Who are they fooling? It’s not you is it?

fully agree

Hi Greg, some institutions offer high promo rates with genuinely low fees, so the best nett yield for RaboPlus customers is currently to move their money out and over to the other institution for the promo duration. Therefore, wouldn't RaboPlus customers would be best served if you offer a promo rate equal to the highest competitor's rate (which was your past practice), so that RaboPlus customers are never lured by hoodwink ads and can instead leave their money with RaboPlus?

Agree with your comments on promo rates. The other thing that irks is that many others offer a rate that is about 1% lower for Self Managed Super Funds than for investments in personal names. And again, the advertising never points this out.

Thanks for the post James.


I think it’s fair to say that the level of transparency in how promo rates are advertised varies quite a bit, some banks being more upfront than others. My view is that as a consumer I would like the peace of mind that my savings are earning a good rate all year round and that I won’t get caught out by strings and catches in the small print. It’s a classic game that some banks play – offer what appears to be a headline rate hoping the consumer won’t bother to calculate what it translates to.


You mention James that some institutions pay higher rates with low fees and shouldn’t we match them? Even from a practical perspective, rates move so frequently these days, often driven by promo rates, that this would be an operational nightmare in managing.


But in trying to address your question here’s an example of a new promotion I have just seen – ING Direct are now offering 4.75% for new customers only if you open an account between now and April 17. After July 31 the rate falls back to 3.75%. The promo rates are variable and can change during the offer period.


How does this compare to RaboPlus with a straight 4.00%? For a start, our new and existing customers get the same rate. This is an important point I believe.


I calculated some figures based on the assumption that you open the account by March 1 and keep it till the end of the year. With RaboPlus, a $10,000 deposit earns $20.22 less interest before tax, than the equivalent with ING Direct. On $20,000, the ING Direct account would pay $42.95 more interest before tax, than RaboPlus. This gap would even smaller if you start to add lodgements throughout the year. And of course, the longer you leave it to open the account the shorter time you have on the bonus rate. And if you save monthly you’d probably be better off with RaboPlus because after July 31st you would drop back to ING Direct’s standard variable rate which is lower than RaboPlus.


So when making up your mind on who to save with shouldn’t you look behind the promo rates and consider transparency and security (credit rating and online security)?

Actually you neglected to mention the fact that both Onedirect and Members Equity Bank offer 5% ongoing. Yes, they advertise it as "variable" but its not a promo rate. So no thanks, I will not put my money with Raboplus anymore when you offer such poor rates. I also want to know why Raboplus in Australia has low rates compared with its competitors, but Raboplus in New Zealand rates above its competitors. So, I am not impressed at all.

Comparison sites should be required to include
all compulsory fees linked to the new account opening as well:ask some credit unions about this one !!!

Thanks Charles for pointing this out. We will make a submission to ASIC so the more comments we get the stronger a case we can make to push for more transparency in advertising.

John, my blog post focused on promotional rates and my view that the bonus rates offers are more perceived than real.

Yes, you are correct that there are other standard variable rates currently on offer with rates higher than ours.

I wouldn’t agree that the RaboPlus rates are ‘poor’ by any means. Our standard variable rate of 4.0% is 0.75% above the Reserve Bank’s official cash rate.

We are not the absolute highest right now but we do offer a competitive rate without strings, catches and fees. A number of savings accounts do actually come with fees which is a bit surprising these days.

When assessing a bank’s savings offer I believe that customers should consider the rate and the bank’s record over the longer term in maintaining competitive rates, are they transparent in how they deal with new and existing customers, are there penalties to access funds, fees, online security (we are leaders in this area), customer service and of course the bank’s credit rating.

Regarding your comment about RaboPlus NZ, we’re talking about a different market with it’s own dynamics, probably a less competitive market than Australia as well as a host of other issues pertaining to that market so it’s hardly comparing like with like.

Picking up on Charles’ comment on less interest for DIY Super cash, I run my own business and got really sick of my bank double dipping by not only charging me business rate fees on my checking account, but also offering me minimal interest on any positive cash flow. I moved my cash to RaboPlus because their business savings rate is the same as the personal savings rate, which is a rarity.

Greg, I agree with what you've said about making sure consumers get the full picture. As you say comparison sites like ours have an important role to play here, to help people find their way through the money maze. Our intention at Mozo is to represent the market accurately so that people on the lookout for a new product can make an informed choice. This is our mission so anytime we're not achieving this we want to improve.

