Warning these Favourable Terms may Change in the Future

Banks often change the terms and conditions of accounts like these, to benefit themselves and take advantage of the naivety of their clients. It was in fact the news today 1/10/24 that ANZ and Westpac have just done this to one of their most popular banking products 

ANZ has dropped its ongoing rate on Plus Save accounts from 4.9 per cent to 0.5 per cent unless customers grow their balance by at least a $100 each month. Customers who meet the new terms will receive a bonus 4.5 per cent, taking the maximum ongoing rate to 5 per cent.

The announcement follows a similar move by Westpac last month, which cut its base rate by 0.15 per cent and increased its bonus rate by the same amount. It meant Westpac Life customers could still earn a maximum rate of 5 per cent, but only if they increased their balance each month.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission found about 71 per cent of bonus interest accounts missed out on bonus interest in any given month. RateCity.com.au money editor Laine Gordon said the move from ANZ was a double-edged sword for savers.

“People who can squirrel away an extra $100 or more each month into their ANZ Plus Save account will be rewarded with a rate hike,” she said.

“Others who can’t squeeze any extra savings from their budget, however, will see their savings goals take a major hit.“

“Keen savers can now get ongoing rates of 5 per cent or even higher, however, customers would do well to read the fine print. “The majority of these high interest accounts are riddled with specific conditions that can send your monthly interest into a black hole the moment you miss a step.”

Macquarie’s new Transaction and Savings accounts still ahead of the pack in terms of their online banking offering in the internet era. We will see how long this lasts. The good news is that These can be opened quickly and easily by Helm clients. You only need to go to your Macquarie online account and click the blue ‘open a new account’ link and follow the 4 or 5 simple steps outlined there.

This new personal banking suite from Macquarie is designed as a replacement to the high fee, low interest, tricky personal banking products that are being offered by Australian Banks. Your Helm connection will mean that these accounts will not only be good for your bottom line while this lasts,but they’ll also have a service advantage as well.

Here are three reasons why these accounts offer will offer you a better Personal Everyday Banking service:

1. We are familiar with their banking policies as we all use these accounts for our own personal banking.
2. We have a 40-year relationship with Macquarie Bank so will have some (small) influence on how they deal with our clients’ accounts.
3. We can continue to assist our elderly clients (and their EPoA’s) when they start to need some assistance with their banking, if they have been using this suite of products before this happens.  This is very important for out much older clients

Great Interest Rates

• A Transaction (MasterCard) account paying 4.75% on the daily balance
• The savings account. Paying 5.35% p.a. for 4 months and then reverting to the std rate  of 4.75%

Above: current rates on savings and transaction accounts. 5/08/2024- https://www.macquarie.com.au/everyday-banking/savings-account.html

Ten More Reasons to Consider Using These Accounts

1. Great Rate on the Savings Account and the Transaction (card) account all funds at call always.
2. Zero “disclosed’ ongoing fees.
3. Both accounts are Easy to Open just a few clicks if you already have a CMA account and a live online login.
4. Instant Transfer from one account to the other (from Savings to Transaction and Vice versa)
5. This money will not be considered as part of your Helm account and is not automatically visible to us on our adviser portal, but you can grant this access to us if you wish. 
6. No Tricky Conditions needed to earn the top rate on the savings account for the first 4 months other than having to open and operate a no fee Transaction Mastercard Linked Account that also pays 4.5% on the daily balance, also with no tricks.
7. You get a Mastercard as a part of the deal to pay for day-to-day expenses and to access cash at Woollies or Coles or the Bank ATM if needed.
8. All these accounts will automatically show up on your Macquarie online login and your smartphone app.
9. Macquarie has a great solution to the possible confusion that can occur when you have multiple accounts in similar names in one bank,
   • Macquarie have a system of allowing you to nickname each bank account so that you do not accidentally put (or take) money into (or out of) one account that has a very similar name instead of the correct account.
   • By choosing completely different nicknames for each account, which comes up whenever you deal with your Macquarie accounts (via the app or any other way online) it reduces the potential for confusion and makes banking a lot easier.
10. If you want to make a large payment to a third party (for a car or a holiday or a new house) and you have the funds stored up in one or more of these accounts, you can instantly shift them to the relevant  CMA  account linked to Helm and we can do an Adviser Initiated payment (AIP) for you to the third party (eliminating the need for a Bank Cheque) and saving you the bother of making the payment in multiple small amounts online with the ‘pay anyone’ limits imposed by  most online high interest bank accounts. Helm’s AIP limit is $500,000 per payment/day.