It's been more than a week since the RBNZ raised its Official Cash Rate for a fifth time in this cycle. And more are almost certain to come.
But after thinking about how to position themselves, banks are starting to push through some meaningful term deposit rate increases.
To be fair, most of the recent action has been by the challenger banks.
The latest is arguably the most impressive. SBS Bank has launched a new 4% rate for a one year term. Our records show that we haven't had a one year term deposit rate that high since 2015. It was in July that year when the main banks last had a 4% one year rate. By November that year, even the challenger banks had all abandoned that level.
Currently, the next-best rate for that one-year term is from Heartland Bank at 3.60%. Heartland and Rabobank offer 3.60% now for 18 months. For two years, the highest current offer is 3.85% from Rabobank. And Rabobank has a 4.15% three year offer, the only other 4%+ offer for terms out to three years. However, you can also get 4.00% from the Bank of China for five years, 4.00% for five years also from Kiwibank, Kookmin Bank, and Westpac.
Rabobank is higher for terms of four and five years with offers at 4.30% and 4.35% respectively.
Clearly, today's eye-catching offer won't be the last of them. We will be monitoring and reporting on these changes intensely from here, interested to find out how high this cycle can go.
The background wholesale swap rates signal the track is relentlessly up. And that suggests tomorrow's offers will be higher than today's offers.
An easy way to work out how much extra you can earn by switching is to use our full function deposit calculator. We have included it at the foot of this article. That will not only give you an after-tax result, you can tweak it for the added benefits of Term PIEs as well. It is better you have that extra interest than the bank.
The latest headline rate offers are in this table after the recent increases.
| for a $25,000 deposit June 3, 2022 |
Rating | 3/4 mths |
5 / 6 / 7 mths |
8 - 11 mths |
1 yr | 18mth | 2 yrs | 3 yrs |
| Main banks | ||||||||
| ANZ | AA- | 1.50 | 2.30 | 2.40 | 3.00 | 3.30 | 3.40 | 3.70 |
 |
AA- | 1.50 | 2.20 | 2.45 | 3.00 | 3.30 | 3.35 | 3.60 |
 |
AA- | 1.50 | 2.30 | 2.45 | 3.00 | 3.30 | 3.60 | 3.80 |
 |
A | 1.65 | 2.50 | 2.65 | 3.15 | 3.65 | 3.80 | |
 |
AA- | 1.50 | 2.30 | 2.45 | 3.00 | 3.20 | 3.50 | 3.80 |
| Other banks | ||||||||
| Bank of China | A | 1.90 | 2.70 | 3.00 | 3.50 | 3.55 | 3.60 | 3.80 |
| China Constr. Bank | A | 1.80 | 2.60 | 2.85 | 3.35 | 3.45 | 3.70 | 3.90 |
| Co-operative Bank | BBB | 1.20 | 2.30 | 2.45 | 3.00 | 3.30 | 3.55 | 3.80 |
 |
BBB | 1.75 | 3.00 | 3.00 | 3.60 | 3.60 | 3.60 | 3.80 |
| HSBC | AA- | 1.40 | 2.20 | 2.40 | 2.85 | 3.40 | 3.60 | |
| ICBC | A | 1.85 | 2.70 | 3.10 | 3.60 | 3.60 | 3.75 | 3.95 |
 |
A | 1.85 | 2.90 | 3.10 | 3.50 | 3.60 | 3.85 | 4.15 |
 |
BBB | 1.50 | 2.35 | 2.50 | 4.00 | 3.30 | 3.65 | 3.80 |
 |
A- | 1.50 | 2.20 | 2.50 | 3.00 | 3.20 | 3.40 | 3.70 |
Term deposit rates
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