Macquarie Bank has today unveiled its latest innovation for Australian savers with the launch of its new Macquarie Digital Term Deposit offering.
The Macquarie Digital Term Deposit offers savers access to a simpler and more transparent alternative in Australia's household term deposit market. The new offering has been designed to give customers greater control over their money while removing pain points commonly encountered when using many legacy term deposit products.
Customers opening a Macquarie Digital Term Deposit will benefit from access to:
- Competitive and transparent pricing: Lock in a fixed return across 3, 6, 9, and 12-month terms with a minimum $25,000 deposit.
- No fees: No establishment or administration fees. Customers who need to access their funds early retain all interest they've earned prior to giving notice of their withdrawal, with no penalties applied to interest already earned.
- No automatic rollovers: Funds are automatically transferred to a Macquarie transaction or savings account at maturity, where customers can continue earning the competitive interest rate applicable to that account while having complete control over their next move.
- Faster digital application process: Existing individual customers can open a Macquarie Digital Term Deposit in as little as a few minutes enabled by real-time account opening.
Customers can open, manage and track their Macquarie Digital Term Deposit entirely online through the award-winning Macquarie Mobile Banking app or Macquarie Online Banking.
Olivia McArdle, Head of Deposits and Payments at Macquarie Bank, said: "Our transaction and savings account offering has changed the game for Australian savers by allowing all customers to earn a fair return with no fees, hoops or catches. We want to extend that same proposition to the term deposit market, which is well overdue for a shake-up."
"For too long, Australians have had to haggle with their bank to ensure they're getting the best rate when opening a new term deposit. Too often, they've also been stung by hidden fees, lured in by fleeting promotional rates, or heavily penalised when accessing their own money earlier than planned due to an unexpected expense. Those days are over."
Macquarie has taken a customer-centric approach when designing the Macquarie Digital Term Deposit, with automatic rollovers and punitive early withdrawal fees identified as key areas where the bank could offer a superior experience.
"Many customers inadvertently find their savings locked in for much longer than they expected, sometimes at a significantly lower interest rate than what they signed up for," McArdle added. "This is particularly true when signing up for special promotional rates, where some customers can see their interest rate drop by more than 1.5% upon rollover. For a customer with $100,000 balance, that could mean missing out on more than $1,500 in interest over 12 months."
The new product from Macquarie also introduces a simpler approach to early withdrawals. Customers who need to access their funds before maturity will receive all interest earned prior to initiating the required 31-day notice period.
"We know circumstances can change. We think customers shouldn't miss out on the interest they've already earned because they need to access their own money. If our customers need to withdraw their funds early, they'll receive all the interest they've earned up until they give us notice. It's much fairer and easier to understand." McArdle said.
The Macquarie Digital Term Deposit complements Macquarie's existing range of everyday banking products. Macquarie charges no monthly account keeping fees and no international transaction fees on its Macquarie Transaction Account. It also refunds fees charged by other institutions for withdrawing cash from Australian ATMs when using a Macquarie debit card. On a Macquarie Savings Account there are no Macquarie fees and no monthly conditions - such as minimum deposit requirements or restrictions on withdrawals - to earn its ongoing variable interest rates.
We don't charge any fees in connection with our transaction and savings account products but others, such as other financial institutions, may.