So we will be changing our treatment of savings accounts rates on the Mozo site, to provide users full transparency on standard rates, promo rates, and what hurdles are needed to jump over to get them. We're working on the changes now and will get them live ASAP.

Rohan Gamble
Managing Director, Mozo

Rohan, that’s great to hear. Hopefully the Canstar, RateCity and Infochoice will follow your lead. The more awareness we can create about this the more pressure can brought to bear on the industry to clean up its act.

Hi Greg, thanks for engaging in these public discussions, which is a rare level of transparency not found with other accounts!! You also mention security and credit ratings, on which RaboPlus seems to excel. If people only needed a bank with great principles, RaboPlus would seem to fit the bill. Nevertheless, my point is that people aren't "protected" against the lure of promo deals unless RaboPlus has a higher headline rate. You gave an example and I can give another. A competitor on your "Compare Us" page offers a standard variable rate of 4.55% pa (tracks 0.55% pa higher than RaboPlus), on top of which they give an extra 1.65% pa for new customers until 31 Mar, which makes a headline rate of 6.2%. Calculating on a steady cash rate until 31 Mar, a government-guaranteed, compound-interest savings deposit with that bank from Jan-Mar would earn 12% more than RaboPlus for existing customers, or a massive 49% extra for new customers! My proposition to you is that other factors (whether they be hidden fees, expiry dates, or lack of AAA credit rating) would seem to be eclipsed by such a large earnings bonus.

One of the ways that people can be ‘protected’ is to raise awareness of the issue. Obviously the industry needs to clean up its act too. If a consumer buys the product fully aware of the all the limitations then that’s fine but at the very least s/he should know the pro’s and con’s.


As I mentioned previously, some of the problems with these bonus rates is that the window of opportunity is often very short and the rates are subject to change.


The example you are referring to is the Bank of Queensland Web Savings Account. They changed their rates on Tuesday and their standard variable rate is 3.40% so we will need to update our site. With the bonus, which isn’t available to new customers and ends on March 31, the combined rate is 5.05% …no longer 6.2%.


To continue your example, an existing BOQ customer is worse off and new customers will only benefit for about 6 weeks if their application is approved now and only from $2,000 or higher. In fact on a $10,000 deposit over this period the difference in interest paid is less than $1 before tax!


I think this example further reinforces my view that customers should consider long term value rather than short term bonus rates that fluctuate so much.

I think that Greg is definitely on the right track here as I have been lead astray by applying for promo rates in the recent past.

Rabo Bank themselves being the offender. I applied for their DIY promo rate online of 5.6% during the promo period but by the time they opened my account a few days later the promo rate had vanished and my money was earning less than the account I had transferred it from.

It is difficult not to fall foul of the promo traps unless you are prepared to read a lot of fine print and be prepared to move money on a regular basis.One only has to slip up and you can quickly find you have been "promoed".

Rabo have now finished with the promo rate shenanigans and they can be commended for that.

If Greg can get the rating agencies onside to make things easier for us hapless investors this can only be a plus.

"A bonus rate is payable for new customers only, so if you’re an existing customer, tough."

How is this different to the $50 bonus that RaboPlus are now offering for new accounts? Not that I blame you for going after new business, but it's a bit hypocritical don't you think?

Hi Greg I joined Rabo (spurned on by a promotion) over a year ago. Your product rocks because of the security features and up until October 2008 because you were the only bank in Australia with AAA rating.
Its not your fault but our novice treasurer provided an unlimited deposit guarantee scheme that has taken risk out of the equation, Now I move my cash all around including to A rated or lesser institutions because of this Moral Hazard ridden initiative
I will return to Rabo when the scheme finishes but right now it is logical to chase the highest yield when there is no risk in the equation.

Yes it does need to be more transparent, they need to be clear about when the promo rate will end. We had all our savs with rabo, very pleased with the security aspect and rates. Moved the bulk across to another bank because of the promo. The promo has now ended and their rates are just above yours. Think we will move it all back to Rabo because of the security, abilty to create new accounts within Rabo enables me to differentiate what I am saving for, also like the reporting facilities. Was it worth the effort of all the shuffling? Probably not, but had it stayed 1% above, then yes. When is rabo going to do mortgages? Like the newsletters by the way.

Cheers Fiona

Bob, thanks your comment. Yes, RaboPlus has run promotional campaigns in the past but in my relatively new role as General Manager I feel that there is always a danger of confusing customers with these offers even when you do your best to be upfront in advertising them.

