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RAMS Savings Account 5.75% as Ubank Drop Again Now down to 5.16%

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RAMS Savings Account 5.75% as Ubank Drop Again Now down to 5.16%
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LYabadabadoo on 24/10/2012 - 12:40 rams.com.au (1921 clicks)
Last edited 26/10/2012 - 21:31 by 1 other user

Hi all,
I know a lot of OzBargainers out there have a Ubank Usaver account so this may interest you. Yes I know it’s been listed before but the difference in rates is a lot more now.
Ubank for dropped there rate again! so a total of 0.55% drop after the official drop of just 0.25%.
I have been very happy with ubank until now but there rate and lack of a bug free website has changed my mind. RAMS (part of Westpac) have a similar account with a current rate of 5.75% so 0.59% higher than ubank and they have a nice mobile website and the normal web site work great aswell.

You can’t withdraw any money to get the full rate but the rest of the rules are the same as ubank. I suggest if you have a ubank account that you still keep some cash in it so you can move it around as needed and put the bulk in a RAMS account. If the rates drop at RAMS move your cash on the 1st of the month to avoid any lost bonus interest.
I just started moving my cash so I expect to save an extra $2.50 per day with the current rate difference

Seems RAMS reviewed their rate and from 30 Oct it's 5.17%:

"New rate effective 30 Oct 2012: bonus variable rate of 5.17% p.a. Incl. 0.8% p.a. variable bonus if each month you deposit $200 and make no withdrawals"

Financial Bank Account Savings Account

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RAMS Home Loan
RAMS Home Loan

closed Comments

  • YOTR on 24/10/2012 - 12:46
    +7

    Yep, I'm out of Ubank. Shameful!

      • YOTR on 24/10/2012 - 13:05
        +2

        They have dropped rates twice this month, whilst Rams have not.

        Shameful!

        • Shwayne on 24/10/2012 - 15:25
          +5

          Who says Rams won't?

        • furythree on 24/10/2012 - 16:48

          FYI
          Ubank are probably doing this because all the banks are speculating more rate cuts due to inflation in the coming months. They are saving themselves money in the long run
          The other banks will follow soon enough

        • nookular on 24/10/2012 - 17:34
          +2

          Lower inflation or higher inflation?

        • furythree on 25/10/2012 - 11:35

          sorry higher inflation, but it will just be for the christmas period, they are still betting on another rate cut which is why they are all pushing fixed rate home loans right now cause they want to lock you in at a higher rate

          i should note that i think 1 year fixed rate loans at the moment are as low as 5.15% so you can get a home loan, draw down $500000 and put it in the rams account for as long as the rate stays the same

          and make $3000 lol

    • justtoreply on 24/10/2012 - 14:39
      +2

      Banks rates depend on how much money they want in, and how much money they want to lend.

      If they can't invest your money in anything worthwhile? They drop their interest paid to savings accounts. Because they don't WANT your money!

      If they are worried about bad debts, they raise the interest rate on their loans, to prevent adpproval of potentially bad loans (of course, they also make it harder to actually pay the loan).

      You are just simplifying way too much. Find the best bank that suits you, whether that be a good deal for savings or for loans, and change banks when the deals on offer change! Complaining is pointless.

      Gets more complicated if you have a home loan. An offset account will save you more interest since you'll effectively receive the loan rate, which is higher than the savings rate. And also interest saved isn't charged as taxable income, so you don't lose your marginal rate of tax on it.

      Edit: The 'bonus interest rate for no withdrawals' is always a bollocks deal.

    • c64 on 26/10/2012 - 16:47

      @ YOTR, so are you out of rams as well now that rams are dropping their rate to 5.17% including bonus? shameful!

  • abc on 24/10/2012 - 12:49

    all these rates are variable. What's to stop them dropping in the next couple of months if the RBA decides the cash rate is still to high?

    • jv on 24/10/2012 - 12:50
      +3

      they don't have to wait for the RBA to change rates, they can do it any time…

      • EmmaT UBank on 25/10/2012 - 10:06
        +1

        Hello abc and jv, I work for UBank and just wanted to clarify that we review our rates on a weekly basis outside of the RBA. Taking into account a number of factors, we've made the difficult decision to move our interest rates.

