Heartland Bank brands align deposit rates

The past month has been quiet on the deposit rate front after a hectic period of intense competition in the short-term space.

Monday, January 17th 2011, 7:00AM

by Sophia Rodrigues

Among the banks, the only major change was RaboDirect lowering its rate further on 90-day deposit rate by another 30 basis points. The bank is now offering 4.55% which is now far lower than the 4.90% rate offered by market leader ASB Bank.

The other big changes came from the individual entities, now brands, that form the merged unit Combined Building Society as rates were made uniform across the brands.

The merger of Marac Finance, CBS Canterbury and Southern Cross was completed earlier this month and the new entity is now a building society which is offering a range of investments under three unique brands. While all investment products are now being offered under Combined Building Society, the characteristics of products offered by each of the brands when they were separate entities remain the same.

To align the interest rates, Marac Finance lowered rates across the majority of terms. CBS Canterbury, on the other hand, increased interest rate on short-term and for terms of one year and above while lowering rates on 5-9 month deposits.

For a one-year term, all the three brands are now offering 5.50% on guaranteed deposits while Marac and Southern Cross are offering 6.00% on non-guaranteed deposits. CBS Canterbury doesn't seem to offer non-guaranteed deposits.

Combined Building Society has a BBB- rating with a stable outlook, and its 5.50% on one-year compares with 5.25% from BBB rated SBS Bank and 5.35% from BBB+ TSB Bank. RaboDirect with its AAA rating is offering 5.30% and AA rated ASB is also offering 5.30%.

All the three offer 6.75% on guaranteed three-year deposits. Marac and CBS offers about 7% for a five-year term but Southern Cross advertises a maximum term of three years.

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