Heartland Bank brands align deposit rates

Among the banks, the only major change was RaboDirect lowering its  rate further on 90-day deposit rate by another 30 basis points. The bank is now offering 4.55% which is now far lower than the 4.90% rate offered by market leader ASB Bank.

The other big changes came from the individual entities, now brands, that form the merged unit Combined Building Society as rates were made uniform across the brands.

The merger of Marac Finance, CBS Canterbury and Southern Cross was completed earlier this month and the new entity is now a building society which is offering a range of investments under three unique brands. While all investment products are now being offered under Combined Building Society, the characteristics of products offered by each of the brands when they were separate entities remain the same.

To align the interest rates, Marac Finance lowered rates across the majority of terms. CBS Canterbury, on the other hand, increased interest rate on short-term and for terms of one year and above while lowering rates on 5-9 month deposits.