  • jv on 24/10/2012 - 12:49
    +21

    so I expect to save an extra $2.50 per day with the current rate difference

    so you have about $150,000 saved up… is that all money saved from Ozbargain?

    • Yabadabadoo on 24/10/2012 - 12:52
      +8

      Pretty much :)

      • Future Kids on 24/10/2012 - 14:33

        Wow… that's over $900 more interest in one year.

        • fchis on 24/10/2012 - 15:18

          minus tax. 1/3 of $900 is going to ATO in most cases.

        • Shwayne on 24/10/2012 - 15:26
          +1

          7% fully franked dividends on Telstra aren't even taxed! :D

          Bank Interest is highway robbery.

        • jv on 24/10/2012 - 17:12
          +2

          Telstra aren't even taxed!

          Dividends are taxed at the company rate and paid by the company.

          You get Tax credits, but if you top bracket is higher than the company tax rate, you will need to pay… if it is less, you get a refund…

        • c64 on 24/10/2012 - 21:49
          +1

          every investment has a risk associated with it. a 7% return is also very mediocre if you are willing to take a big risk.

    • slix_88 on 24/10/2012 - 14:14
      +16

      Saved from OzB? I find myself wasting more money on this site on stuff I "may need".

      • jv on 24/10/2012 - 17:16
        +4

        Every time you get a free whopper, deposit $5 in your bank account…
        If you did this everyday for 80 years, you too would have $150,000 !!!

        • dmc900 on 24/10/2012 - 21:17
          +6

          I don't think you would live 80 years if you had a whopper everyday :(
          Sad story of the day.

  • c64 on 24/10/2012 - 12:59

    what's to say rams won't drop their rates in the very near future? or that ubank won't up their rates again to match rams like they have done previously?

    the ubank website seems to work fine for me.

    • user27 on 24/10/2012 - 13:04
      +13

      then you move the money back to UBank and tell everyone else to to the same. Hopefully all the money flowing out of UBank will wake them up

      • c64 on 24/10/2012 - 13:20

        if you wanted a long term place to park your money you would have been better off taking out a term deposit at a higher rate months ago.

        a point to take note of when moving your money is that outward transfers from rams are slow, taking 2 business days (1 day's lost interest).

        i opened a rams account when it was first posted months ago and did a couple of $1 test transfers and discovered the slow transfers. i promptly closed the account days later. together with the withdrawal restrictions it didn't seem worth the effort. ubank increased its rates a short while later. hopefully they will do so again.

        • Future Kids on 24/10/2012 - 14:44
          +1

          but with the current rate difference, the 1 day loss of interest can be even out if money saved at RAMS for more than 10 days…

    • Yabadabadoo on 24/10/2012 - 13:10
      +2

      Nothing, but it’s been higher than ubank for many months now.
      I say keep both and move back if needed but at the current rate difference it worth the move.

      I get the feeling ubank is giving up the top spot now. They just lowered their base rate to less than that of at least 3 of their competitors and the their Max rate to less than that of at least 5 competitors ! It’s not like the competitors rose there rates and uBank hasn’t cached up, uBank purposely dropped theirs so they are less than many competitors !

      As for the uBank site i am probably different to most as I use a Windows Phone and Windows 8/IE10 on the PC. Both don’t work with uBank. RAMS works fine (as does almost every other site) and they have a nice mobile site for Windows Phone. so 100% better for me :)

      • aurotaro on 24/10/2012 - 13:20
        +3

        Isn't that how marketing works? Put deals out better than the rest of the market for 1-2 years. Suck in the crowds.

        Then stay at market value for the rest of the business venture. 5-15% will probably move to get a better deal elsewhere, the rest 85-95% just won't be bothered to move their money.

      • jackofspade on 24/10/2012 - 13:38
        +3

        FYI
        1. If you transfer funds out of RAMS you will lose at least 1 day of interest.
        2. If RAMS drops the rate in the middle of the month and you decide to move your funds out then you will lose the bonus 0.80% for whole month.

  • impoze on 24/10/2012 - 13:02

    the myrams site is under maintenance atm too

  • His_Holiness on 24/10/2012 - 13:03
    +5

    Rams haven't increased their rate, it's always been at 5.75%. Shouldnt this then be a forum post?

