Even though most of the top ten banks have raised their interest rate offers, and two more have now just done so, most are struggling to defend the raid on household deposits by Macbank

More big banks are scrambling to respond to rising interest rate offers for savers.

Under pressure from the very successful Macquarie drive to win a larger share of household deposits, most major banks have responded with higher rates for savers.

Commbank, NAB and ANZ all chose the hike their term deposit rates.

But Macbank kept the pressure on with term deposit rate hikes of its own.

Now ANZ has had to raise its fighting rate offer again, taking its "8 month special" up from 4.00% to now 4.25%.

And Westpac has tweaked some of its rates.

Its e-saver online rate has been raised to a potential 4.45% pa, a +20 bps jump. (Even its staff-assisted rate has been raised by +10 bps to 4.00% if you make the change in a branch or on the telephone).

And for its term deposit attack rate, it has shifted it from an eleven month 3.65% "special offer" to a one year "special offer", and the new rate is now 4.10% if you apply online, 4.00% otherwise.

These moves are all defensive, designed more to keep customers from wanting to move. They are unlikely to win new business when Macquarie is offering 4.25% for one year.

At the moment, the best or 'potential' rate offers from any of the top ten banks for a one year TD are ANZ = 3.65% (although they feature their 4.25% eight month rate), Commbank and NAB's 4.00%, Bank of Queensland's 4.05%, Westpac's 4.10%, ING's 4.20% and topping them all is Macquarie's 4.25%.

The pressure from Macbank is not going away.