Interest rates: Why you need to switch from Big Four banks to get a better ... trends now
Australians are being urged to consider ditching the 'Big Four' banks with savings rates failing to rise in line with official interest rate rises.
The Reserve Bank of Australia's ninth consecutive monthly rate rise has this week taken the cash rate to a new 10-year high of 3.35 per cent.
Every increase has been reflected in higher variable mortgage rates, with borrowers now paying 43 per cent more every month compared with early May, 2022 just before rates went up.
But that 3.25 percentage point increase in the RBA cash rate during the past nine months has hardly been reflected in bank savings accounts.
A Canstar analysis showed that since April, 2022, a month before the RBA increased rates, Australia's banks had only increased their basic account rates by an average of 1.83 percentage points.
Bonus accounts with extra rewards had risen by 2.77 percentage points.
Australians are being urged to consider ditching the major banks with savings rates failing to rise in line with official interest rate rises ([pictured is a composite of the ANZ, NAB, Westpac and Commonwealth Bank logos)
Even promotional accounts, that pay higher introductory rates for three to six months, have failed to deliver, rising by 3.21 percentage points for a short time.
Once the introductory period passed, rates on these accounts had only increased by 1.35 percentage points since April last year.
Among the Big Four banks, the equivalent savings rate after the introductory period had increased by just 0.99 percentage points.
Canstar finance expert Steve Mickenbecker said borrowers wanting better savings rates needed to switch away from one of the major banks, which are quick to raise variable mortgage rates but slow to reward existing savers.
'The approach of the banks since April last
