the fool on comsec

From "The Motley Fool"
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Then Comes the Killer Blow...
By Scott Phillips| January 19, 2013

Dear Foolish readers,

Who'd have money in the bank at the moment?

Not me, as you'll read further down, for I think the low interest interest rates currently on offer tip the balance in favour of well-chosen shares...a little like the ones we've been recommending as buys for subscribers to Motley Fool Share Advisor, our 'best of the best' stock picking service.

While the Reserve Bank of Australia has dealt most of the blows to deposit holders over the past year or so, banks have been more than happy to pass on less than the official cash rate to borrowers, while simultaneously cutting deposit rates.

If that wasn't bad enough, late last month CommSec -- rumoured to have more than half of the discount brokerage business in Australia -- decided to give Cash Management account holders "a better trading, transacting and saving experience" (their words).

They are so keen to deliver a better service with 'better access', all of those account holders are being forced to swap their CommSec cash management accounts for Commonwealth Bank Direct Investment Accounts, replete with new account numbers and a new BSB.

Okay, so that's irritating, but bearable.

Then comes the killer blow.

If you have less than $10,000 in a CommSec cash management account, the company is swapping your current 3.25% rate for the new rate of, wait for it, 0.01%.

If you have between $10,000 and $20,000, you'll earn less than half of the current rate -- now only 1.5%.

In fact, if you want to earn the current rate, you'll need a cool quarter of a million dollars.

Of course, none of that information was spelt out in the letter CommSec cash management account holders received. Nor is a comparison available on their website.