I also know that some customers are happy to go with a promo rate to chase rates. And as you say Bob, this can lead to be them being “promoed”.

The good news I can report is that Mozo have already been in touch on this blog to say that they are reviewing their policy on how they rate savings accounts so some progress is being made. Let’s hope the others follow.

There is one advantage RaboPlus has over ING Direct - the ability to nominate a withdrawl of funds at a date in the future. With ING Direct, fund transfers can only be effected on the same day as they are data entered. RaboPlus sure makes it easier to manage money!

If you have the time and want to make the most of these accounts then it is very easy to move money around from one bank to another to take advantage of the highest rates and with the govt guarantee ratings are no longer a consideration. The example used of the worst bank for promotional rates, I use frequently, because I close my account at the end of the promotional period and reopen a new account when they have their next promotion as a NEW customer, so I take advantage of their trickness rather than be tricked by them.

Right on Greg .. We (super fund) received a refund after complaint to the Financial Ombudsman re St George's promotional advertising

Dragon Direct(St GeorgeDirect now) were advertising their promotional variable rate of 5.75% one week before reducing it..they now have a promo instead saying they have reduced their home loans on their web site,which Im sure they did before dropping the deposit direct rate.Whilst I acknowledge it is a variable rate,it seems unethical to be actively promoting it as a a special rate, for new customers one week before you reduce it by 1%

I am not surprised about the tactics of the big banks; I think I have seen them all. Over the years I have had accounts at many banks that most people would not have heard of: Investec, Cater Allen, St. James's Place Bank, Western Trust and Savings, and others; all secure banks which had in common: good interest on current accounts, very good customer service, and no transaction or account keeping fees. Good financial institutions are out there if you will look beyond the high street.

From my experience of banking in England, I was determined to find competitive accounts here in Australia which had the same qualities: quality customer service, good (and stable) interest, and no fees. What my wife and I like about Raboplus is the transparency and good steady interest rates which I don't have to monitor every five minutes.

I have read a number of those advertisements, including the one you hinted at, and noticed the same issues. I also don't like gimmicks in an account, particularly 'free' holidays if one takes out a mortgage, as all gimmicks have to be paid for eventually.

Keep the operating conditions simple, keep paying decent interest, and keep away from fees, and we will keep with you.

I am still going with the commbank, though it is 1% less than Raboplus, but it is much easier to withdraw the money (i.e. you can transfer the money from saving account into your transaction account in matters of seconds).

Hi Greg,
The one that sucks is the tierd interest rate,e.g,No interest for the first $2000.00,then a nominal rate to $35,000.00.then the advertised rate from $35,000.00 upwards.

Greg,

Good that you are advising re. these promo. ads
and there are other nuisance factors such as the Arab
Bank offering a high rate but on reading their PDS it showed that one could only withdraw one's
cash at 5G. per day.
Others charge fees to direct debit from one's linked account etc,etc.
However, as a couple of posters did mention, Rabo was the best of all Bank rates until
the state of the world's financial system reached the brink, which unfortunately coincided with your arrival, and Rabo's rates suddenly hit the skids COMPARED to how good they had been in relation to all others for approx. 3 years. So either your head office put the word out, or else, well, you know better than I.
Hopefully Rabo will return to 'how they were' so that customers don't have to fiddle about having to switch their funds back and forth to obtain far better rates.

Hi Greg

I think it's fantastic that you're writing these blogs and then - crucially for a blog - responding to readers' comments.

You've mentioned Rabo's strength re online security a couple of times. To my mind, though, the token you make us use is a real nuisance. I would rather be able to log in to my bank accounts from either home or work with just the codes in my head rather than having to take a physical device with me everywhere I go. Transfers are only possible to a linked bank account so really, how high can the risk to customers or Rabo be? To me, the inconvenience of a token far outweighs any security benefits. Please could you consider making it optional for your customers?

I think this is hypocritical statement to criticise others for offering extra percentage on deposits if new. We have a SMSF invested with Raboplus and as current investors we were unable to receive the propmotional extra half a percent being offered to new customers. As long standing customers not only with our SMSF and other deposits over the years, some very large in th $M I feel we have shown our loyalty and as such specials should be given to those who have been with a bank a number of years, not term deposits but extra incentives for time held. I personally would look favourably on such a thing as to open new accounts is such a pain in the ?/@#.
Thanks.
We didn't shift our money to higher interest earners in other banks as we like the security features and access on the site of Raboplus.
Thanks Jo

To Ben (NSW),
I hope you use Key Scrambler, or Neo's Safekeys,
and SnoopFree Privacy Shield on your machine Ben,
for security cover when outside Rabo.

