Bank deposits remain a popular destination for savings, although product preferences have changed over the past year.According to the latest Westpac - Melbourne Institute Index of Consumer Sentiment, 27.5 per cent of people believe the "wisest place for savings" is in bank deposits.While it is still high, the preference for bank deposits has fallen 2.2 percentage points since the March quarter.The number who said they would use savings to reduce debt rose a little to 17.3 per cent.According to media release accompanying the survey: "The mix suggests a further slight increase in consumer caution but still a marked improvement on the risk-averse attitudes prevailing two years ago, when well over half of respondents were nominating 'bank deposits' or 'pay down debt'."Overall consumer sentiment rose 20 basis points to 93.2 per cent but is still in "pessimistic territory", down 6.6 percentage points from its pre-Budget level and down 15.6 percentage points from its post-election high last November.When it comes to choosing a deposit product, the number opting for a term deposit has fallen over the past 12 months, while bonus interest accounts, mortgage offset accounts and high-interest online accounts have all increased in popularity.According to Roy Morgan Research, the number of Australians with money in a term deposit fell by about 36,000, or two per cent, over the 12 months to June.Over the same period, the number of people with money in a bonus interest account increased by 709,000, the number with money in a mortgage offset account rose by 181,000 and the number with money in a high-interest online savings account grew by 102,000.High-interest online savings accounts are the most popular savings accounts and are held by 5.9 million Australians, while 4.6 million people have money in bonus interest accounts, 1.9 million people have money in term deposits and 1.4 million people have money in mortgage offset accounts.According to Reserve Bank retail deposit rate data, three-month term deposit rates have fallen by an average of 50 bps over the past 12 months, while online savings account rates have fallen by only 25 bps.