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Eden Radford
- 5 min readLatest News
ANZ cuts the rate on its Online Saver for the first time in 19 months
ANZ, the country’s fourth largest bank, has today cut the ongoing rate on its ANZ Online Saver account by 0.10 percentage points.
This means existing customers who have had their account for more than three months will now be earning just 1.50 per cent on their hard-earned cash.
This is the first time ANZ has cut the rate on this account since March 2022. It’s also the first time any big four bank has cut a rate on a savings account in this period.
Today’s change to ANZ’s Online Saver
Old Rate | New Rate | Change % pts |
3.40% for 3 mths then 1.60% | 3.30% for 3 mths then 1.50% | -0.10 |
Source: RateCity.com.au
Today’s hike is at odds with the bank’s decision on 12th October to increase the rate on one of its other savings accounts, ANZ Plus Save, by 2.00 percentage points for balances over $250,000. That said, the rate for these customers with large balances is still a relatively lacklustre 3.50 per cent.
ANZ’s move today is somewhat out of the blue. Savings rates have been relatively quiet since the last cash rate hike, however the RateCity database shows more banks are now cutting rates than hiking them. In the past two months:
- 14 per cent of banks have cut at least one savings rate, while -
- 8 per cent of banks have hiked at least one savings rate.
ANZ’s cut to the ongoing rate on its Online Saver will be a blow to customers with this account, but it does not push Westpac off its pedestal for the title of the big four bank with the lowest ongoing rate. Unfathomably, Westpac’s eSaver account offers a lower ongoing rate at just 1.10 per cent.
While the big four banks’ online saver rates are fiercely uncompetitive, customers can, and should, do better.
Even among the big banks, Westpac is offering young adults savings rates as high as 5.20 per cent, while ANZ is offering rates of 4.65 per cent with no terms and conditions on its ANZ Plus Save account for balances under $250,000.
Beyond the big four banks, customers can achieve ongoing savings rates as high as 5.65 per cent.
Big four bank savings account rates
BONUS SAVERS | ||
Account | Max rate | Conditions for max rate |
CBA GoalSaver | 4.65% | Grow balance each mth |
Westpac Life | 4.75% | Grow balance each mth |
NAB Reward Saver | 4.75% | 1 deposit, no withdraw / mth |
ANZ Progress Saver | 4.25% | $10+ dep, no withdraw/mth |
ONLINE SAVERS | ||
Account | Rate | Conditions for max rate |
CBA NetBank Saver | 4.75% for 5 mths then 2.20% | No conditions |
Westpac eSaver | 4.75% for 5 mths then 1.10% | No conditions |
NAB iSaver | 4.75% for 4 mths then 2.00% | No conditions |
ANZ Online Saver | 3.30% for 3 mths then 1.50% | No conditions |
OTHER | ||
Account | Max rate | Conditions for max rate |
ANZ Plus Save (15 yrs+) | 4.65% | None |
Westpac Spend&Save
(18-29 yrs) |
5.20% | Grow bal each mth. 5+ purchases on linked account. |
Source: RateCity.com.au.
Highest ongoing savings rates (excludes kids accounts)
Account | Max ongoing rate | Max balance for max rate | Conditions to achieve maximum rate |
ME Bank HOMEMe | 5.65% | $100,000 | Deposit $2k+ into linked account and grow savings balance each month. |
ING Savings Maximiser | 5.50% | $100,000 | Deposit $1k+ and make 5 transactions in linked bank account, plus grow savings balance each month. |
BOQ Future Saver
(ages 14 – 35) |
5.50% | $50,000 | Deposit $1k+ and make 5 transactions in linked bank account per month. Conditions waived if under 18. |
MOVE Bank Growth Saver | 5.50% | $25,000 | Deposit $200 and make no withdrawals per month. |
Teachers Mutual Bank Target Saver | 5.50% | $5,000,000 | Deposit $1k+ into linked banked account, make no withdrawals per month. |
Great Southern Bank Goal Saver (ages 18 – 24) | 5.35% | $50,000 | Deposit $500+ and make 5 transactions in linked bank account per month. |
Virgin Money Boost Saver | 5.35% | $250,000 | Deposit $1k+ into linked account, make 5 transactions each month, and provide 32 days’ notice to withdraw money. |
Source: RateCity.com.au
RateCity.com.au research director, Sally Tindall, said: “ANZ has sliced its Online Saver rate today in a move that is likely to leave thousands of customers completely stumped.”