It's a dreadful world out there and I must agree with Rabo. and HSBC who both try their best at no cost to their customers via OSD's.

Beware U bank. Yes u will probably have the inconvenience of visiting a Post Office. Yes, you will lose i day's interest when transferring your funds from another bank.

Donald, you can link your main transaction account to your RaboPlus account. Clearing of funds only take 1 day.

Ben, I don’t want to scaremonger but relying on customer numbers and static passwords and PIN’s is proven to be very vulnerable to phishing attacks and is a major weakness in online security. Rabobank won’t compromise on online security. Using physical devices is common in many other countries but a number of banks in Australia take the view that it’s too costly to implement but they are jeopardising your security and leaving you open to identity theft by relying on outdated online security. I do appreciate that some people make a trade-off between security and convenience and would prefer not to use a physical device but it’s just not worth the risk. We do constantly investigate other forms of security such as tokens that could fit into a wallet or SMS type of technology but this isn’t as a secure as the current method.

Jo, I couldn’t agree more. This is why I decided when I took over as GM in October that we wouldn’t offer promotional rates. Our DIY Super promotion was open to all DIY super customers, new and existing, but wasn’t available on other accounts. I can understand that other customers might feel frustrated by this.

John, I admit that there a few competitors out there who are currently paying a rate higher than ours. But a 4.0% flat rate on all savings when the the Offical Cash Rate is at 3.25% is not a bad offer when you consider transparency, AAA rated security and genuinely leading online security.

I think this is a great blog idea and especially appreciate the fact the CEO's reply.
I have learnt alot simply reading other peoples info.Well done

Rates vary from 0.%75 to 1% higher than rabo's. It doesn't sound like much but when you do the math that's $125 a month more in my pocket for the funds I have and I don't pay any fees to pay. Of course if you have little funds it makes no difference but there are those of us whom for that small amount produces a considerable amount more money.

I'm more than happy to keep moving my money around every 4 months opening new accounts. That's $600 in my pocket every for months for 15 minutes of work. I then just close them down and wait for the next promo and start again :lol:

You can bag these promo guys all you like but frankly it's just sour grapes as far as I can see. Rabo used to be great in the beginning when it was trying to establish customers but has fallen behind. It's better than most though so I'll give it that.

Fella's don't be afraid of the promo deals. Benefit from them like I do.

The security rating means jack these days as long as the government is backing all financial instituitions. Just make sure whomever you go for is covered.

Jake, each to their own as they say. Personally I think it’s a lot of hassle to go around opening up multiple accounts chasing promo rates and keeping a close eye of the small print. However, I do understand that some people are happy to do it and good luck to them. Our campaign is about getting the industry to clean up its act and be a lot more transparent about how promotional rates are structured and advertised. So it’s not sour grapes, we could launch promo rates every other month if we wanted to but we’ve taken a stance against this.

i believe in getting the best rate possible, when raboplus offered good rates i used them, i am thinking of switching to ING for a bit, it may take me 10min over 3 days ( money being moved) it is a few clicks of the mouse. Because the effort is so low and easy, i cant see what the big deal is. However i do believe in raboplus, it would be nice to see a managed funds/ bank acocunt/ share platform, that would be ideal.

Jim, I’m all for shopping around to get a good rate. My argument is that the risk with promotional rates is that many people go for a headline rate thinking that the amount of interest they will earn will be bigger than it really is. And when you crunch the numbers you will often find that over a 12 month period you’re not much better off, if at all. Sometimes you end being worse off. Then people fall into the trap that many banks love – inertia takes over and thousands of people end up earning interest at a lower standard variable rate.

Despite their best intentions, they never get around to moving their money back out when promo rate ends.

So my view is that RaboPlus should offer rates that offer long term value to the consumer combined with transparency, leading online security and a AAA credit rating that is still vital even with the Deposit Guarantee in place.

I note your comment about a share platform. We don’t plan to offer direct equities. However, when you open a RaboPlus account you get access to on-call deposits, term deposits and a managed funds account all in one.

