Household deposit growth offset by weaker business flows
Banks had mixed fortunes with deposit flows during the year to June, with household deposits growing strongly but business deposits weakening.According to the latest Australian Prudential Regulation Authority banking statistics, household deposits grew by 8.7 per cent during the year to June to a total of A$754 billion.Business deposits grew by 4.3 per cent to $473 billion.Over the same period lenders' mortgage balances grew by 6.7 per cent and business loan balances grew by 6.6 per cent.Banks are under pressure to increase their funding from stable sources, including customer deposits, ahead of the introduction of net stable funding ratio requirements in 2018.NSFR seeks to ensure that long-term assets are financed with at least a minimum of stable funding. Stable funding is the portion of an ADI's capital and liabilities expected to be a reliable source of funds over a one-year time horizon.Banks that attracted a strong inflow of household deposits in the year to June include AMP Bank (up 25.5 per cent), Auswide (up 12.6 per cent), Bank of Queensland (up 10.7 per cent), Citibank (up 18.2 per cent), ING Direct (up 13 per cent), ME (up 19.9 per cent) and Teachers Mutual Bank (up 14.2 per cent).Macquarie Securities reported last month that there were signs of emerging deposit competition as banks move to fill their NSFR gaps. "Following the [May] rate cut the sector took the opportunity to re-price online savings accounts by 15 to 25 basis points," Macquarie said."Term deposit pricing remained largely unchanged, which is the first indication for some time that deposit competition is beginning to intensify. We expect deposit competition to increase with the impending implementation of the NSFR rules in 2018."But according to the latest Mozo Banking Roundup, there is little evidence that the NSFR deadline is having an impact on rate-setting.Mozo said a number of banks cut their at-call deposit rates in July and in the term deposit market most changes were cuts.Banks that cut at-call rates in July include Australian Military Bank, B&E Personal Banking, Bank of Queensland, Commonwealth Bank, IMB Bank, Maitland Mutual, Macquarie Bank, and Police Credit Union.And banks that cut TD rates include Australian Military Bank, ME, People's Choice Credit Union and Suncorp.