“The cash rate has risen by 4 percentage points in the last year and a half. If the RBA moves in the next few months, it is likely to be up, not down, and yet, ANZ is cutting the ongoing Online Saver rate from a paltry 1.60 per cent to an even more ridiculous 1.50 per cent,” she said.
“The one silver lining to a high cash rate is that many savings rates have risen out of the doldrums. That’s not the case for anyone with an ANZ Online Saver, or anyone with a big bank online saver account for that matter.
“At a time when every dollar makes a difference, customers should make sure their savings rate starts with a ‘5’ not a ‘1’,” she said.
Eden Radford
- 8 min readLatest News
ATMs and branches drop across the country – how banks are backing away from cash
The number of ATMs and bank branches has dropped by more than one in 10 in the last financial year, as banks and customers move their transactions online.
The latest APRA Points of Presence data for June 2023, released yesterday, shows the number of branches has dropped by 11 per cent in the space of a year (30 June 22 - 30 June 23), and by 35 per cent in the last five years.
The number of ATMs has also continued to fall, decreasing by 11 per cent in the last financial year. ATM numbers have more than halved in the last five years (-55%).
This trend comes as Australians increasingly ditch cash in favour of electronic banking. The latest RBA consumer payment survey showed cash accounted for just 13 per cent of the number of all payments in 2022, more than half of what it was just three years before (27% in 2019).
‘High cash users’, who use cash for 80 percent or more of their in-person transactions, represented around 7 per cent of Australians in 2022 – a number that, according to the RBA, has also halved since 2019.
That said, cash usage, while dropping, is not dead in the water. The latest RBA statistics show in the month of August 2023, a total of $8.56 billion was withdrawn from ATMs across Australia in almost 29 million transactions in seasonally adjusted terms.
APRA Points of Presence: branches
The number of branches in NSW has dropped by 142 over the last financial year, however, as a percentage change, the biggest drop was recorded in Victoria (-13.4%).
Westpac recorded the largest drop in the number of branches out of the big four banks in the last financial year (-22%), however, this is in part, a result of the bank’s strategy to merge branches across its brands to enable Westpac, St George, Bank of Melbourne and BankSA customers to access any Westpac Group branch. According to Westpac, a total of 42 branches were co-located in the last financial year where two or more branches were operating.
Australia’s biggest bank, CBA, recorded the lowest number of closures in percentage terms at 9 per cent.
Number of branches per state and territory
Number: June 2023 | Annual change (number, %) | Change from 5 yrs ago (number, %) | |
ACT | 60 | -9, -13% | -32, -35% |
NSW | 1,192 | -142, -11% | -590, -33% |
NT | 46 | -4, -8% | -16, -26% |
QLD | 779 | -60, -7% | -361, -32% |
SA | 256 | -38, -13% | -166, -39% |
TAS | 84 | -8, -9% | -46, -35% |
VIC | 830 | -128, -13% | -493, -37% |
WA | 339 | -35, -9% | -191, -36% |
Other | 2 | 0, 0% | -2, -50% |
TOTAL | 3,588 | -424, -11% | -1,897, -35% |
Source: APRA points of presence, June 2023, released 18 Oct 2023. Other includes Jervis Bay Territory and the external Territories of Christmas Island and Cocos (Keeling) Islands.
