(4 April 2011 – Australia) Rabobank has expanded its offering to the Australian market, with the launch of a new competitive, flexible cash management account.Rabobank Australia says the new facility is designed to expand the range of services it offers in the Australian banking market, which includes specialist agribusiness lending, as well as retail savings and deposits through its RaboDirect online banking division.
Rabobank Australia chief executive officer Thos Gieskes said the Rabobank Cash Management Account would enable customers with a minimum deposit of A$20,000 to put their savings to work by investing in an account with competitive interest rates, yet still retain access to those funds with the built-in flexibility of an everyday transaction account.
The account is launching with an interest rate of 4.75 percent per annum.
Premium accounts are also available for customers with a minimum of A$100,000 to invest, which attract a higher rate of interest from 4.9 percent per annum as well as a chequebook option.
Mr Gieskes said the new account facility would be available to customers Australia wide, and would not be exclusive to its existing farmer and agribusiness clientele.
“While the Cash Management Account (CMA) has been designed to complement and round out our product offering to rural customers, it is available to everyone in Australia,” he said.
“The CMA combines the options of targeted investment savings facilities with the ease and flexibility of regular transactional banking”.
The launch of this new investment product is an extension of Rabobank Australia’s move into transactional banking six years ago and is in response to the growing demand for more savings options.
“Customers looking to drive their cash savings further can confidently invest in this new Cash Management Account with the knowledge that their money isn’t going to be locked away when they need it most.”
Mr Gieskes said deposits with Rabobank Australia were guaranteed by its parent company Rabobank, which has been ranked one of the top 10 safest banks in the world for more than 10 years by Global Finance.