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6.50% Interest on Online Savings Account (Minimum $25k)

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6.50% Interest on Online Savings Account (Minimum $25k)
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WaywardOne on 02/11/2011 - 17:08 beiruthellenic.com.au (1304 clicks)

Hi People,

This was sourced from Whirlpool (http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/forum-replies.cfm?t=1805778)

As you might be aware, UBank has dropped their interest rate to 6.11% (inc bonus).

Beirut Hellenic Bank has a higher rate of 6.50% for amounts between $25k and $250k.

Things to consider:

  • "Beirut Hellenic Bank is a licensed Australian Bank, regulated by the Australian Prudential Regularity Authority (APRA), and like other Australian banks, your deposits are eligible for the Australian Government Deposit Guarantee." (from http://www.beiruthellenic.com.au/Safe). Note it is currently $1m, but as of 01/02/2012 it will be changed to $250,000 (http://www.guaranteescheme.gov.au/)
  • ???
Financial Bank Account Savings Account

Related Stores

beiruthellenic.com.au
beiruthellenic.com.au

closed Comments

  • superforever on 02/11/2011 - 17:11
    -1

    So borrow 250k from UBank and Deposit it to Beirut Hellenic Bank to earn the difference :p

    So how can I borrow 250k?

    • montorola on 02/11/2011 - 17:12

      Why would you want to borrow 250k at a higher interest than what you'd potentially earn?

      • jv on 02/11/2011 - 17:15
        -3

        negative gearing… it's a tax deductible…

        • homersyd on 02/11/2011 - 17:23
          +1

          only if that can be classed as "an investment". And yep montorola was spot on! :)

        • arescarti42 on 02/11/2011 - 20:10
          +2

          Negative gearing only works if the capital value of the asset you're holding increases enough to offset the losses you're making.

          An asset in the form of a bank deposit loses value at the rate of inflation, and if the interest income doesn't even cover the interest on the loan you took to make the deposit, then you can only lose money.

        • adante on 03/11/2011 - 00:07
          +2

          whu… so is donating to charity, why not just do that?

    • toomuchdogfur on 03/11/2011 - 11:07
      +1

      C'mon guys, have you ALL broken your sarcasm-o-meters?

  • jv on 02/11/2011 - 17:11
    -1

    "Beirut Hellenic Bank"

    lol, what's their credit rating ???? Will you see your money ever again ?

    Are they related to the Tony Mokbel Savings Bank ?

    The mere fact that they need to post this page

    http://www.beiruthellenic.com.au/Safe

    does not increase my confidence in them…

    • Horizon on 02/11/2011 - 17:20
      +5

      Unfortunate combination of both Beirut & Hellenic in the one bank's name.

      I would have thought either name alone would have the alarm bells ringing.

    • ccrap on 02/11/2011 - 17:39
      +2

      lol, what's their credit rating ???? Will you see your money ever again ?

      Not sure of their credit rating, but they are specifically listed in the schedule as being covered under the guarantee: http://www.guaranteescheme.gov.au/rules/pdf/schedule-1.pdf

      The mere fact that they need to post this page … does not increase my confidence in them…

      Not really. You realise that when Rabo took off in a big way (pre-ubank, around when they gave $100 for opening a new account) they had that exact same sort of page so customers felt secure in using a bank that most Australian's hadn't heard of? Having said that, 1) Rabo's parent bank is HUGE and 2) there are somestupid redundant lines on the BHB page that made me LOL like: "strength: ASIC licenses us and APRA regulates us" No shit. Every bank needs this to operate.

      Btw, I haven't negged you jv, just pointing out what I know.

      • drprox on 03/11/2011 - 08:51
        +2

        i'm assuming anyone concerned by this Bank hides their savings (and super!) under their mattress at present (certainly the stockmarket would present far too much of a risk..).

  • mixo on 02/11/2011 - 17:17
    +3

    Still earlier days as BHB has not moved yet on interest rates. Give it a couple of days and if they dont move, bye bye ubank..

    • drexxx on 02/11/2011 - 17:21

      yeah i think that too. but shouldnt they have already prepared for the chance interest rates would be cut?

  • huntress_love on 02/11/2011 - 17:17

    25k is a bit high, most ppl who's "saving" wouldn't have that much.

    • ccrap on 02/11/2011 - 17:27

      Not necessarily true. eg if you are saving for a deposit on a house/apartment, then in order to avoid paying the huge mortgagors insurance on loans over 80%, you have to stump up 20% deposit. This amount will almost always be above $25K, as that is 20% of $125K an for $125K you won't be getting a whole lot of property in any metropolitan city of Australia..

      • heatseeker424 on 03/11/2011 - 10:44

        Let alone a whole lot of land even in a suburban area.