Number of branches by remoteness in Australia
Number: end FY2023 | Change from previous yr | Change from 5 yrs ago | |
Major cities | 2027 | -302, -13% | -1,203, -37% |
Inner regional | 892 | -74, -8% | -373, -29% |
Outer regional | 531 | -38, -7% | -242, -31% |
Remote | 98 | -4, -4% | -47, -32% |
Very remote | 40 | -6, -13% | -32, -44% |
Source: APRA points of presence, June 2023, released 18 Oct 2023.
Big four branches
Number: June 2023 | Annual change (number, %) | Change from 5 yrs ago (number, %) | |
CBA | 728 | -73, -9% | -353, -33% |
Westpac | 583 | -167, -22% | -428, -42% |
NAB | 473 | -63, -12% | -215, -31% |
ANZ | 342 | -72, -17% | -291, -46% |
Total big four | 2,126 | -375, -15% | -1,287, -38% |
Source: APRA points of presence, June 2023, released 18 Oct 2023.
APRA Points of Presence: ATMs
The total number of ATMs in Australia dropped by 718 in the last financial year – a decline of 11 per cent.
Compared to FY2018 there were almost 7,000 fewer ATMs, a drop of 55 per cent.
The biggest annual drop was recorded in the cities (-12%), with Western Australia recording the biggest annual drop in percentage terms (-14%).
The big four banks’ ATMs have been free to all Australians since 2017, however, collectively the number of these ATMs continue to drop. The latest APRA data shows the number of big bank ATMs has reduced by 9 per cent in the last financial year and 53 per cent since June 2018.
However, Westpac and ANZ offer their customers free access to ATMs provided by Armaguard, which has a network of over 1,700 ATMs in addition to their own ATMs.
Number of ATMs per state and territory
Number: June 2023 | Annual change (number, %) | Change from 5 yrs ago (number, %) | |
ACT | 88 | -9, -9% | -144, -62% |
NSW | 1,851 | -231, -11% | -2,269, -55% |
NT | 89 | -6, -6% | -58, -39% |
QLD | 1,115 | -159, -12% | -1,371, -55% |
SA | 390 | -37, -9% | -443, -53% |
TAS | 109 | -6, -5% | -174, -61% |
VIC | 1,540 | -185, -11% | -1,700, -52% |
WA | 510 | -85, -14% | -787, -61% |
Other | 1 | 0, 0% | 0, 0% |
Total | 5,693 | -718, -11% | -6,946, -55% |
Source: APRA points of presence, June 2023, released 18 Oct 2023. Other includes Jervis Bay Territory and the external Territories of Christmas Island and Cocos (Keeling) Islands.
Number of ATMs by remoteness in Australia
By remoteness area | Number: end FY2023 | Change from previous yr | Change from 5 yrs ago |
Major cities | 3,794 | -535, -12% | -5,322, -58% |
Inner regional | 1,126 | -110, -9% | -1,099, -49% |
Outer regional | 615 | -62, -9% | -448, -42% |
Remote | 101 | -6, -6% | -54, -35% |
Very remote | 57 | -5, -8% | -23, -29% |
Source: APRA points of presence, June 2023, released 18 Oct 2023.
Big four bank ATM numbers
Number: June 2023 | Annual change (number, %) | Change from 5 yrs ago (number, %) | |
CBA | 1,956 | -139, -7% | -1,713, -47% |
Westpac | 917 | -225, -20% | -1,735, -65% |
NAB | 777 | -88, -10% | -260, -25% |
ANZ | 870 | -19, -2% | -1,424, -62% |
Total big four | 4,520 | -471, -9% | -5,132, -53% |
Source: APRA points of presence, June 2023, released 18 Oct 2023.
Bank@Post continues to be an important option
The number of ‘other face-to-face’ points of presence, as categorised by APRA, which includes Bank@Post services, remains to be a widespread service in local communities.
Bank@Post is a service provided by Australia Post outlets where customers can perform basic banking services, such as depositing and withdrawing cash, if their bank participates in the scheme.
The APRA data shows there was a 0.2 per cent increase in the number of these points of presence over the last financial year, but a 5 per cent drop in the last five years.
