 6 months would be nice It wasn't too long ago that we had those rates- can't be long now.

[Darth Vader 2]

If anyone is prepared to put money in citibank then your a braver man than I. Three points. One. It's one thing to hypothetically look at the rates of different banks and quite another to hand over to them several hundred thousand dollars. Be careful in these times who you entrust your money with as it's awful hard to earn and save it. Two. For amounts above 300k (500k for CBA) you negotiate your own rate. Three. Citibank is a stool pigeon and will be the first to go under.

Edited April 19, 2010 by Darth Vader

[Plonk 3]

Does anybody know if you get penalised for jumping from intro rate to intro rate between various banks. Like putting your money into say ING and getting 6% for 4 months, then swapping to whoever else is running the best rate at that time?

Hey hamish- just moving back to this, a bloke did an analysis way better than I could ever do. He's one of those boffin types, clearly, who can analyse a deal and the implications of it. This time, he looked at ING Direct's 6% rate vs UBank's rate if/when switching. The whole thread is worth a read, but the guy called "foundit" has a standout post.

By the way, for anyone else who is interested, ozbargains is an awesome site. They analyse bargains across australia- if there are any ripoffs, they're right onto it (their analysis of a pay day loans scheme was thorough and political in a social justice sense. The site is great for the frugal.

hamish- for you:

http://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/24432

[tux 4]

Hey hamish- just moving back to this, a bloke did an analysis way better than I could ever do. He's one of those boffin types, clearly, who can analyse a deal and the implications of it. This time, he looked at ING Direct's 6% rate vs UBank's rate if/when switching. The whole thread is worth a read, but the guy called "foundit" has a standout post.

Yes, need about .25% difference and a term of 90 days or more to gain anything worthwhile, this is regardless of the size of the deposit for the reasons that 'foundit' states, a couple of days loss of interest takes time to recoup at < .25%.

[spark 3]

UBank sucks!

Got an email from them:

To be eligible for the Savings Bonus you'll need to have a single or joint USaver account with an ASP depositing $200 or more per month AND a total account balance of less than $200,000 per customer (This balance includes a combination of your accounts, including joint accounts).

The bastards don't need the cash, so will move it to STG or ING at 6%, or maybe will give in and buy a house...

Edited April 25, 2010 by spark

[sydney3000 17]

You do realise UBank is doing you a favour? They are sending you the message to not have all your eggs in one basket.

In the same sense they don't want their entire savings book heavily dependent on a small amount of savers. UBank likes a lot of cash by a lot of independent and unrelated people because it reduces volatility in their total cash holdings.

Edited April 25, 2010 by sydney3000

[Mr Medved 44]

Make sure you icesave you money with Ubank!

[urchin 6]

Rabo - 6.4% on new savings now. applies to existing customers as well but only on amounts above their may 20 balance. "normal" ($200 added in a month) rate is 6%

[Plonk 3]

Thanks, urchin. The RaboDirect account- for new customers- requires no savings plan either, so it's better than UBank, really, in not feeling like one is taking out some kind of long term contract with a bank and needing to add money each week to get a higher rate. It also has no maximum deposit (UBank only allows 200k to get the higher rate. If a person has >200k, the whole balance- even that under 200k- gets 5.85%) Here's the link to RaboDirect (it pays 6.4% until the end of 2010):

http://www.rabodirect.com.au/savings/high_interest_savings/default.aspx?wt.mc_id=AU00419

As mentioned, UBank has increased their savings bonus. They now pay 6.21% if one creates a automatic savings plan of $200/month. Take anything close to 200k out of the account (and put it into Rabo?) because if you even have $1 over 200k, your entire amount will only earn 5.85% (as in, you won't be entitled to the savings bonus at all). The link to UBank:

https://www.ubank.com.au/ub/web/home

[sydney3000 17]

not feeling like one is taking out some kind of long term contract with a bank and needing to add money each week to get a higher rate

I agree but I also dislike one cash amount being given one return and another cash amount being given another return. I couldn't be bothered to move money all the time because competitors keep one-upping themselves with these temporary rewards. I decide based on the base rate across the first $20,000.

[Plonk 3]

Making banks give you more money (from about halfway down the page):

http://www.creditcrunch.co.uk/forum/index.php?showtopic=1859&pid=83353&st=400entry83353

Savers might be able to get UBank to match Rabo. UBank is looking a bit generous right now so it might be worth a go.

[Bernard L. Madoff 14]

The GFC is over, China is booming, invest in bricks and mortar.

Safe as houses!!!!!

[Solomon 33]

The GFC is over, China is booming, invest in bricks and mortar.

Safe as houses!!!!!

The GFC is over??? YEEEAAY!!!

Bernie you're doing it again.

Invest in ponzi schemes - they only work in booms....

"Multiplication - its the name of the game."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hfjm7yPObMU

Edited June 3, 2010 by Solomon

[Solomon 33]

Should I come out of cash now - Bernard?

[Bernard L. Madoff 14]

Should I come out of cash now - Bernard?

To buy ammo, canned soup, vegetable seeds, precious metals?

[tor 99]

To buy ammo, canned soup, vegetable seeds, precious metals?

ammo is a bad idea, doesn't keep well and you run out of it. Instead buy swords and sharpening stones.

Except of course anyone that is paranoid and somehow has a faint sense of reality is buying f*cking sidchrome by the 12 tier load and burying that at easily identifiable locations _without_ GPS.

Ammo is relatively easy to make (check the japanese making black powder in the second world war) dropped forged tools are not. You can learn to use the tools after the collapse of civilisation but you can't get the tools then.

[Bernard L. Madoff 14]

If you are running crap old ammo best you have an AK too, may I add.

[Bernard L. Madoff 14]

Instead buy swords and sharpening stones.

Saw this the other day on an Aeroplane (Mad Max meets Samurai meets Archangel Gabriel)...

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1037705/