  • abc on 02/11/2011 - 17:26
    +3

    lol their 'Contact Us' page is not fully secure https://www.beiruthellenic.com.au/contact.aspx?pageid=10

    Hellenic eh? Isn't Greece in default :S

  • bargain_knight on 02/11/2011 - 17:35

    Despite all the jokes this is a great rate. I agree you should wait a few days to move or ring them up to see if they plan changing the rate. Also note that interest rates may also fall next month.

    Your money is guaranteed by the Australian government up to $250k, so what is there to lose? The Australian operations are regulated by APRA (the Australian prudential regulator), so it is up to APRA to ensure they are sufficiently capatilised.

  • nickj on 02/11/2011 - 18:21
    +17

    I'm with them now, with precisely this account, and they seem reasonable.

    In case it helps my fellow OzBargainers, here is a summary of my experiences:

    Upsides:
    * Good interest rates.
    * Govt guaranteed.
    * Physical branches, unlike the online banks.
    * Easy to contact a human - either on the phone and in branch.
    * Their staff have always been friendly and polite and helpful.

    Downsides:
    * Setting up an account seemed easier by going into a branch, so would recommend doing this, although it is a pain. Required about 10 minutes of filling out paper forms. Be sure to ask for and complete the form for setting up internet banking.
    * They have no direct debit function with their internet banking. So you cannot authorize BHB to directly debit your primary bank account, like you can in ubank, rabobank, virgin saver, citibank, ING direct, and bankwest. This makes transferring money in or out slower as you are limited by the transfer rate of your primary bank account (e.g. $2000 a day is common, although you can usually raise it).
    * They charged me Withholding tax on my first month's interest. I called them to get this corrected, as I had provided my TFN at the time of signing up, and so there should never be tax withheld. They investigated, agreed this should not have happened, and said it would be resolved. Today I see a new credit then added for the withholding tax (good), combined with a new debit of the exact same amount (bad), so it is still not fixed, and it's back to exactly how it was. Argghh - frustrating!

    Could be an upside, downside, or neutral:
    * Still need to see if/how they react to rate changes.

    So overall fairly good, and they are trying, although I'd say they do have a few teething issues.

    • mick01 on 02/11/2011 - 21:26

      Thanks for the review Nick. They sound pretty good. Will look into setting up an account. I notice you can have a Visa Debit card and/or a chequebook with this account, which is handy, and something the other online accounts don't offer.

    • patientvalue on 02/11/2011 - 21:35

      Thanks Nickj, appreciate you sharing your experiences and observations

    • drexxx on 03/11/2011 - 09:12

      Thanks for that. very constructive! :)

  • c64 on 02/11/2011 - 18:31

    this bank might not have dropped it's interest rates yet, for all you know next week it will be lower. i'd wait a bit and let the dust settle for all the banks

  • aggregate on 02/11/2011 - 19:02
    +3

    Even if your deposit is guaranteed, it might take months if not years to get your money out if the bank does default.

  • shortgum on 02/11/2011 - 19:37

    can't we just go to rabodirect or virginmoney instead? where bother this account???

    • massari on 03/11/2011 - 01:19

      I am puting my money in the Virginmoney. Get the 50$ bonus too w00t. :D Screw Ubank!

      • Trance N Dance on 03/11/2011 - 07:31
        +1

        UBank may have dropped interest rates quickly cause their parent company NAB probably forced them to.

        With VirginMoney and RaboDirect, be careful their 6.51% intro rate lasts for only 4 months and is also variable, wait a few days or a week and see if they drop their rates.

        If they however don't drop the rates then RaboDirect is the place to go atm with 6% as their basis variable interest rate.

  • nfr on 02/11/2011 - 22:44

    6.50% is varialbe rate isn't it? They could drop it anytime; they could drop faster than other banks if they want to.

    • ccrap on 03/11/2011 - 00:55

      correct. which is why someone above said wait to see if this is steady thing or if there will be a delayed reaction to the announced rate cut.

  • surat on 03/11/2011 - 09:46

    If this bank interest rate higher, can UBANK match it? I think last time they can beat the rate of other banks. Am I right? or it is no longer anymore.

    EDIT: found it. not include this bank. http://www.ubank.com.au/ub/web/usaver/online-savings-rate-as…

    • nickj on 03/11/2011 - 17:37

      Ubank don't have rabodirect on their assurance list (intro rate), or virgin money (intro rate), or HSBC serious saver (intro rate), or this (standard rate) - and any one of those is a better rate than ubank right now (although what happens with all their rates remains to be seen).

      Rather it's just the subset of savings accounts that Ubank want to be compared to. Also says "valid until further notice." So in practice, Ubank's rate assurance is meaningless, because they can remove it whenever they like, and they have choosen to ignore their strongest competitors.

