Macquarie Bank is lifting the welcome rate on its no-conditions savings account to a market-beating 5.5% in yet another move to grab a larger retail banking share.
The new variable welcome rate of 5.50% p.a. will apply from Thursday to all eligible customers on their first Macquarie Savings Accounts for four months on balances up to $250,000.
It’s a 15-basis point jump on the old Savings Account welcome rate of 5.35% p.a.
The rate applies after the four-month welcome period.
It’s a 25-basis point increase on the old rate of 4.75% and also applies from Thursday.
Still no strings attached
It stamps Macquarie’s Savings Account as a market leader, trumping the majority of term deposit rates currently available on the market.
While other banks’ high-interest savings accounts offer bonus rates of 5.50% p.a., Macquarie’s Savings Account comes without minimum balance or deposit conditions.
It also has no account fees or transaction requirements, marking it as an outlier among high-interest savings accounts offering similar rates.
Transaction account rate lowered
Also this week, Macquarie announced it was cutting the rate offered on its Transaction Account from 4.75% p.a. to 2.75% p.a., also effective Thursday.
The old Transaction Account rate, and indeed the new rate, are still considerably higher than other rates offered on transaction accounts on the wider market.
This week’s rate moves are likely to spark many Macquarie customers to shift their funds to the higher interest earning Savings Accounts.
Previously, both the Macquarie Savings and Transaction Accounts offered 4.75% p.a.
The Macquarie Transaction Account also comes with no fees or deposit conditions and has a debit card attached.
Macquarie also doesn’t charge international processing fees for debit card purchases made outside Australia, either in-store or online.
That said, Macquarie's previous fixed rates were among the lowest on the market.
Its new lowest fixed rate is now 5.69% p.a. for two, three, four, or five year fixed terms for owner occupiers with loan-to-value ratios (LVR) up to 70%.
Macquarie has been an aggressive player in the home lending market in recent years, snaring a 5.5% market share, largely at the expense of the big four banks.
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Disclosure
FEATURED
Savings Accelerator
Special offer: Savings Accelerator (Kick Starter offer).
For a limited time, new ING customers can get a bonus 0.70% p.a. on their savings rate on balances of $150,000 up to $500,000 for the first 4 months. T&Cs apply.
If your balance is over $500,000 (but less than $5 million) you will earn the ongoing variable rate of 4.7%
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Denise Raward
Emma Duffy
Harry O'Sullivan
Harrison Astbury
