In a recent post in the Sydney Morning Herald they discussed that a senior Reserve Bank official was saying that the end could be near for High Interest Savings Accounts because new global liquidity standards set to come into play in 3 years time. The Reserve Bank official mentioned that once the liquidity standards were in place from 2015, online savings accounts would no longer be effective for banks, because they would always need to keep plenty of liquidity on hand.
The future for banks therefore would be in term deposits which lock away the persons money the article advised. However, what I fail to understand, is that you can easily withdraw money currently from your savings accounts with out the need to place it in any term? So, I hardly see how new liquidity laws will change this too much.
The article went onto interview a few prominent members of the online banking world, who all took my view saying that products will continue to be offered because it is a superb way to attract new clients. Currently, the highest rates offered are from Ubank and Rabodirect who are offering rates in excess of 6%. Yes, maybe they can not sustain such a high interest rate, but to say it is the end of the savings accounts forever seems a little short sighted.