      Besides, ubank won't even match or beat other banks when explicitly given the chance - and I've personally given them that chance on two occasions on the phone before moving funds elsewhere (including explaining where I was moving it to and what rate I was going to get that was higher than theirs, asking if they would match it, and being told "no").

      But look, kudos to them, Ubank have been pretty good over the past 2 or so years. Sometimes they were the highest, and even when they weren't they were certainly close to the top. But it looks like that good run has just ended, and certainly their 0.40% drop on rate day is a pretty clear indication that they are far less hungry for deposits than they were back in the day when Gerd was still running the show and personally responding to comments on ozbargain. Same arc happened with ING, which used to be great, but now is very ordinary.

  • shaiguy on 03/11/2011 - 10:46
    +2

    Guys - FYI, doing some research, Beirut Hellenic Bank was formerly known as Laiki Bank in Australia when the Bank of Beirut purchased a major shareholding of Laiki (Australia) Bank:
    http://au.greekreporter.com/2011/05/23/a-new-era-has-began-a…
    Included in the article is this:
    "The partnership of Bank of Beirut and Laiki Bank under the leadership of James Wakim has led to significant achievements over the last month including:
    • Maintaining the most competitive term deposit of any Australian bank at 6.70% p.a. for
    12 months
    • Growing the capital of the bank by 80%
    • Increasing loans and deposits to the highest they have been in the last three years;
    • Establishing a correspondent banking and international trade department to handle customers’ import and export trade requirements. This will be headed by Allan Harvey, one of the most experienced international bankers in Australia;
    • Recruiting at least 20% additional staff;
    • Committing to open five additional branches over and above the ten existing branches before the end of 2011, with the first branch to be open in Parramatta by early July;"

    Laiki Bank's credit rating at 7 Oct 11 after a quick review: S&P: BBB, Moody's" Ba2, whilst Bank of Beirut's credit rating is Moodys: Aa2 (Jul 11).

  • bitcoinorbust on 03/11/2011 - 11:33
    -1

    i would need ubank rates to drop to 0 for me to consider putting my cash in a greek bank

    • WaywardOne on 03/11/2011 - 17:42

      It is owned by a Lebanese bank and regulated by Australian laws

  • samfisher5986 on 03/11/2011 - 12:34

    I'm confused whats with the hate towards uBank?

    I'm not aware of anything better and this doesn't count for many reasons.

  • noskich on 03/11/2011 - 14:18
    +1

    Seems like best option is switching to Rabo Bank for 6.51% (http://www.gfmag.com/tools/best-banks/11341-worlds-50-safest…) for four months and after switching back to Ubank if their rate stays 6.11%, although you would probably get a standard rate of 5.70ish during the first month and thus lose 0.50ish% interest, but overall still better than sticking with Ubank all the time.
    http://www.rabodirect.com.au/high-interest-savings/in-detail…

  • chez on 03/11/2011 - 15:10

    You won't lose the 0.50ish% interest if you set up the bonus a month before you transfer back.

    • noskich on 03/11/2011 - 16:12

      Right, thanks for the tip.

    • danyool on 03/11/2011 - 17:39

      You should be able to get the bonus if you set it up a couple of days before the end of the month. Annoying rule though. Really - what difference does it make when you set it up - expect that they can stooge you for a whole month if you not do it in the prior month.

      • noskich on 03/11/2011 - 18:14

        Right, Chez said the same thing. That timed transfer was the only thing that pissed me off about UBank; I had to set up a reminder in Outlook to transfer the damn money which I was transfering anyways prior and after that specific date.
        I m definitely switching to Rabo and will see after 4 months who will be the most competitive.

        • chez on 04/11/2011 - 10:33

          Annoying is right. I once missed the transfer by one night (doing it for someone) and they had to transfer it to a different account (that had the bonus) for the next month, then back again after that.

  • mixo on 03/11/2011 - 19:49

    I think the smart people have accounts with most banks and move their money with whoever has the best interest rates at any given time.

    mixo

  • machej on 03/11/2011 - 21:21

    I'll stick with Rabodirect since they have 6.5% too and are backed by a bigger bank. (Rabobank)

  • maldrat on 03/11/2011 - 23:10

    Is it a Halal bank?

    • machej on 04/11/2011 - 13:39

      Halal bank? It is probably Kosher as well, vegetarian and vegan. Thank god for that.

  • noskich on 04/11/2011 - 09:26

    make it halal, never haram, forever!

    • OzzyBrak on 05/11/2011 - 09:38

      Not really on topic, but it's my understanding that it's haram to earn any interest on money in the bank.

      • noskich on 16/11/2011 - 11:35

        Not really, even in islamic banking there is interest, it s just that there are ways around it, but at the end ultimately interest is calculated and paid.

  • chuneeperformance on 16/11/2011 - 10:19

    is the rate 6.25 now? I cant see the 6.5% anymore ???

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