Aussie Savings Account Interest

[Pattaya57]

I thought I'd share some current interest rates for Aussie Banks. 

 

Westpac Life: 5.00%, end of month balance must increase by $1. Can withdraw and re-deposit before end of month

 

NAB Reward Saver: 5.00%, no withdrawals and end of month balance must increase by $1

 

ANZ Plus: 4.90% when balance <$250k, 3.75% for whole balance when >$250k, can withdraw anytime 

 

Note: ANZ Plus changes 1 Oct to 5.00% on any balance when end of month balance increases by $100

 

Bank of Qld Simple Saver: 4.85% on any balance, can withdraw anytime

 

Macquarie Savings: 4.75% on any balance, can withdraw anytime 

 

Macquarie Transaction: 4.75% on any balance, can withdraw anytime and includes Debit Card

 

My favourite is definitely Macquarie Transaction which has zero deposit rules but still has a decent interest rate and links a Debit Card (while other banks link their cards to 0% transaction accounts)

 

Note: I did not include accounts like ING that give 5.50% but you have to deposit $1k per month, make 5 purchases per month and grow your monthly balance (too much bother from Thailand)

 

[gearbox]

4 hours ago, Pattaya57 said:

I thought I'd share some current interest rates for Aussie Banks. 

 

Westpac Life: 5.00%, end of month balance must increase by $1. Can withdraw and re-deposit before end of month

 

NAB Reward Saver: 5.00%, no withdrawals and end of month balance must increase by $1

 

ANZ Plus: 4.90% when balance <$250k, 3.75% for whole balance when >$250k, can withdraw anytime 

 

Note: ANZ Plus changes 1 Oct to 5.00% on any balance when end of month balance increases by $100

 

Bank of Qld Simple Saver: 4.85% on any balance, can withdraw anytime

 

Macquarie Savings: 4.75% on any balance, can withdraw anytime 

 

Macquarie Transaction: 4.75% on any balance, can withdraw anytime and includes Debit Card

 

My favourite is definitely Macquarie Transaction which has zero deposit rules but still has a decent interest rate and links a Debit Card (while other banks link their cards to 0% transaction accounts)

 

Note: I did not include accounts like ING that give 5.50% but you have to deposit $1k per month, make 5 purchases per month and grow your monthly balance (too much bother from Thailand)

 

Ubank - 5.5% up to 100k, need to deposit 500 every month , can withdraw as much as you want. The Ubank debit card is fee free overseas, only foreign ATM fees apply.

 

AMP - 5.4% need to deposit $1k per month, can withdraw as much as you want

 

Rabobank Premium Saver - 5.45% need to deposit $200 per month and increase balance.

 

There is very detailed spreadsheet regularly updated:

 

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/145iM6uuFS9m-Rul65--eFJQq_Au7Z_BA4_CwkYwu2DI/htmlview#

[Pattaya57]

I guess I'm old fashioned and only go for the big banks, so always been wary of Ubank, Rabobank, AMP and Virginmoney (not saying I'm right to be wary as never really researched them). I did give ING a go and they were pretty good until they demanded 5 transactions per month to get the high interest.

 

I do feel safer with these banks though, which have been rated by 'Global Finance' as the safest banks in Australia (list unchanged in last 2 years)

 

1. Commonwealth

2. ANZ

3. NAB

4. Westpac

5. Suncorp

6. Macquarie

7. Bank of Qld

8. Bendigo/Adelaide Bank

9. Newcastle Greater Mutual

 

https://www.infochoice.com.au/savings-accounts/which-is-the-safest-bank-in-australia

 

[Pattaya57]

Thought I'd add some more info on ANZ Plus changes from Oct 1

 

ANZ Plus: 5.00% on any balance when end of month balance increases by $100

 

ANZ Plus Flex Saver: New account. 5.00% on balances up to $5k (2% for balance >$5k), can withdraw anytime 

 

I already have the ANZ Plus that didn't require a deposit so I'll now open the new Flex Saver with $4k to transfer the newly required $100 per month to ANZ Plus. Pretty much then negates the $100 criteria as still getting the same 5% on that $4k

[gearbox]

53 minutes ago, Pattaya57 said:

I guess I'm old fashioned and only go for the big banks, so always been wary of Ubank, Rabobank, AMP and Virginmoney (not saying I'm right to be wary as never really researched them). I did give ING a go and they were pretty good until they demanded 5 transactions per month to get the high interest.