    • Vallani on 24/10/2012 - 15:34
      +7

      I don't mind a deal like this being posted. Although the 'price' offered by RAMS is the same, the effective saving is now substantially greater, and it's good to bring this to the attention of people who may not be aware of it.

      • jv on 24/10/2012 - 17:19

        I don't mind a deal like this being posted.

        It's not really a deal though, they've had that rate for a while…

        It's kind of like posting Shell fuel is a bargain when Caltex put their price up, even though Shell haven't dropped the price…

    • yada on 24/10/2012 - 19:16

      seems to be scope creep of the term 'bargain'.

      Bargain to me is paying a low amount for goods/services.

      Making more money is a good deal, but does not really make a 'bargain' in the true sense of the word.

  • Future Kids on 24/10/2012 - 13:16

    Is RAMS under The Financial Claims Scheme (FCS)?

    • Yabadabadoo on 24/10/2012 - 13:23

      RAMS is Westpac so yes :) If you apply all you see is Westpac everywhere like in the T&C's it explains "we" as "Westpac" and our website www.westpac.com.au LOL

  • prisonerzero on 24/10/2012 - 13:27

    It's highly unlikely that this rate will stay at 5.75%, even if the RBA leaves rates unchanged next month, but I guess in the mean time it's the best rate out there.

    • fchis on 24/10/2012 - 15:20

      But i think their rate will still be better than the Ubank has to offer.

  • GravyNanna on 24/10/2012 - 13:34
    +1

    Opened an account! Even if they drop it a bit, hopefully its higher than UBank with their ever-decreasing variable rate.

  • ozshaz on 24/10/2012 - 13:37
    +2

    any good joining deals from RAMS ? ;-)

  • fomal on 24/10/2012 - 13:42

    Well, I guess the main difference with uBank is if you withdraw your money, it will go down to 4.95 compare to 5.15 in ubank. But still good saver if people would like a saver option than a long term deposit :)

  • supercheap1 on 24/10/2012 - 13:45

    Wonder how long it will stay at 5.75%

  • doperst on 24/10/2012 - 14:09

    If I withdraw my money from Ubank now, will I lose the savings bonus for this month? Maybe I should wait until November 1st?

    • prisonerzero on 24/10/2012 - 14:13
      +2

      You don't loose the bonus at Ubank by withdrawing money. You just have to keep depositing $200 via ASP - you're allowed to take it straight back out.

      • yada on 25/10/2012 - 19:29
        +5

        Dear citizen of the internet,

        Lose = loss
        Loose = not tight

    • Shwayne on 24/10/2012 - 15:30

      No, you can freely do whatever you want with the money in UBank, and that is why I'm not moving my money.

    • EmmaT UBank on 25/10/2012 - 10:50
      +1

      Hi doperst, I work for UBank. prisonerzero and Sturmeh are correct, there are no penalties for withdrawing out of your USaver as long as you have the ASP depositing at least $200 per month. Let me know if you have any other questions.

  • adriancfc on 24/10/2012 - 14:31

    RAMS has been on 5.75% since they launch the savings product.

    Isn't this more appropriate in the forum?

    • hashtagbargain on 24/10/2012 - 14:42
      +4

      In the light of ubank dropping its rates, this can be made an exception to be classified as a deal.

      I'm all for it. If it were in the forums, I wouldn't have known of this!

  • Saul Goodman on 24/10/2012 - 14:33

    Is it better off leaving my money in my offset account or putting my savings into an actual savings account?

  • adante on 24/10/2012 - 14:35

    I've been meaning to make the jump from ubank to rams for a while. Just to clarify, is the best way to do this on the 1st of the month to wait for the interest payout or just do it immediately?

    I'd like to think if I had e.g. $100k in ubank and moved it out on the 20th of the month, on the rollover to the 1st they would still pay the interest for the 2/3rds of the month into that account, but just wondering if this is indeed the case.

    • hashtagbargain on 24/10/2012 - 14:43

      I think interest is calculated daily, but best to make a quick call to ubank to confirm.