RateCity.com.au research shows more than 70 banks offer Bank@Post services to their customers (approximately 74% of the database).
This includes big banks CBA, Westpac and NAB, along with online-only banks such as ING and smaller credit unions with limited branches in specific locations.
ANZ does not provide its customers with Bank@Post access.
Cashless branches?
RateCity.com.au research also shows that a small number of CBA, NAB and ANZ shopfronts do not accept deposits or cash withdrawals over the counter, with ATM access only at these locations.
All Westpac branches allow customers to deposit and take out cash over the counter.
Deposit and withdrawals available at tellers in all branches? | Withdrawal limit via teller | |
CBA | Not at CBA specialist centres | No limit – call ahead for large amounts. |
Westpac | Yes | No limit – call ahead for large amounts. |
NAB | Not at Expert Centres | No limit – call ahead for large amounts. |
ANZ | No | Appointment preferred where amount is over $10,000 |
Source: RateCity.com.au
RateCity.com.au research director Sally Tindall said: “Cash is no longer king, but it’s not dead in the water either.”
“RBA statistics show over $8 billion is withdrawn from ATMs across the country every single month, confirming we’re not a cashless society just yet,” she said.
“While the majority of banking services have moved online, some customers still prefer to transact face-to-face, while others rely on in-branch banking because they need to deposit or withdraw large amounts of cash, whether that’s for their business, the local footy club, or to pay for something they’ve bought second hand to avoid scammers.
“Westpac might have recorded the largest number of branch closures over the last financial year, however, this is partly due the merging of branches across the banking group. Customers of Westpac, St George, Bank of Melbourne and BankSA can all access teller facilities from the same location.
“The move to online banking has caused banks to reassess their points of presence. To counter this, some banks have decided to piggyback on existing facilities such as third-party ATM networks and Australia Post branches to provide customers with more access to basic services.
“Australia Post branches play an important role in keeping competition in the banking sector alive, because of the basic banking services they provide.
“Many customers who opt for a smaller bank or credit union with a limited branch network are comforted by the fact that if they need to deposit or withdraw a reasonable amount of cash, they can head to their nearest post office.
“That said, Bank@Post services are limited and not a direct replacement for a full-service branch.
“With 566 submissions to the Senate inquiry, the issue of regional and remote branch closures is a significant one.
“Banks provide an important service in regional and remote communities that extends beyond the basic fundamentals of accepting and dispensing cash.
“The Senate is rightly looking into the impact of these closures, and will no doubt be factoring in this latest round of APRA data,” she said.
Eden Radford
- 3 min readLatest News
Melbourne Cup rate hike a live possibility: what a 13th hike would mean for borrowers
Australia could see the cash rate rise to 4.35 per cent as soon as the next RBA Board meeting, if inflation proves to be more stubborn than expected, with the minutes from the previous meeting citing a ‘low tolerance’ for slow progress in this battle.
The RBA minutes from the October meeting, released today, confirm the decision will depend on incoming data over the next three weeks, including the next round of ABS Labour Force statistics, due out this Thursday, and the September Quarterly CPI figures set to be released next Wednesday, 25 October, also from the ABS.
Currently, three of the big four bank economic teams expect the cash rate to remain on hold at the next meeting, with NAB the only one forecasting a 0.25 percentage point rate hike.
Should the RBA pull the trigger on a 0.25 percentage point hike at the next meeting, the average borrower with a $500,000 debt at the start of the hikes will see a $76 increase to their monthly mortgage repayments.
Combined with the 12 hikes already delivered, it would see this borrower’s monthly repayments rise, in total, by $1,210 - a 52 per cent increase since the start of the hikes in May 2022.
Impact of a 0.25%-point hike in November: increase to monthly repayments
Loan size at start of hikes | Increase of 0.25% | Total increase across 13 hikes |
$500,000 | $76 | $1,210 |
$750,000 | $114 | $1,815 |
$1 million | $152 | $2,420 |
Source: RateCity.com.au. Based on an owner-occupier paying principal and interest with 25 years remaining. Starting rate is the RBA av. existing owner-occupier variable rate of 2.86% in April and assumes banks pass the hikes on in full.
