Xinja Bank will bow to the inevitable and lower the interest rate on its Stash savings account to 1.8 per cent, from 2.25 per cent, effective May 11.

"We held the rate at 2.25 per cent despite successive rate cuts from the Reserve Bank, and we are probably the only bank to have done that," said Xinja chief executive and founder Eric Wilson.

"We thought it was the right thing to do to protect our current customers rather than chasing new ones, and we achieved it through hitting a pause on opening any new Stash accounts.

"However, it is a variable rate, and we can’t ignore two Reserve Bank rate cuts indefinitely.”

Xinja Bank says it now has over 47,000 accounts and more than $500 million in deposits, meaning a steep slow-down in net additions to deposits since the end of March.