Westpac has hiked a number of its longer term deposit rates by between 10 and 25 basis points (bps), in the first major interest rate move by one of the Australian-owned banks in 2010. Westpac raised its two year deposit rate by 25 bps to 5.5%; three year by 25 bps to 6%; and four year by 25 bps to 6.5%. See and compare all term deposit rates for terms less than one year here, and terms one year and greater here. The move by Westpac follows the trend over much of the latter part of 2009, which saw deposit rates rise as banks fought to attract more local funding. The Reserve Bank of New Zealand introduced new prudential liquidity requirements at the end of June 2009, which required the banks to source more funds locally and for longer terms. This was done in an effort to wean the banks off their reliance on short term 'hot money' from global wholesale money markets, which generally accounted for around a third of their funding.
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