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11 April 2024

Ranking New Zealand's best and worst savings accounts

Not all savings accounts are created equal, and it's worth knowing what all your options are so you can get set up with the one that best suits your savings goals. Here, we've pulled together a wrap-up of the different savings accounts available across New Zealand's main retail banks.

19 February 2024

How banks decide what your savings are worth: Part 1

Competition means it can really pay to shop around — and it’s the same deal when it comes to getting the best interest rate on your savings.

19 February 2024

How banks decide what your savings are worth: Part 2

Do banks price their term investments strategically, to try and tempt you to go for one term over another? Check out what our COO Dave Tyrer has to say about it.

19 October 2023

Why do banks keep doing this to savers?

Heartland Bank has launched a brand-spanking new savings product — the Digital Saver account. And with a 5.00%p.a. interest rate, it sounds pretty good. But there’s something kind of weird about Heartland launching this new account — so what's the deal, and is there a catch?

06 October 2023

Why continued high interest rates aren’t all bad news

The Reserve Bank is holding the OCR steady at 5.50%, and after rumblings from parts of the market that suggest we could be in for another hike, most economists are now predicting the OCR will remain at 5.50% through much of 2024. It’s not the news that Kiwi mortgage-holders were hoping for, but how can Kiwi benefit from higher interest rates?

01 September 2023

How saving with Squirrel could get you into your first home faster

If you've been working hard to get to that 20% house deposit, you'll want to make sure your savings are working as hard as possible, to get you into your first home even faster.

29 May 2023

What will it take to create greater competition in banking? It’s not another bank

The Kiwi banking sector has come under some pretty heavy scrutiny in recent months, as uniformity and a lack of competition between key players has allowed bank profits to soar (and keep on soaring) at the expense of their customers. So, what's the answer? Well, Squirrel's Dave Tyrer reckons it's not another bank.

15 May 2023

Breaking the bank: 5 bank secrets that cost savers over $4 billion each year

New Zealand’s retail banks made $9.96 billion (yep, that’s with a ‘b’) of pre-tax profit in 2022. And while the banks are laughing all the way to the – well – bank, what most Kiwi don’t fully understand is how they’re making that money. (Spoiler alert: it's Kiwi that are losing out.)

09 May 2023

Why are bank profits so high... and still climbing?

One of our biggest banks has just reported a 26% increase in revenue over the last six months - while growing sales by just 2%. How does that even happen? And what can Kiwi be doing to take some of it back?

20 April 2023

The best and worst bank savings accounts in New Zealand

Kiwi are missing out on roughly $2 billion of interest each year on “lazy” money sitting in their transaction accounts — so we’ve stacked up Aotearoa’s best and worst savings accounts to help you unlock your share.

20 March 2023

Covert tactics: How banks profit off "lazy" savings customers

The banks have come under fire recently for some of the ways they're making money from their customers. If it's been a while since you reviewed your savings account options, here's how you might inadvertently be helping to line their pockets.

13 March 2023

The grim reality for New Zealand savers with money in the bank

With inflation like it is right now, you're only marginally better off having money in the bank than you would be having it stashed away under your mattress. So, what other options are there?

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