RAMS the latest casualty of savings account rate cuts

Photo by Dušan Smetana on Unsplash

RAMS’ high-interest Saver Account is the latest in a growing line of savings accounts to have its interest rate cut, following the Reserve Bank’s decision to cut the cash rate earlier in June.

The Saver Account, which previously lay claim to one of the highest interest rates in the market, has had its total interest rate reduced from 2.80% p.a. to 2.55% p.a – the full 25 basis point cut.

The change is applied to RAMS’ bonus interest rate: previously 1.65%, it has now been cut to 1.40% (the base interest rate of 1.15% is unchanged).

The conditions to reach this bonus rate – making no withdrawals and depositing a minimum of $200 per month – are also unchanged.

According to a note provided by RAMS, any amounts over $500,000 will cease to earn interest.

RAMS not the only one to cut rates

Interest rates have been in free-fall since the change to the cash rate – home loan rate cut announcements were made by most major lenders almost immediately after, while a large number of institutions have been cutting term deposits rates a little more discretely.

Savings account rate cuts haven’t been occurring as frequently, but there have still been some major changes.

The most notable of which occurred last week when ING made the same change as RAMS to its popular Savings Maximiser account, cutting the total interest rate from 2.80% to 2.55%.

This latest change means savings accounts with rates near 3.00% are fast becoming extinct.

There are still some select accounts with interest rates above or at 3.00%, but these are only temporary rates, before falling to a lower rate after a few months.

Now, the highest rates available to the average customer include MOVE’s Bonus Saver account (2.90%), UBank’s USaver with Ultra account (2.87%), Bank First’s Bonus Saver account* (2.85%).

Provider	Product	Total rate	Bonus rate	Base rate
MOVE	Bonus Saver S10	2.90%	1.20%	1.70%
UBank	USaver + Ultra	2.87%	1.06%	1.81%
Bank First	Promotional Bonus Saver Account	2.85%	2.80%	0.05%
BOQ	Fast Track Saver	2.75%	2.25%	0.50%

Update: since the initial publish date (21 July), MOVE has reduced its total interest rate to 2.60% (30 basis point cut to the base rate).

Bonus conditions apply to get the highest possible rate – check the links provided.

*The Bank First product is a promotional offer for customers who apply before August 1. 

Of these ‘high-interest’ accounts, only BOQ has already cut rates. MOVE, UBank and Bank First are yet to do so, as are a host of other savings account providers.

It’s entirely possible – or probable, given the close relationship between the cash rate and deposit rates in the past – that these providers will cut their savings account rates too before June is done.

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