 

I do feel safer with these banks though, which have been rated by 'Global Finance' as the safest banks in Australia (list unchanged in last 2 years)

 

1. Commonwealth

2. ANZ

3. NAB

4. Westpac

5. Suncorp

6. Macquarie

7. Bank of Qld

8. Bendigo/Adelaide Bank

9. Newcastle Greater Mutual

 

https://www.infochoice.com.au/savings-accounts/which-is-the-safest-bank-in-australia

 

They all have the 250k government deposit guarantee.

 

I don't really see how the Newcastle Greater Mutual would be safer than a global bank like Rabobank, which has been around for ages.

 

Ubank is a wholly owned subsidiary of NAB, Virgin Money of bank of Queensland.

[Pattaya57]

14 minutes ago, gearbox said:

They all have the 250k government deposit guarantee.

 

I don't really see how the Newcastle Greater Mutual would be safer than a global bank like Rabobank, which has been around for ages.

 

Ubank is a wholly owned subsidiary of NAB, Virgin Money of bank of Queensland.

As I said, I didn't say I was right to be wary just didn't do any research.

 

I was surprised to see 'Newcastle Greater Mutual' on the 'safest banks' list (don't know anything about them either). I almost left them off my post but then thought that's manipulating data 😆 

 

Funny that UBank is owned by NAB. That's one reason I'm wary of smaller banks as I had a perfectly good Citibank account until they closed down in Australia, taken over by NAB. The fact such a worlwide bank like Citibank can fail in Australia shocked me

[gearbox]

11 minutes ago, Pattaya57 said:

As I said, I didn't say I was right to be wary just didn't do any research.

 

I was surprised to see 'Newcastle Greater Mutual' on the 'safest banks' list (don't know anything about them either). I almost left them off my post but then thought that's manipulating data 😆 

 

Funny that UBank is owned by NAB. That's one reason I'm wary of smaller banks as I had a perfectly good Citibank account until they closed down in Australia, taken over by NAB. The fact such a worlwide bank like Citibank can fail in Australia shocked me

Citibank didn't fail, they just probably didn't manage to scale sufficiently and sold the retail banking business to NAB. The big banks have been buying out smaller operators to increase the customer base.  ANZ recently bought the banking operations of Suncorp.

 

There is an illusion of banking competition, lift the cover and you'll see many of the smaller banks owned by the big four. It is same with the insurance market, it is highly consolidated, with various brands owned by a couple of companies. Ubank was innovative digital bank, NAB bought it to acquire the technology, but being a dinosaur with a different culture it almost stuffed it up.

[Pattaya57]

8 minutes ago, gearbox said:

Citibank didn't fail, they just probably didn't manage to scale sufficiently and sold the retail banking business to NAB. The big banks have been buying out smaller operators to increase the customer base.  ANZ recently bought the banking operations of Suncorp.

This is where people need to be careful. When my Citibank account was taken over by NAB the smallprint advised me the the $250k government guarantee now applied over both banks (whereas it was $250k for each bank prior to buy-out). I think the Suncorp takeover by ANZ was the same, now only one guarantee instead of two?

 

[maesariang]

Dividend yields

Anz 5.67%

Boq 6.4%

Fmg 12.4%

 

 

[gearbox]

9 minutes ago, Pattaya57 said:

This is where people need to be careful. When my Citibank account was taken over by NAB the smallprint advised me the the $250k government guarantee now applied over both banks (whereas it was $250k for each bank prior to buy-out). I think the Suncorp takeover by ANZ was the same, only one guarantee instead of two?

