Banks are lining up to cut term deposit rates ahead of the Reserve Bank's Official Cash Rate review on Wednesday.
Economists are now almost universally sure a 25 basis points rate cut is coming then.
Perhaps banks are trying not to get their name in lights with cuts to savers when all eyes will be on them and their rate reactions following Governor Adrian Orr's announcement.
Today (Monday, August 5) both Kiwibank and Westpac have trimmed some key rates.
These changes are relatively small, so any follow up post-OCR cuts might look smaller after today's positioning.
Westpac has cut -10 bps from their six month rate, taking it down to 2.95%. They have also cut -5 bps from their nine month rate, also aligning it at 2.95%. There are no other changes to shorter or longer rates by Westpac.
Kiwibank has been more comprehensive. It has trimmed -10 bps from most rates for terms of 3 months to 5 years.
As we have noted before, "3%" is now the gold standard for term deposits by banks, and for many savers this is a new and uncomfortably low level.
Standout rates (that may not last) include ANZ's eight month offer of 3.20% (and 5 years), BNZ's seven month offer of 3.15%, Heartland's 3.25% for 15 months and their 3.50% rate for five years. Rabobank is still offering 3.35% for five years.
For readers looking for risk-free returns, we should also note that the 1.50% offer for the Government's Kiwi Bonds (for fixed 6 month, one year, two year and four year terms) is very likely to follow the OCR down on Wednesday if it is cut then.
The updated rates in the table below are the highest offered by each institution for the terms listed. You will, however, need to check how often interest is credited or paid. That important factor is not filtered in the table and rates with various interest payment/credit arrangements are mixed here. However, our full tables do disclose the offer basis. (The codes are explained here).
Our unique term deposit calculator can help quantify what each offer will net you.
All carded, or advertised, term deposit rates for all financial institutions for terms of less than one year are here, and for terms of one-to-five years are here.
The latest headline rate offers are in this table.
| for a $25,000 deposit | Rating | 3/4 mths | 5 / 6 / 7 mths |
8 - 11 mths |
1 yr | 18mths | 2 yrs | 3 yrs |
| Main banks | ||||||||
| ANZ | AA- | 2.65 | 3.05 | 3.05 | 3.00 | 3.00 | 3.05 | 3.10 |
 |
AA- | 2.65 | 3.05 | 3.00 | 3.00 | 3.00 | 3.00 | 3.00 |
 |
AA- | 2.65 | 3.15 | 3.10 | 3.00 | 3.00 | 3.00 | 3.00 |
| Kiwibank | A | 2.65
|
3.05
|
3.05
|
3.00
|
3.00
|
3.05
|
|
 |
AA- | 2.65 | 2.95
|
2.95
|
3.00 | 3.00 | 3.00 | 3.00 |
| Other banks | ||||||||
| Co-operative Bank | BBB | 2.80 | 2.95 | 2.95 | 2.95 | 3.00 | 3.00 | 3.00 |
 |
BBB | 3.00 | 3.15 | 3.15 | 3.20 | 3.20 | 3.25 | 3.40 |
| HSBC Premier | AA- | 2.40 | 2.70 | 2.70 | 2.70 | 2.70 | 2.70 | |
| ICBC | A | 2.85 | 3.10 | 3.15 | 3.15 | 3.15 | 3.10 | 3.10 |
 |
A | 2.50 | 3.10 | 3.10 | 3.20 | 3.15 | 3.15 | 3.15 |
 |
BBB | 2.75 | 3.10 | 3.05 | 3.00 | 3.00 | 3.00 | 3.00 |
 |
A- | 2.65 | 3.00 | 3.00 | 3.00 | 3.00 | 3.00 | 3.00 |
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