I agree there should be more transparency in the way financial institutions advertise their interest rates – particularly the so-called “promotional” ones. People are often attracted by the headline promotional interest rates, only to find when they read further, that there is some sort of “catch”, or restrictive conditions placed on them in order to earn that higher rate. They may then decide that the offer is not for them, in which case they have just wasted perhaps five to ten minutes reading all the fine print. Promotions such as these are particularly annoying when one finds out that at the end of the promotional period, the interest rate will revert to something below that which one might already be earning. Which is why I believe it’s important to clearly state what the regular, ongoing, variable interest rate will be at the end of the promotion. Institutions which don’t include this information in their promotional advertising are, to an extent, guilty of “fraud” in my opinion. I’ve often seen advertised promotional interest rates, which I usually do check out. However, when I’ve read the fine print, the sometimes onerous conditions, or the lower “ongoing” interest rate (which I always seek to find out), has usually been sufficient for me just to leave my money where it is.
I acknowledge there are people who do have the time and energy to chase all the latest promotional deals and move their money around every couple of months to benefit from these promotions, however not everyone has that same amount of time and energy. Some would prefer to leave their money where they know it will always get a good, competitive, ongoing rate of interest, and is relatively secure. The government’s current deposit guarantee has certainly made it easy for people to decide to leave their money with some slightly less secure institutions, in the knowledge that whatever might happen to the institution, their money is safe, because the government will pay out even if the organisation does not. I think that some institutions may be taking advantage of this to offer higher than normal interest rates to attract new customers, some of whom may never even have considered those organisations due to their lower security rating. In some ways the government guarantee has provided a “level playing field” for all institutions (irrespective of their security rating) and account types covered by the guarantee.
I’m sure that like me, many people are annoyed by promotional offers of higher interest rates, that are only offered to “new” customers. If I were an existing, loyal, and long-standing customer of an institution which did this, I think I would be offended that the organisation did not consider my loyalty sufficient to offer me the same higher interest rate. It might even cause me to move my deposits to another institution, depending on what others are offering at the time.
I used to have deposits with ING Direct until Raboplus entered the market some time ago, offering more security, better interest rates, and more flexibility with their on-line banking option. In particular, as someone else previously commented, I like the ability to “future date” transfers in and out of the account – a facility which is not available through ING Direct. I suggested to ING on at least two or three occasions, that they should offer this ability, though to date they have not implemented the suggestion, even though a similar facility is readily available through many other banks’ on-line banking options. The only disadvantage I see with Raboplus, is that unlike ING, they don’t offer an interactive ‘phone banking facility and ability to transfer funds by ‘phone. So if one is having problems with one’s internet connection, it’s simply a matter of waiting until one is back on-line again, before being able to do any transactions. The other option of course, is using publicly available internet access, which is generally not recommended for on-line banking, due to security concerns (though one is generally more secure with the Raboplus system). For slightly more security, one could perhaps ask to use a good friend’s computer/internet access.
I applaud your campaign for more transparency in the advertising of promotional products and interest rates in the world of financial services.

As stated previously I chop and change online accounts from time to time when a promotion is worth while but for 0.25 basis points it is not worth the effort. You will probably get only 1-2% in the regular bank account that is linked to the online account. if the promotion goes for 1 month and offers only 0.25% more then you won't do a lot better than break even for the two days (transfer in, transfer out of promo account)that you money has to spend in the low or no interest linked bank account.

I would like to see your rates at least matching Comsec's cash investment management account of 4.25%

Ron, I had a quick look at the Commsec account you refer to and my understanding is that the 4.25% rate is a promotional rate. According to the small print at the bottom of the web page it states “*4.25%pa paid on full balance includes 1.25%pa bonus rate until 30/6/09. Bonus rate applies to both new and existing customers. Interest rates are current as at 12/02/09 but are subject to change”. Here’s the link to their rate schedule as at 3/3/2009. This means that their standard variable rate is actually 3.0% so I doubt if many RaboPlus customers would like us to match this rate given that we offer a straight 4.0%, no strings.

Nice! good conversations happening here and a good example of wisdom of crowds in action :) ...I learned a lot from the discussions and blogged about the same

Greg,

You keep referring to Rabo's 4.0% but say nothing about how much better Rabo's rate WAS
than 'the others' for such a long time whereas
now you are never on Rate City's list.

The best is ANZ's 'One Direct' which was 6.0% until a couple of weeks ago and even now is 5.0% with no strings,no promo rubbish etc., it's a help
when we consider that our savings is being eaten by Inflation at 3.1% - Rabo's 4.0% improves our lot by a measly 0.9% - not good Greg, not good.

