BANK DEPOSITS – AUSTRALIA

Time to reassess $250,000 deposit guarantee, says Swan

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Original article by Joyce Moullakis
The Australian – Page: 15 & 23 : 22-Mar-23

Former federal treasurer Wayne Swan says the recent spate of bank failures is in some ways similar to the global financial crisis, although he stresses that the factors at play in 2023 are different to those of 2008-09. Swan notes that Australia now has some buffers in place that were not present during the GFC, while enforcement and regulatory arrangements have been improved since then. The bank deposit guarantee is amongst the measures that were introduced in response to the GFC; Swan contends that the latest turmoil in the global banking sector means that it would be appropriate for the federal government and regulators to consider increasing the $250,000 threshold.

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SMEs squirrel away cash in crisis: ANZ

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Original article by Jared Lynch
The Australian – Page: 13 & 16 : 19-Jul-21

ANZ Bank’s CEO Shayne Elliott says the amount of cash held in bank deposits has surged during the last year, with small businesses and consumers opting to save during the COVID-19 pandemic. He notes that small businesses in particular are opting to save at an "unprecedented rate", adding that this trend could have a slight negative impact on the national economy. However, Elliott says increased savings means that small businesses are in a much stronger position during the current lockdowns compared with 2020.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ

Savings rates are drying up as banks race to the bottom on mortgages

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Original article by Matt Johnson
The New Daily – Page: Online : 3-Jun-20

Data from Canstar shows that Australian banks reduced the interest rates on a range of savings accounts and term deposits by up to 75 basis points in May. However, the interest rates on mortgage loans were reduced much less aggressively, averaging just 0.08 per cent for variable home loans and 0.36 per cent for fixed-rate loans. Steve Mickenbecker of Canstar attributes this to factors such as growing competition from non-bank mortgage lenders. However, he does not expect rates to fall much further.

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CANSTAR PTY LTD

No option for savers as deposits slashed

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Original article by Michael Roddan
The Australian – Page: 17 & 28 : 29-Oct-19

The Commonwealth Bank’s term deposit interest rates are now well below the official inflation rate. The banking major has cut its term deposit rates by a much higher margin than the 75-basis point reduction in the cash rate so far in 2019. InfoChoice CEO Vadim Taube says savers need to look beyond the four major banks for term deposits that offer above-inflation interest rates. Meanwhile, Liberal MP Tim Wilson says the Reserve Bank should be wary of further easing monetary policy until the impact of the recent series of official interest cuts can be determined.

CORPORATES
COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, INFOCHOICE LIMITED, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA

Savers come out second best as banks quietly slash interest rates on deposits

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Original article by Michael Roddan
The Australian – Page: 17 & 27 : 11-Oct-19

Lenders have cut interest rates on term deposits by between one and and 35 basis points since the Reserve Bank cut the official cash rate by 25 basis points on 1 October, according to data from ­RateCity. National Seniors Australia’s chief advocate Ian Henschke notes that a third of its members have their money in term deposits, with interest rates on term deposits now at their lowest since the 1950s. He claims that the federal government is "profiteering off the backs of pensioners", by not reducing the deeming rate.

CORPORATES
RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, RATECITY PTY LTD, NATIONAL SENIORS AUSTRALIA LIMITED, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB, BENDIGO AND ADELAIDE BANK LIMITED – ASX BEN

Savers do it tough as banks hold off cuts

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Original article by Jonathan Shapiro, Aleks Vickovich, Jemima Whyte
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 4 : 4-Oct-19

People who rely on interest income from their savings have been hard hit by the Reserve Bank of Australia’s aggressive monetary policy easing. Canstar notes that banks’ 12-month deposit rates have traditionally been about one per cent higher than the cash rate, but this has narrowed to 0.64 per cent. Term deposit rates and online savings account rates have both fallen sharply since the first of three official interest rate cuts in June, and Canstar’s Steve Mickenbecker says there is little scope for further reductions.

CORPORATES
RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, CANSTAR PTY LTD, UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY, SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, BANK OF QUEENSLAND LIMITED – ASX BOQ, SUNCORP BANK, MACQUARIE GROUP LIMITED – ASX MQG

Savings rate hit as banks brace for interest pain

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Original article by Samantha Bailey
The Australian – Page: 17 & 27 : 26-Sep-19

Data from RateCity shows that ANZ, Westpac and ING are among the banks that have reduced their savings rates by up to 25 basis points in the last fortnight. RateCity also notes that the average savings rate is now 1.1 per cent; this compares with 1.57 per cent in May, prior to the Reserve Bank’s back-to-back official interest rate cuts. With the central bank widely tipped to ease monetary policy again in October, Credit Suisse estimates that banks’ at-call deposit rates would have to fall by about 51 basis points to offset the earnings impact of passing the full cash rate cut on to mortgage borrowers.

CORPORATES
RATECITY PTY LTD, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, ING BANK (AUSTRALIA) LIMITED, AMP BANK LIMITED, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, CREDIT SUISSE (AUSTRALIA) LIMITED, MYSTATE LIMITED – ASX MYS, BANK OF QUEENSLAND LIMITED – ASX BOQ

Savers under pressure as banks keep lowering rates

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Original article by Duncan Hughes
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 5 : 15-Jan-19

Analysis by Canstar shows that the average interest rate for a 12-month term deposit of $50,000 is now 2.55 per cent. Likewise, the average online savings interest rate is now just 1.35 per cent, compared with a peak of 7.3 per cent in 2008. In contrast, the cash rate is 1.5 per cent and Australia’s inflation rate is 1.9 per cent. Professor Richard Holden from the University of New South Wales warns that low interest rates will encourage more savers to seek higher-risk investment options such as shares.

CORPORATES
CANSTAR PTY LTD, UNIVERSITY OF NEW SOUTH WALES, SEMAPHORE PRIVATE PTY LTD, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN PRUDENTIAL REGULATION AUTHORITY, VIRGIN MONEY (AUSTRALIA) PTY LTD, BANK OF QUEENSLAND LIMITED – ASX BOQ

Banks face $70b gap in funding

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Original article by Jonathan Shapiro
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 6 : 16-Jul-18

Australia’s banks have experienced an increase in the gap between bank loans and deposits, according to National Australia Bank analysis. The funding gap rose from $A390 billion in the June 2017 quarter to $A457 million in the March 2018 quarter. The increase was attributed to households needing to access more of their savings and superannuation funds shifting their cash into other asset classes. Banks increased lending by 4.8 per cent in the 12 months to May, but deposits rose by just over two per cent.

CORPORATES
NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB, BENDIGO AND ADELAIDE BANK LIMITED – ASX BEN, TD SECURITIES, THE ASSOCIATION OF SUPERANNUATION FUNDS OF AUSTRALIA LIMITED, AMP LIMITED – ASX AMP, MACQUARIE GROUP LIMITED – ASX MQG

‘Savers the big losers’ from rate rises

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Original article by Myriam Robin
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 31 : 6-Jul-17

Data from Canstar shows that just 15 out of 75 Australian lenders have increased their term deposit interest rates since the last official interest rate cut in August 2016. Steve Mickenbecker of Canstar says term deposit rates have fallen to an unprecedented low, and he warns that rates are unlikely to rise while inflation remains low. He adds that savers can adopt a number of strategies to obtain higher term deposit rates, but this requires a lot of effort. Meanwhile, banks are increasing their rates on interest-only and investor mortgage loans.

CORPORATES
CANSTAR PTY LTD, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA