Australian banks passed interest rate hikes on to mortgage holders – so why haven’t they done so for savings accounts?

If it feels like the big banks – Commonwealth Bank, Westpac, National Australia Bank and ANZ – are being very strategic about their interest rate decisions, it’s because they are. Photograph: Joel Carrett/AAP

Shortly after the Reserve Bank lifted the official cash rate by a quarter of a percentage point, major lenders announced interest rates on mortgages would rise by the same amount.

Yet the interest rates that can grow their customer’s savings accounts are still “under review” – or the increases are being applied selectively – days after Tuesday’s announcement.