The Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (ANZ), deciding to bring down its deposit rates for the second time this year. Accordingly, the standard and conditional saving rates offered by ANZ has been cut by five basis points, bringing a return of less than half a per cent for both products.
The bank’s Progress Saver, which requires a minimum deposit of $10 deposit a month, now offers a maximum interest rate of 0.35 per cent on the condition of no withdrawals. On the other hand, a three-month introductory rate of 0.3 per cent, which reverts to an ongoing rate of 0.05 per cent, has been introduced for ANZ’s standard Online Saver.
The economic downturn caused by the pandemic has led to an enormous drop in savings rates across the financial industry. Over the past year, there has been a downward pressure on lending rates, with a number of mortgage lenders slashing their interest rates below 2 per cent following the RBA’s decision to set the official cash rate at 0.1 per cent. This has meant that banks have seen a decline in one of their major revenue earners, while savings rates remain an outward expense. Currently, the highest interest rate of 1.35 per cent is offered by ING, although Westpac and Bank of Queensland offer a 3 per cent rate for young adults.
Therefore, considering ANZ’s recent move to slash deposit rates, some experts recommend customers to consider placing their savings in other banks since there are more than 10 banks still offering ongoing savings rates over 1 per cent, despite Australia’s low interest rate environment.
