NAB and ANZ are the latest Big Four banks to put their term deposit rates on the chopping block, less than a week after CommBank delivered substantial cuts.
And when the big leagues move, it's almost inevitable that smaller players will follow suit.
This week, several term deposit providers followed the downward trend, moving further away from the peaks reached earlier this year.
Just a couple of weeks ago, depositors could secure a 5.40% p.a. rate for one-year terms with G&C Mutual Bank, and a 5.30% p.a. rate for six-month terms at Heartland.
However, those days are gone (at least for now), as the highest rates for unconditional retail term deposits on both terms currently stand at 5.10% p.a., per the InfoChoice database.
That said, higher special offer rates are still offered by some banks, provided that you meet their specific criteria.
Interestingly, these latest moves come on the heels of recent statements of the RBA, where Governor Michele Bullock and the August meeting minutes indicated that a cash rate cut won't be happening anytime soon.
In response, some lenders have been dropping their fixed-rate home loans, with the latest noteworthy moves coming from Westpac and Macquarie.
While one might expect term deposit rates to rise, the reality over the past few weeks (especially this one) has been a downturn.
ING cuts term deposit rates
Following NAB and ANZ's Monday shocker, ING Bank has reduced its term deposit rates by up to 25 basis points.
ING, which holds nearly 2% of the total household deposits across Australia's authorised deposit-taking institutions (ADIs), applied these cuts to popular 6-month terms and less popular 11-month terms, as well as on its one- and two-year TDs.
Rates on the said term deposits remain at or above the 5.00% p.a. mark, save for the two-year terms that got the biggest cuts.
|
Term length |
New rate (change) |
Payment frequency |
|
6 Months |
5.05% p.a. (-5 bps) |
End of term |
|
11 Months |
5.10% p.a. (-10 bps) |
End of term |
|
1 Year |
5.00% p.a. (-5 bps) |
End of term |
|
2 Years |
4.50% p.a. (-25 bps) |
End of term |
The minimum deposit to get these rates is $10,000 and the maximum is $5 million.
AMP Bank slashes term deposit rates
AMP Bank kicked off this week by putting a wide range of term deposit products to the sword.
TDs with deposit sizes starting at $5,000 and topping at $24,999.99 are now below the 5.00% threshold.
AMP's current top rate is 4.97% for 10-month terms, followed by 4.95% p.a. for 5-month terms, both of which are less popular terms compared to 3, 6, 9, and 12 months.
Meanwhile, customers locking away larger amounts - at least $25,000 up to $10 million - are offered slightly higher interest rates.
For example, the 10- and 5-month TDs for larger deposits carry 5.02% p.a. and 5.00% p.a., respectively.
|
Term length |
New rate (change) |
Deposit size |
|
6 Months |
4.90% (-10 bps) |
$5,000 - $24,999.99 |
|
6 Months |
4.95% (-10 bps) |
$25,000 - $10,000,000 |
|
9 Months |
4.80% (-20 bps) |
$5,000 - $24,999.99 |
|
9 Months |
4.85% (-20 bps) |
$25,000 - $10,000,000 |
|
12 Months |
4.80% (-20 bps) |
$5,000 - $24,999.99 |
|
12 Months |
4.85% (-20 bps) |
$25,000 - $10,000,000 |
Returns on these term deposits are paid at the end of the term.
Judo Bank moves rates further down
Judo Bank has continued to drop its term deposit rates this week, slashing a uniform 5 basis points on its 3-, 9-, and 12-month products.
Following these changes, more term deposits from the neobank have dropped below 5.00%, with a few clinging onto the last thread.
But that was before Friday, when Judo Bank delivered a one-two punch to term depositors by doing a second round of cuts in a single week.
Following the drops on Tuesday, the bank dropped its rates by another 5 to 25 basis points before the week ended, bringing the total cuts to as much as 30 basis points.
Here are the new rates Judo Bank offers on its popular term deposit products.
|
Term length |
New rate (change) |
Payment frequency |
|
3 Months |
4.90% p.a. (-10 bps) |
End of term |
|
6 Months |
5.00% p.a. (-10 bps) |
End of term |
|
9 Months |
4.90% p.a. (-20 bps) |
End of term |
|
12 Months |
4.90% p.a. (-15 bps) |
End of term |
Customers who prefer to receive returns on a monthly basis will have to contend with rates that are 10 basis points lower.
Deposit sizes for these products range between $1,000 and $2 million.
Judo Bank also lowered the rates on its business and SMSF term deposits twice this week.
More term deposit rate cuts
- Bank Australia slashed 6- and 12-month TD rates up to 15 basis points
- Bank of Sydney cut term deposit rates by as much as 50 basis points
- Beyond Bank reduced the SMSF term deposit special offer rate by 15 basis points
- G&C Mutual Bank lowered term deposit rates up to 45 basis points
- Arab Bank cut term deposit rates by up to 25 basis points
- Heritage Bank dropped term deposit rates by as much as 20 basis points
- People's Choice reduced term deposit rates by up to 20 basis points
Photo by Zhivko Minkov on Pexels
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