Online savings accounts prove popular
Online savings accounts seem to be proving popular according to the comments from two of the players in the market.
Thursday, August 11th 2005, 6:50AM
ASB Bank, which earlier this year launched a stripped down online only savings account, says it has been getting good flows into its FastSaver product.
Most of the other banks have also launched similar products which were pioneered in New Zealand by Superbank.
However Bank of New Zealand has taken a different approach offering a term deposit online. As reported in the www.depositrates.co.nz newsletter recently, this is a trial for the bank and its first foray into online savings products after putting a personal loan and credit card product online.
Bank of New Zealand general manager of marketing, development and strategy Andrew Whitechurch says the results to date have been encouraging.
"The online term deposit facility is resonating strongly with those comfortable in an online environment. He says that more than 60% of the accounts opened have been for customers new to the bank.
“This proves undoubtedly that there is demand for online products, especially among those who are tech-savvy or don't have the time or desire to visit a branch.”
The initial offer was a rate of 7.07% for a six-month term deposit, but that rate is now 7.01%.
It is higher than what the other banks are offering with its call rates online and a premium over BNZ’s standard 180-day rate. Its current rates for a term deposits are; 4.50% for amounts of $5,000 to $9,999, 6.45% for $10,000 to $49,999, 6.50% for $50,000 to $99,999 and 6.55% for more than $100,000.
ASB says FastSaver has become the fastest growing savings product in the bank’s 158-year history, attracting 150,000 customers and more than $2 billion in funds.
“Traditionally banks have developed products and marketed them across all banking channels,” ASB head of retail banking and marketing Ross McEwan says. “FastSaver was created to suit the needs of our customers who primarily bank by phone or online.”
“What the popularity of FastSaver tells us is customers are more than ready for an account like this. FastSaver holds strong appeal for the huge number of ASB online customers who now comprise more than fifty percent of the bank’s customer base.
The number of ASB customers registered for Internet banking continues to grow too, with the latest figures seeing it increase by 24% from last year.
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