Ubank New Rate Assurance - Honeymoon Is over? Failing to pass on latest rate rise again.

[Deactivated] on 19/04/2010 - 07:50
Last edited 07/05/2010 - 21:01

Maybe I'm a little cynical - been here too long, but Ubank have just posted their rate assurance, this time it's got no expiry limit.

Problem is that like before it compares its rates to ING, Bwest St George ANZ etc, but this DOESN"T apply to introductory rates.

To quote ….(Standard variable rates don't include special or introductory rates).

Now at present their total rates are 5.85% (with 5.95%) at top, their TD rates are 6 months at 6.01%, which isn't logical given expected rate rises of at least another.25%, which if they passed on would make at call 6.1% (6.2%)

They already haven't passed on the last .25% which would have made their TD look poor in comparison, and given that the "standard" rate being offered by their rate assured competitors is

Bankwest 4.25% Commonwealth4.25% ING 4.65% St George 4.45%
ANZ 4.50% Westpac 4.00%

So now their rate assurance means they can absorb rate rises until one of the competitors they list reaches the 5.85% that they currently offer.

So guess its back to the old open account, go for the intro period, switch - making sure you close the old account down, so hopefully when you come back through the bank cycle you can requalify again.

Then there's the other alternatives like AMP bank, who at least give you the higher rate if you increase your deposit, by $5000 or more. (this is fairly consistent with their past intro rates) http://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/24246

As I said - the honeymoon is over, its a BANK and ultimately they like all banks since inception are not going to look after us in the end. At least they helped some of us with some cash survive the lowest interest rate period.

General Discussion

Comments

  • samfisher5986 on 19/04/2010 - 09:47

    I agree, if you have the time to waste applying for new banks every 1-6 months just to have a higher interest rate then UBank I guess its worth it.

    If you have better things to do then spend quite a while trying to earn an extra 10 cents in those few months, then why not just stick with UBank and enjoy the highest rates excluding introductory rates?

    UBank matching introductory rates doesn't make any sense, they have no limits or restrictions meaning they are losing a lot of money because another company is offering a deal for new customers.

  • Jabba the Hutt on 21/04/2010 - 14:30

    Had it good in recent years.

    http://www.rba.gov.au/publications/bulletin/2010/mar/images/…

  • Jabba the Hutt on 24/04/2010 - 12:17

    Just been comparing rates at RateCity and Mozo this morning, and Ubank still gets the thumbs up from me. The 5.85% no-nonsense standard rate is highest by far, next best being ME Bank's 5.35%. The big four banks and the big names in online savings (ING, Rabo, etc.) are all more than 100 basis points behind.

    There's about six "special conditions apply" accounts (new customers only, first 4-6 months only, minimum deposits with no withdrawals, etc.) with a higher rate, but the best of those is only 16 basis points higher than Ubank's standard rate while lacking some of Ubank's functionality such as "pay anyone". And shortly it looks like the best "strings attached" rate will again be Ubank at 6.05%.

    • [Deactivated] on 26/04/2010 - 11:08
      +1

      No dispute that they have now added a higher rate with strings attached. Didn't say the marriage was off BUT the Honeymoon dream time has gone.. and like all marriages they need to be looked at time to time to make sure its not a habit rather than a partnership

  • mshanann on 27/04/2010 - 16:59

    UBank = NAB. If NAB can't sell new lending packages at a suitable rate/value (to offset ubank deposits), ubank will find it hard to sustain the high interest rates they pay on deposits. I'll be curious to see how UBank proceeds; I suspect either they get in to the lending game, or they drop their rates back and hope existing customers don't leave in droves.

    http://www.infochoice.com.au/banking/savings-account/news/ub…

    • [Deactivated] on 07/05/2010 - 20:59

      Well they are definitely playing the banking game now. Another interest rate rise by the RBA and they now announce on their website you can get 6.05% (which INCLUDES the .20% bonus rate) as of June 1

      This is the same as they offered before the last rate rise but they didn't put this in their headline, the had said it was 5.85% plus the .20% rise for the $200 new deal.

      So they haven't moved their rates while the RBA moved the base by .5% (all they gave was .1% to those who are on the bonus rate AND its not happening for another month.

      It works as in many posts, people here keep telling us they are offering 6.05% when they are still only giving 5.85%.

      Not a good sign, maybe they will go up more, but will it be on June 1st or will they be clever and leave it a further month eg July?

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