This week brought a fresh round of TD rate reductions from the major banks, not to mention a few ex-market leaders.
When lenders cut home loan rates you can rest assured they will also move to reduce their cost of funding, so the onslaught shouldn't come as a surprise to even the most optimistic of term deposit enthusiasts.
TD rates beginning with a 5 are now about as common in Australia as the thylacine - if you find either, please write in and let us know.
The benchmark for a quality return is becoming 4.50% p.a. with a few products that still crack this threshold after the latest cuts:
Strongest TD rates in our database (30 May)
Bank Term length Minimum deposit Interest rate (paid at maturity) MOVE Bank Four months $5,000 4.70% p.a. Arab Bank Australia Six months $10,000 4.60% p.a. MOVE Bank Five months $5,000 4.60% p.a. Credit Union SA Five months $1,000 4.60% p.a. Gateway Bank Six months* $1,000 4.60% p.a. *Details below
This week's rate cuts
Commonwealth Bank, NAB and Macquarie Bank were the two biggest names of this weeks round of term deposit rate cuts.
Australia's biggest bank slashed basically its entire range to all now sit well below 4% p.a. - with the exception of its latest special offer rate of 4.10% p.a. for one year.
That rate is available for a limited time, exclusively to existing retail or business banking customers, and is 0.30% lower than the one year rate at G&C Mutual Bank (4.40% p.a.).
NAB went further, with its highest rate now just 4.00% p.a. for seven month terms after widespread cuts.
At Macquarie, three, four, and six month rates were on the chopping block, taking its top rate down to 4.20% p.a. for three months.
Elsewhere, Heartland Bank cut its six month rate down to 4.55% p.a., nine month down to 4.40% p.a..
Gateway Bank was another ex-heavy hitter to cut, although the 0.05% cut still leaves its top products among the strongest on market, as we touched on above.
Other movers
- Qudos Bank cut rates by up to 60 bps, leaving a new top rate of 4.15% p.a. for six month terms
- Community First Bank and Police Bank also cut.
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Want to earn a fixed interest rate on your cash? The table below features term deposits with some of the highest interest rates on the market for a six-month term.
| Bank | Term Deposit | Interest Rate | Interest Frequency | Term | Automatic Rollover | Maturity Alert | Early Withdrawal Available | Minimum Deposit | Maximum Deposit | Notice Period to Withdraw | Account Keeping Fee | Online Application | Joint Application | Tags | Features | Link | Compare | Promoted Product | Disclosure |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
5.35% p.a. | At Maturity | 6 months | $5,000 | $19,999 | – | – | |||||||||||||
5.20% p.a. | At Maturity | 6 months | $10,000 | $5,000,000 | – | – | |||||||||||||
5.15% p.a. | At Maturity | 6 months | $1,000 | $1,000,000 | – | – |
