Cash Club: Is TymeBank still right for me?

Recently TymeBank dropped their famously high rates. The rates on the Goal account were:

6% for the first 30 days,
7% for day 31 to day 90 and
9% thereafter (with an extra 1% bonus if you give a 10 days’ notice) after having the account for more than 91 days.

Due to the Reserve Bank lowering interest rates, TymeBank lowered its rates as well. It is now 4%, 5% and 6% respectively and still includes the additional 1% bonus if you give 10 days’ notice.

When I got the SMS from TymeBank, my first thought was that it’s time to shop for a different bank that has better interest rate for my savings challenge. I chose TymeBank for the high interest rates on cash accounts.

Angrily I went online to look for better rates. I don’t know why I didn’t think all the other banks probably reduced their interest rates as well. I compared the TymeBank rate with another bank where I keep my emergency fund. For this exercise I excluded any form of fixed deposit or one-time deposit accounts. I limited my search to accounts I can access immediately, or at most within 32 days. Anything longer would not serve my purpose for an emergency fund.

To my surprise TymeBank still came up tops with the highest interest rates in the market.

The top three rates I found were:

TymeBank: 7%
African bank: 6%
Findbond: 6%

After all that I am staying with TymeBank for the foreseeable future. I am not married to any provider or product. I put my money where it’s going to be served the most. For the moment TymeBank remains my emergency fund provider.

Before you rush to the door to move investments or savings, it’s important to run the numbers.

Njabulo Nsibande is a Just One Lap user-turned-contributor and a founding member of an investment club. His “Cash Club” blog details his experiences balancing the financial obligations of a young parent with his investment aspirations.