ANZ today cut its standard and introductory savings account interest rates by 10 basis points, while Commonwealth Bank lowered its standard account rate by 5 basis points. 

These follow several other changes made by major banks out-of-cycle from any Reserve Bank rate cuts, with the cash rate holding steady on Tuesday. 

ANZ savings account rate cuts

ANZ’s Online Saver account, which carries a three-month introductory rate, has been cut by 10 basis points to a total interest rate of just 0.35% p.a. 

At the end of the introductory period, the interest rate reverts to a mere 0.05% p.a. 

On a $10,000 balance, this base interest rate would earn $5 in interest over a whole year. 

ANZ's conditional bonus account, the Progress Saver, has seen its maximum interest rate cut to 0.40% p.a.

To earn this rate, customers must deposit more than $10 every month and also ensure the balance is higher each month. 

Compare high-interest introductory savings accounts. 

Commonwealth Bank savings account rate cuts 

Commonwealth Bank (CBA) has cut the maximum interest rate on its bonus savings account by five basis points to 0.40% p.a and making the same cut to its Kids YouthSaver account (0.65% p.a for balances up to $50,000). 

To earn the 0.40% p.a bonus rate with Commbank, customers simply need to make a deposit each calendar month into the account.

CBA had previously cut the interest rate on this account by five basis points on 22 January, while also lowering the NetSaver account's five-month introductory rate to 0.50% p.a. 

After the five months, the NetSaver account reverts to an ongoing rate of 0.05% p.a. 

Savings account rates look worse by the day 

These interest rate reductions by Commonwealth Bank and ANZ follow similar moves by Westpac and NAB in the past couple of weeks.

NAB and Westpac lowered some savings account rates by 15 basis points each

The average maximum interest rate offered by the big four is now just 0.45% p.a for savings accounts, with the highest being ANZ's 0.50% p.a Progress Saver account.

Earlier this week, RAMS cut its Saver Account rate by a whopping 40 basis points to a total of 0.15% p.a. 

Before the RBA's first rate cut in 2019, this account had an interest rate as high as 3.00% p.a.

The highest interest rates around now - excluding restricted offers like Westpac's 3.00% p.a offer for under 30s - belong to the likes of ING and ME Bank, at around 1.20 - 1.30% p.a. 

Term deposit customers - look away now 

The situation looks even worse for term deposits.

So far in 2021, more than 30 banks have slashed term deposit interest rates for customers looking at a secure place to save. 

These banks include Commonwealth Bank and Westpac, as well as other retail banks such as Judo, Suncorp and Macquarie. , 

According to Savings.com.au research, the average term deposit rate across all terms is just 0.45% p.a.

The average 12-month deposit rate is about 0.55% p.a. At this rate, a $10,000 deposit would return just $55 in interest. 

With the Reserve Bank once again confirming it would not look to raise the cash rate for several years, these rates are likely to remain low for quite some time. 

Customers weighing up where to invest their money may need to consider if stashing it away for 12 months (or more) is worth the meagre interest potential. 

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