    • macfanboy on 24/10/2012 - 17:09

      The Daily limit is $20,000

    • EmmaT UBank on 25/10/2012 - 10:52

      Hello adante, I work for UBank. We calculate interest on the daily closing credit balance of your USaver, up to and including the last day of the month. Let us know if you have any further questions.

      • airpoe on 25/10/2012 - 14:58
        +1

        Hi Emma,

        Just wanted to know if you want to vote for this deal?

        • fchis on 25/10/2012 - 19:03

          I think Emma is also the one writing comments on their facebook page.

          Airpoe, LOL, this is classic. If she wants to keep her job, the answer will be no.

  • pilchard on 24/10/2012 - 14:47

    What's the RAMS online banking UI like?

    edit: never mind. They are a full 1.5% higher than ING Direct. Even if their website sucks, it's probably still worth the switch. :)

  • [Deactivated] on 24/10/2012 - 14:50
    +1

    Can you transfer funds directly between RAMS and Ubank accounts?

    • Turd on 24/10/2012 - 15:11

      UBANK -> RAMS defiantly unsure about RAMS -> other accounts.

      Ubank is great in that you can transfer money to any account without having to move it to a linked transaction account.

      • dom_christo on 24/10/2012 - 16:19

        quick guide on how to do so? (:

  • cloudy on 24/10/2012 - 15:27

    my ubank is higher than the 5.16% qouted from OP.

    this is my latest message from ubank.

    12-Oct-2012 IS : 5.46 % P.A..

    till 29 bp below rams, but hardly enough to entice me to change accounts. if ubank does lower it to 5.16 i might consider.

    • Shwayne on 24/10/2012 - 15:31

      It will drop for everyone on Friday.

    • [Deactivated] on 24/10/2012 - 16:32

      It has gone down again since 12 Oct.

  • wutang01 on 24/10/2012 - 16:00

    OMG I regret opening the account now. I HATE on-screen keyboards with a passion …

  • cooni on 24/10/2012 - 16:23
    +1

    Holy crap, that's higher than my home loan rate!

  • ethereal88 on 24/10/2012 - 16:42
    -7

    Why bother? The government knows all about your savings for a pitiful 6% or less? I'll keep my cash stashed in 100's securely than putting in a bank.

    • stig on 24/10/2012 - 16:47
      +5

      I enjoy the extra $100/month I get from having it in a bank at the moment (and my savings are quite meagre compared to others). Don't get that from storing it under your mattress.

      • ethereal88 on 24/10/2012 - 17:18
        -7

        Nope. Not worth it. I can get cash work easily for extra cash a month. Not worth it.

        • onetwothreefour on 24/10/2012 - 22:28
          +4

          We can get cash for leaving our money in a high interest bank account…have fun at work.

  • firedragon on 24/10/2012 - 16:44

    Really easy and quick to open an account (online verification with driver's license and medicare card). Also provided with BSB and account number straightaway so I can deposit funds in.

  • stig on 24/10/2012 - 16:46

    Grr, couldn't verify my identity (no idea why… nothing wrong with my licence or Medicare numbers) when signing up for new RAMS account, so now I have to make a trip into the nearest Westpac. Not a big deal, but was hoping I wouldn't have to. Not liking RAMS already :(

  • macfanboy on 24/10/2012 - 17:11

    Opened an account, very easy.
    Put $10 in, will wait to see how long it takes.
    Put a $200 savings plan for 5th each month.
    If ok i will transfer 3/4 of my ubank balance out as i need to keep some in ubank as i need to take money out once a month.

  • noskich on 24/10/2012 - 19:47
    +1

    So, you get the bonus at RAMS only after the $200 has been credited?
    So better first credit 200 and only after it has been transferred move the major portion of money from Ubank?

  • MondaySleeper on 24/10/2012 - 19:58

    I hope this also have Govt Guarantee similar to uBank. Seems up-to $250,000

  • noskich on 24/10/2012 - 20:05
    +1

    *To qualify for the bonus interest you must make deposits totalling at least $200 each month, make no withdrawals during the month and have an account balance that does not fall below $0 or exceed $500,000 at any time during the month.

    So better NOT to deposit from Ubank straight away, wait for one month to pass and 3-4 days before transfer $200 and after the first month transfer most money from Ubank.
    Does RAMS have automatic transfer set up from another bank account?

