Depositors get a look-in at last

John Kavanagh

Depositors missed out on substantial rate increases in May, when the Reserve Bank raised the cash rate 25 basis points, but this month’s 50 bps hike is prompting a more generous response from deposit takers.

ING Australia increased the ongoing bonus rate on its Savings Maximiser account by 75 bps to 2.1 per cent. 

To qualify, customers must deposit at least A$1000 a month into an ING account, make a minimum of five purchases using an ING debit or credit card and ensure that the balance of the account is higher at the end of the month.

The bank has also increased its personal term deposit rates. The headline rate is 2.75 per cent for 12 months.

Suncorp increased its Growth Saver account rate by 70 bps to 1.3 per cent. Its headline term deposit rate is 2.3 per cent for 12 months.

MyState increased the ongoing bonus rate on its Bonus Saver account by 50 bps to 1.6 per cent.

It has also increased a range of term deposit rates and is offering a headline rate of 3 per cent for two years.

Commonwealth Bank increased its GoalSaver and YouthSaver account rates by 50 bps.

ME Bank has increased the bonus rate on its Savings Account by 30 bps.

Macquarie Bank added 30 bps to the introductory rate on its Savings Account, which is now 1.8 per cent. It has also increasedf the ongoing rate on the account from 1 per cent to 1.5 per cent.

Macquarie has also increased the rate on transaction accounts from 20 bps to 1.5 per cent on balances up to $250,000.

This is all a big turnaround from the situation last month. Comparison site Mozo reported that 53 of the 89 savings account providers it tracks did not increase any of their at-call product rates in May.

And among those that have increased their rates, a number have raised rates by less than 25 bps. Rabobank and Volt Bank were among those offering high-interest savings accounts that raised by 25 bps.