New term deposits service could earn you an extra 1 percent

June 1 2011

The unspoken rule of term deposit accounts is that advertised interest rates are often negotiable. Ask for a better deal and an institution will likely respond by bumping up the rate. The only way to access these "better rates", up until now has been to call institutions directly.

But as of this month, consumers can access a number of these better rates to compare side-by-side with just a few clicks of the mouse, following the launch of a new RateCity online platform.

The platform enables users to enter a private environment where you can view several term deposit products from a number of institutions. It's here that the best term deposit rates of the day are laid out by participating institutions. Powered by interactive financial services provider, DealMax, the new addition to the site can earn Australians as much as 1 percent extra on advertised interest rates, if not more.

How it works
Users are required to create a free account, which is active for just 24 hours to help prevent financial institutions from viewing rival interest rates. You can then complete a simple online search form specifying the following details:

• term deposit amount;
• the term (select up to four options ranging from one month to five years); and
• whether it's for personal or business use.
  

You're also given the option to choose between specific institutions (only a select few institutions launched with the platform this month, but more are expected to participate in coming months), before receiving a confirmation email with a link to complete your registration.

Because a search using this new tool produces live results, the interest rates offered are unique. This means that if you conduct more than one search, using the same term and sum, on different days then you're likely to receive varying results.

Results may even differ when you conduct the same search at different times throughout the same day. That's because interest rates are constantly moving with the market and the results reflect this.

For instance, if you're in the market for a 12-month term deposit of $25,000 then the top interest rate available to the public - also known as institutions' advertised rates - was 5.25 percent at the time of writing. By comparing term deposit interest rates using RateCity's new search platform, the top available rate for the same term, amount and by the same institution was 6.30 percent. By opting for the "better rate" you'll be around $263 better off at maturity.

Related term deposit links

• Long Term Deposits
• Short Term Deposits
• Term deposit rates set to soar
• High Interest Term Deposits
• Term deposit v property: how to choose an investment
• Heritage Building Society Term Deposit

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