John, rates on the savings account have inevitably dropped given that the Reserve Bank has cut 4% off the Official Cash Rate since September last year.

I have freely admitted in previous posts that a small number of institutions are paying higher interest than RaboPlus right now. Most of these are promotional rates.

I agree that the One Direct rate of 5.0% looks like a pretty straight offer. Personally I think they are trying to ‘buy’ market share by offering a rate like this and I suspect they will be under a lot of pressure to reduce it in the coming months. However, I could well be wrong on this and time will tell.

We don’t do too bad on the Rate City rankings – when I looked today the highest rate was 5.0% from One Direct and there were 4 other ‘promo’ rates ranging from 4.25% to 4.75% with offers that will expire in a few months. We were joint seventh. As I’ve said before, our rate is 0.75% above the Official Cash Rate and while rate is of course important, there are other important factors that consumers need to consider before opening a savings account with an institution.

I would like to comment on "Bens" post regarding the security token Rabo has us using for our accounts. Ben, I travel a lot and occasionally I have to use a dodgy internet cafe in a dodgy city. Any hacker devices can be installed on any PC that you don't know anything about. The tokens that we use guards us very well against fraudsters and this to me is very very important. You just don't know these days and another line of defence for a minor inconvenience is surely worth it to protect your hard earnt cash.

On another note, my wife and I are very happy with our RaboPlus accounts. She gets her salary paid into her account and every $ earns 4% at todays rates. We are very happy with this as we don't have to worry about those no interest everyday cheque accounts that most people use for their salary deposits.

The campaign RaboPlus is embarking on is great, full transparency of interest rates with simple "no bull" advertising is what we all want to know when opening any account.

Greg! Re Blog on Fin Factory, Thanks for your comment and sharing news about some new web2.0 features on raboplus would sure love to see them, however your comment motivated me to do some research on what other banks are doing, you would like to check the results in following posts, its worth taking a look

Cheers
Sid

Promo Rates are Great. I have benfited greatly RABOPLUS. I won a $1000 opening an account with you. Another for my son picked him up $150 - all earning interest thank you very much. It drew me to look into RABO+, I liked its business and now that I am an SMSF trustee fully use your really good products. For that promotion and winning of $1150.00, Rabo has approx. $200000 of my and also my failies custom. My loyalty comes with business that is awake (thinks in and out of the square), has excellent products and continuous service. You ARE A BIT SLOW offline services, but online you shine.

I pay ALL my cards off in full - so when someone offers me $50,free petrol, free time etc and only if I do not object to that company for any other reason I take full advantage BUT WILL CLOSE THE ACCOUNT if these advantages or service do not continue. Some I have stayed with for good reason, some let go, but if the promo I was not there to motivate me to distract me to use my time, I would not bother. A sucker for an advantage/benefit - I am the bull looking for that red.

Your discerning customers are fully capable of reading the fine print and shifting money to take advantage of promos. I've shifted quite a bit out of rabo to ING to use their latest promo rate

Gerry my contention is that too many banks need to be far more transparent in ensuring that pretty major restrictions, and the consequences of not meeting the restrictions, should not be buried in the small print. They need to be upfront so customers can make an informed decision.

We also know that a large proportion of customers don’t even read the small print. And often the small print misses out important disclosure such as the ongoing variable rate that will apply when the bonus period ends.

So can you be sure that you’re getting the full picture even when you read the forest of small print? And how many people can read the small print on a billboard advert as they are driving by or on a TV commercial? Or the ridiculous way that the voiceover person reading terms and conditions in radio ads is speeded up making it incomprehensible?

We need more transparency and less complicated products in my view.

Its all about TIMMING. CitiBank offering 5.3%....4% variable +1.3% fixed 3 months. Rabo+ 4% variable. I am no economist but an extra 1.3% makes a lot of cents (& dollars) vote with your "feet” and keep the Banks on their "toes" (its worth chasing a good deal / rate)!

I think it also pays to take a look at the small print too in this case. Your first $10,000 does NOT earn any interest which is a hefty restriction and loss of interest in my view. And you need a minimum $10,000 to open the account. You are also obliged to keep an ongoing balance of $10,000 in the account. If you don’t they ‘reserve the right to close your account’ according to their T&C’s. The bonus is only available for 3 months and the only open to new customers. So yes, it pays to shop around but you need to look very carefully at the restrictions and the consequences of not meeting the T&C’s.