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Citibank Online Saver Account, 6 Months Introductory Rate, 5.71%Pa

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Citibank Online Saver Account, 6 Months Introductory Rate, 5.71%Pa
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centurylegend on 25/02/2010 - 11:16 citibank.com.au (165 clicks)

Citibank is offering their online savings account to new customers with a 6 months intro rate of 5.71% pa - 0.09% more than UBank (if you don't want to set up an automatic savings plan).

Of course, there is the usual things you'd expect from online saving accounts like no fees or minimum balance, etc

https://www.ubank.com.au/ub/web/usaver/online-savings-compar…

It would be interesting to see if Ubank will include Citibank in their rate assurance range.

ps. I have 2 Ubank accounts and am interested in moving to Citibank for 6 months then move back :)

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  • Turd on 25/02/2010 - 11:26

    Give it a few weeks when the RBA increase the rates and ubank will up their rates too.

    • muzzamo on 25/02/2010 - 11:46

      ubank is fairly "disconnected" from the RBA, they certainly don't move them in lock step so no guarantees.

      Although I think another juicy ubank rise is about due :-)

  • SomeGuyOnOzB on 25/02/2010 - 13:08
    +1

    Hmm … I mentioned this on the UBank thread, hoping they might increase their rates. I like your approach better :)

    With an ASP that meets the terms and conditions, the UBank saver offers 5.72%

    I had an account with Citibank before, which also had a special offer for 6 months from the time the account was opened. Note that, the time the account is opened was before I received notification the account was opened. It was the time the account was approved by someone, back in the Citibank office. So, if you can, you may want that date from Citbank support. (Alternatively get your money out after around 5 months … don't wait till 6 months are up)

    With the low rate after 6 months, you'll probably want to move your money elsewhere.

    A great introductory rate of 5.71% p.a.1 for the first 6 months of your account opening. At the end of 6 months you'll receive our standard variable interest rate, currently 4.25% p.a.1

    • John Dough on 25/02/2010 - 15:04

      With citibank, there is ALWAYS a catch if not more than one.

      They hope you will deposit then forget about it.

      Not worth a negative vote, but close.

      I had a BP Citibank card to save at BP servos, I spend over $150 per month on petrol.
      It was dearer than using a normal credit card - after all their catches and clauses and fees and charges.

      Dont trust citibank at all.

      • centurylegend on 25/02/2010 - 15:23

        I actually have a good general experience with Citibank:
        1) I have a Platinum credit card with them that has Nil annual fee ever, with rewards, free travel insurance etc… (thanks to OZbargain)
        2) Personal bankers from Citibank who call you up to offer products and information from time to time

        Anyway, it may not be to the liking for everyone, but I thought their 6 intro rate is better than some offered by other bigger banks.

        cheers

  • insertusernamehere on 25/02/2010 - 14:15

    "ps. I have 2 Ubank accounts and am interested in moving to Citibank for 6 months then move back :)"

    Would you really bother moving your money around for 0.09%??

    • centurylegend on 25/02/2010 - 14:19

      I would actually, given I have a considerably large sum of cash sitting there in UBank (that I don't want to put in the share market at the moment). Also, it would be good for everyone if Ubank can beat or at least match Citibank's rate.

      • TtiGeR on 25/02/2010 - 14:30
        +1

        For 100K (which is quite a lot), the difference of 0.09% is about $45 (pre-tax) for 6 months.

        BUT, you lose $15.4 due to no interest earned for 1 day (i.e. typical inter-bank transfer).

        If you do the transfer on Friday, you lose $46.2 because you don't get interest on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

        There is also a daily transfer limit, so you can't really transfer 100K in one day.

        Overall, I don't see it worths the effort involved.

        • SomeGuyOnOzB on 25/02/2010 - 14:57

          I thought interbank transfer can cost up to 3 business days; is Citibank just 1 business day?

          Say the interest every day the money is in the Citibank account earns extra interest based on 0.09% extra interest.

          6 months (it's february right now) could be from 181 days long to maybe 184 days long. We'll use 181 for now.

          Every day the money loses interest, it loses interest based on 4.62% per anum (UBank).

          If Y is the number of days that you lose interest then …

          You can lose roughly 3 days of interest before the switch to Citibank costs you money. Note that that is days lost TOTAL; when money goes to Citibank + when money goes to USaver.

          Actual figures should be checked by yourself, possibly consulting a financial modeller or mathematician as necessary.

          Some sums of money may lose all benefit due to daily rounding of interest earned, etc

          • dragonrabit on 25/02/2010 - 17:50

            @SomeGuyOnOzB: i have account with cba and citibank and this citibank online saver account. when i need my money i just transfer my money from this online saver account to my citi transaction account and the money is ready immediately. compare with u bank that u need 1 business day as long as you request before 4 pm business day.

        • SomeGuyOnOzB on 25/02/2010 - 15:59

          -> TtiGer

          Money is transferred to Citibank = 1 day (best case scenario)
          Money is transferred to UBank = another day (best case scenario)

          Best case scenario 2 days lost.

          But if one bank takes 2 days or more …

          If Century legend had $1 million, 10 times what you used, it could be a gain of around $150 for 6 months term deposit …

      • SomeGuyOnOzB on 25/02/2010 - 16:09

        Come to think of it, CenturyLegend, if you have a large sum of cash in UBank, you might be able to play games with another account and an Automatic Savings Plan, to utilise the USaver ASP …

        Though, since you already have other accounts with Citibank, it would make more sense to transfer it to them and skip the games to keep it with USaver and get roughly the same interest rate.

        • centurylegend on 25/02/2010 - 16:34

          Thanks for the advice foundit :-) Let's all hope UBank raises their rates and everyone will be happy :)

          • SomeGuyOnOzB on 26/02/2010 - 20:18

            @centurylegend: I forgot, the ASP bonus does not apply once savings in that account reach around $150k (and each customer can only get the ASP on one account). :)

      • montza on 26/02/2010 - 04:53

        If you were up for 6 months of cash parking, why wouldn't you take a 6 month Term Deposit instead? UBank and ING are paying 6.26%p.a. and 6.25%p.a. respectively…

        http://www.canstar.com.au/interest-rate-comparison/compare-1…

      • insertusernamehere on 26/02/2010 - 10:54

        Hardly worth the effort when you could just deposit 25 a week and get the extra 0.10% from ubank. As montza mentioned, a 6month term deposit with ubank would be better if ur only looking to do it for that long. Personally, I wouldn;t waste my time, if theres that much money in there 100 a month isn't an issue, plus ur increasing your savings..

        • SomeGuyOnOzB on 26/02/2010 - 20:13

          Might even be able to set up a couple of automated transfers.

          $100 out, then $100 in 5 business days later. Though failure to pay attention to what is going on could be an issue, if there are any problems with a transfer out.

  • Iggsy81 on 25/02/2010 - 16:08

    I thought ubank has a promise to have the highest rate of its competitors, so it will have to raise their rate to equal this anyway wont it?

  • ryivian on 25/02/2010 - 21:45

    ubank saver with an automatic transfer of over $200 has an interest rate of 5.72%

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