Since the RBA began lowering rates this cycle in November 2011, it has reduced the cash rate by 1.5 percentage points to 3.25 per cent. The major banks, in an effort to hold on to depositors, have cut rates less than the full amount in that time - and less than they've cut mortgage rates.

ANZ's Progress Saver, for example, has fallen 1.1 percentage points, while CBA's NetBank saver has dropped 1 percentage point. In the same period, Westpac's Reward Saver has fallen 99 basis points, while NAB's iSaver rate has been cut by 90 basis points.

"Savings account rates have remained relatively higher than the cash rate for the past few years in a bid for institutions to encourage household deposits, which was great for savers," said RateCity spokeswoman Michelle Hutchinson.

The banks’ relative generosity on deposit rates may be ending, however, as the high cost of courting savers takes its toll on profits.

Following the RBA’s latest move, cutting official rates by 25 basis points to 3.25 per cent, ANZ Bank cuts its Progress Saver account by 25 basis points to a base and bonus rate of 4.91 per cent. Commonwealth Bank's NetBank Saver has also fallen 25 basis points, to 4.75 per cent, equal to National Australia Bank's iSaver after the official cut, according to financial comparison site Rate City.

"These high rates were unsustainable for the long term for institutions and we're now starting to see savings account rates coming down from these unusually high levels," said Ms Hutchinson.

Of the major lenders, Westpac's Reward Saver has the highest rate, 5.01 per cent, after that bank also cut 25 basis points.

Holding back on mortgage rates

Banks have been less generous in passing on mortgage rate reductions over the past year, with ANZ Bank pioneering a separate pricing review strategy to break the link in consumers' minds between RBA and bank moves.

Since November 2011 ANZ has cut 1.2 percentage points from its variable rate mortgage to a rate of 6.6 per cent, while CBA has chopped 1.21 percentage points, also to 6.6 per cent.

Westpac has cut 1.15 percentage points to 6.71 per cent. NAB has cut only 1.09 percentage points, taking its standard variable mortgage rate to 6.58 per cent, which is the lowest of the big four, in line with its pledge to remain the cheapest rate of the major banks.

"Whether it is savings accounts or variable-rate home loans, it's clear that the major banks are not following the Reserve Bank's cash rate movements like they used to," said Ms Hutchinson.

Higher savings cuts ahead

Bell Potter securities bank analyst T.S. Lim said the banks' pricing fluctuated but in the current environment banks would be willing to cut savings rates by more than lending rates.

"At this stage the banks still have more loans than deposits, so to preserve margins they will probably cut the deposit rate more," he said. "The banks have had a lot of deposits coming through and it is expensive, so the banks are easing off."

Australia Institute senior research fellow David Richardson said the banks' ability to set rates regardless of the RBA's official moves reflected their market power.

"The banks are extremely profitable and they exercise a lot of market power," said Mr Richardson. "They can decide how much of the Reserve Bank cut to pass on and to whom."

He said the banks were "always crying poor", even as their profits remained among the biggest in the world.

"Some of them will be announcing their 2012 profit figures, then we'll see how poor they really are."

The big banks will all have announced annual profits by next month. Commonwealth Bank posted the biggest profit for a non-mining company in Australian history in August. It's full-year earnings rose $7.1 billion.

This month, when cutting its mortgage rate, it pointed to the "increase in the cost of deposits". "[The] increase, benefiting depositors, has resulted from increased competition for deposits, as Australian banks reduce their reliance on wholesale funding," it said.