RateCity.com.au research director, Sally Tindall, said: “The minutes from the RBA’s October Monetary Policy meeting confirm the future of the cash rate is at the whim of the incoming data.”
“It’s crunch time for the RBA. Its ‘wait and see’ approach has served it well for the last four months, giving it time to better assess the impact the previous 12 hikes have had on households and the economy,” she said.
“While the Board is likely to want to give the current monetary policy settings more time to filter through the economy, sluggish inflation figures could force it to fire off a thirteenth hike, potentially as early as the next meeting.
“If inflation starts looking like it will take longer than expected to return back into the target band of 2 to 3 per cent, the RBA has made it clear: it will act.
“If you’ve got a mortgage, start planning for another rate hike - by paying the extra money now. If you can’t clear this expense, you’ll have time to raise the alarm.
“The next RBA meeting is in three weeks, if your budget is bordering on red, spend this time to find ways to inject more relief into your finances. Whether that’s haggling with your current bank for a rate cut, refinancing your mortgage to a lower rate lender, or overhauling other big expenses such as insurances and your energy bill.
“A small win on one bill might feel like a drop in the ocean, but if you repeat the process across all of your regular expenses it can start to add up,” she said.
Mark Bristow
- 3 min readLatest News
Some of the top-rated home loans for refinancers and investors in October 2023
With Australians reportedly putting more of their income towards their mortgage than any other developed nation on the planet, it’s little wonder that so many of us are looking to refinance. But with high levels of refinancing activity leading several lenders to withdraw some of their most competitive home loan discounts and cashback incentives, is it still possible to find a good home loan deal?
Depending on the quarterly inflation statistics that are due for release in late October 2023, among other factors, it’s possible that the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) could choose to raise the national cash rate for the 13th time since April 2022 in November 2023. If this is passed on to Australian households through higher mortgage interest rates, this could make it even more important to check that you have the best home loan to suit your personal financial situation.
Because there’s more to a mortgage than just the interest rate, RateCity developed the Real Time Ratings™ system, which combines the cost and flexibility of each home loan into a simple star rating. These ratings are regularly updated to give you a better idea of each mortgage deal’s overall value. Additionally, the top-rated home loans in different categories on our Home Loan Leaderboards could become eligible for RateCity Gold Awards.
(Rankings are correct at the time of publishing. Please note lenders may trade places on the list as interest rates and fees change and RateCity’s tracker reflects these movements.)
Peter Terlato
- 5 min readLatest News
Australia leads the world in mortgage pain: Here's what you can do to ease the agony
Australians allocate a larger proportion of their earnings towards paying off their mortgage than any other developed nation, according to the latest global financial data.
The International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) latest World Economic Outlook revealed that loan repayments as a share of income were at a staggering 15% for Australian households in December 2022 - higher than Canada, Norway, the Netherlands, Sweden and a host of other advanced economies.
The data is comparable nation to nation, as a majority of households in the countries listed pay variable interest rates.
Additionally, the portion of income dedicated to mortgage repayments is anticipated to have grown more since the period analysed by the IMF, as the cash rate has now risen by one percentage point since December 2022.
Simultaneously, the IMF revised its 2024 projections for the Australian economy downwards and cautioned that inflation is anticipated to be higher than earlier estimates.
The IMF forecasts the Australian economy to achieve 1.2% growth next year, a downgrade from its earlier projection of 1.7% in April, and lower than the anticipated population growth.
On a global scale, the peak monetary body suggested inflation is forecast to decline steadily, from 8.7% in 2022 to 6.9% in 2023 and 5.8% in 2024, due to tighter monetary policy aided by lower international commodity prices. Core inflation is generally projected to decline more gradually, and inflation is not expected to return to target until 2025 in most cases.
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