Better safe than sorry: Is now the time to lock in a top notch term deposit?

If you’re a committed saver, then chances are you don’t mind keeping your savings stored away, which is why a term deposit might be on your radar. 

So you may be interested to know that, over January, term deposit rates see-sawed between cuts and increases.  

For instance, ANZ shaved 10 basis points across the board from its Term Deposit and Advance Notice Term Deposit, bringing its 12 month rate to 1.30%. However, it still was recorded as the highest rate for a 12 month term among the big four in the Mozo database. 

CUA on the other hand increased its 3,5,6,9 and 12 month terms by 10 to 20 basis points, with its 12 month rate now sitting at 1.80%. 

Suncorp also made a move on a majority of its Term Deposit and flexiRate rates, cutting between 5 and 20 basis points.  

Despite the few increases, January marked the 16th consecutive month that the Mozo database recorded more term deposit cuts than increases. 

“Term deposits have been on a downward trend for a while, long before the RBA decided to cut the cash rate back in June last year,” said Mozo interest rates expert, Peter Marshall. 

“And while the outlook may appear bleak, there are still a handful of providers around that offer savers competitive rates that are well above the big four.”

In fact, challenger bank, Judo Bank has remained as the market leader in the Mozo database for many of longer term offers even though it slashed 10 to 15 basis points across all its terms - more importantly its 12 month term rate is 1.90%, 60 basis points ahead of ANZ’s term deposit product. 

To put that into perspective, say you needed a new place to stash your rainy day fund of $20,000. If you opted for the 12 month ANZ term deposit at 1.30%, according to the Mozo term deposit calculator, your investment would earn $260 in interest.

However, if you instead chose to invest the cash into the Judo Bank term deposit on the same term, you’d earn $380. 

Aussie savers should look to other options 

Should the RBA make another cut to the cash rate in 2020, Aussie savers could find themselves running out of options in terms of worthwhile places to invest their hard-earned savings. 

In this case, Marshall went onto to say that Aussies should consider broadening their horizons. 

“There’s a lot of competition going around in savings accounts at the moment, with neobanks like Xinja and Volt offering competitive ‘no strings attached’ rates that start from 2.25%, so it might be worth considering different product options,” he said.