    • mick01 on 24/10/2012 - 21:04

      I don't follow. Surely it's better to move your money to Rams straight away and start earning the higher interest rate now rather than later. Why wait for one month??

      • fchis on 24/10/2012 - 21:11

        As far as i know, RAMS is similar to Goal Saver account from CBA. When you first deposit your money (min. $200) into RAMS from Ubank, you are already qualified for the bonus rate. It's not the same as Ubank account where you get the bonus rate after you set up the automatic transfer for min $200 which you don't receive the bonus rate till the next month.

    • thejew on 26/10/2012 - 15:34

      This man ^^ He knows :)

  • Richardlwf89 on 24/10/2012 - 22:33
    +1

    Internet banking down for maintenance? I hope it's not as frequent as UBank! Just made the switch

  • WaywardOne on 24/10/2012 - 22:44

    When transferring your cash to a new account you will forfeit interest. Your money will be 'between' accounts and you not gain any interest.

    For UBank customers, this interest will be at 5.16% pa. The difference is 0.59%. This means that to break even it will take about 9x (5.16 / 0.59) the days of lost interest. That is, if it takes two days to transfer then it will take you 18 days to break even.

    Am I right? Does this make sense to anyone?

    What does this all mean? If RAMS drops their rates within 18 days you may not break even.

    • Yabadabadoo on 24/10/2012 - 23:15
      +1

      others may have had a different experience but for me i transfered money from ubank at 11am on the 23rd and i could see it on rams that night (can remember if it was after 12am or not but the date on rams was the 23rd). So no loss of interest at all. No idea how long it takes the other way. I have a normal westpac account (remember RAMS is westpac) and people often say i get paid quicker than they do as they are with other banks (wages etc) so i assume it will be quick as well.

      • CuteBirdy on 25/10/2012 - 02:12

        It's the other way around that's the problem, from what I've read. If you transfer money out of RAMS, the receiving bank will record it as happening the day after you did it (and that RAMS recorded on their end), causing you to lose 1 day of interest.

      • c64 on 25/10/2012 - 13:12

        So no loss of interest at all.

        it's taking your money out where you lose interest

        http://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/70916#comment-890234

    • [Deactivated] on 24/10/2012 - 23:45
      +1

      No if you transfer money to another bank prior to the cut off time it usually is listed as deposited same day so you will get interest for that day. If after the cut off time then you will probably lose a day as it will show up next day.

    • Yabadabadoo on 25/10/2012 - 10:56

      just got this:

      We've been working on more improvements to myRAMS and so we're writing to let you know what the changes are and when they take effect.

      The details of the key changes - effective 24 October 2012 - are provided below:

      Changes to processing times for funds transfers:
      Transfers requested prior to 4pm on a business day (Sydney time) will be processed immediately;
      Transfers requested after 4pm on a business day (Sydney time), the weekend or a public holiday will be processed the next business day. The payment will be saved as a future dated transfer.

      • CuteBirdy on 25/10/2012 - 11:04

        Can someone do a test transaction now, to confirm the improvement in transfer time?

        • andyman1908 on 25/10/2012 - 13:15
          +1

          I deposited money into my rams account about 1pm yesterday (created yesterday) and its confirmed this morning when I looked (transaction date shows 24/10/12). Pretty happy with that.

  • [Deactivated] on 25/10/2012 - 00:57
    -2

    dudes and dudettes, compare the ubank savings account interest rate to the homeloan rate and you will see ubank is STILL offering one of the best variable rates in the market (no 2. on infochoice).

    http://www.infochoice.com.au/home-loans.aspx

    • ozshaz on 25/10/2012 - 05:28
      +1

      i thought we are discussing about the saving accounts and not the home loans :-)

  • gimme on 25/10/2012 - 09:48

    Yeah exactly, who cares about home loan rates. we're talking about savings rates. There's nothing stopping anyone from going with RAMS for their savings and Ubank for home loans if they choose.

  • jjjia on 25/10/2012 - 10:11

    that's helpful, i used to monitor the rates they used to be similar. it looks like RAMS will drop the rate slower in case of future rate cut. I am switching

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