The worth of retail deposits in the current extremely tight funding environment has been invaluable over the past year, with Commonwealth Bank continuing to outpace the competition in collecting household deposits, according to the Australian Prudential Regulatory Authority August statistics released yesterday.Commonwealth increased deposits by 1.3 per cent during August to $111 billion, with the deposit balance $20 billion or 22 per cent higher than the $91 billion one year ago in August 2007.National Australia Bank increased deposits one per cent for August to $48.5 billion, with the deposit book 12 per cent higher than the $43.4 billion from one year ago.Westpac's deposit book increased one per cent for the month to $48.4 billion, and ten per cent for the year, with ANZ also up one per cent in August to $48 billion, with the one year comparison of 39 per cent inflated due to reclassifications of loans.St George's August deposits increased slightly to $34.7 billion, ten per cent higher than one year ago.Promotional rates on deposit products offered by foreign banks appear to be working, with BankWest adding five per cent in August to $14.8 billion, and ING Direct growing its deposit book by another one per cent to $17.3 billion, after shrinking for four months in a row to April 2008 as investors found improved rates elsewhere. Rabobank has been the big disappointment recently, with total deposits just $757 million in August, $45 million less than the $802 million in January this year, even with the heavily advertised RaboPlus high interest deposit offerings.