Yep... people are generally not aware that the main entity and the wholly owned subsidiary share the guarantee, for example if you have 150k in both NAB and Ubank only 250k are covered by the guarantee, you are going to lose 50k if both fail.

 

The interest rates as investment options are going to become less relevant in the not so distant future. The crappy Aussie economy is houses and holes, China now doesn't need so much our resources and the houses part doesn't work well with high interest rates. There is intense pressure on the Reserve Bank to start reducing the base interest rate.

 

Not so good for the AUD/THB exchange rate, it is at nearly 2 years low.

 

This article shows the "quality" of the recent employment figures:

 

https://www.macrobusiness.com.au/2024/09/government-jobs-are-fuelling-australias-productivity-decline/

[Pattaya57]

30 minutes ago, gearbox said:

The interest rates as investment options are going to become less relevant in the not so distant future. The crappy Aussie economy is houses and holes, China now doesn't need so much our resources and the houses part doesn't work well with high interest rates. There is intense pressure on the Reserve Bank to start reducing the base interest rate.

All I can do is laugh when the young people today complain about the incredibly high housing loan interest rates at about 6.5%. I bought my first property in 1991 and I still remember my housing loan was a whopping 17.5%. I somehow survived 😉

 

RBA needs to stay strong as we had so little interest for so many years. It's savers turn to enjoy for a while longer

 

[Pattaya57]

I have accounts with Great Southern Bank (old Credit Union Australia) and I've just noticed something bizarre. Instead of increasing interest on existing accounts they've introduced new accounts which are identical in every way except interest rate.

 

Flexi Saver at 4.2% is identical to new Daily Saver with 4.3%

 

Advantage Saver at 4.85% up to $100k and 4.70% over $100k, is identical to new Future Saver with 4.85% up to $500k

 

So while new customers get the better rate, it's likely many current account holders don't know about it (I have no idea when they introduced the new accounts). 

 

I'm wondering when other banks will be doing this to attract new customers while hoping existing customers don't notice

 

[KhunHeineken]

On 9/11/2024 at 1:31 PM, Pattaya57 said:

All I can do is laugh when the young people today complain about the incredibly high housing loan interest rates at about 6.5%. I bought my first property in 1991 and I still remember my housing loan was a whopping 17.5%. I somehow survived 😉

 

RBA needs to stay strong as we had so little interest for so many years. It's savers turn to enjoy for a while longer

 

You probably brought your house for $100,000.  The same house, well, really it's just the land, is now $1.5 million in the burbs.  (Sydney) 

 

Data shows people's wages haven't kept up with house prices.  It's a bubble, made by interested parties, including all three tiers of government.  Withhold supply to artificially drive up demand, thus prices. 

 

The banks are happy (more money in interest) the council is happy (rates) the state government is happy (stamp duty) the federal government is happy (land tax) the insurance companies are happy (higher premiums) the developers are happy (forced downsizing) the real estate agents are happy (commission) the politicians are happy (they own land set to be rezoned) employers are happy (they have property owners as slaves for employees now) investors are happy (negative gearing) and the list goes on and on. 

 

Meanwhile, here's a young Aussie couple just wanting a house in the burbs to start a family.  Normal in 1991, now, they need "The Bank of Mum and Dad" to get a look in.   

 

Also, a lot of "cash in hand" back then, but not now. 

 

Difficult for young people to even save for a deposit these days. 

 

You are laughing at an Australian housing crisis that is even effecting Australia's birth rate.  Australia actually needs immigration for the economy. 

 

There's plenty on the net about it.  Here's an interesting historic link i stumbled across that explains my point.  It's a lot worse now in 2024. 

 

https://www.9news.com.au/finance/rates-1990-versus-2007/8251875f-a878-49a5-bca6-559d2dcdb361#:~:text=Back in March 1990%2C the,up 44.99 percent of income.

 

Maybe you can post how "lucky" these young Aussies are these days, living in "The Lucky County" while you are laughing at them at 6.5% interest rates.    

 

Clearly, you are out of touch with what is happening back in Australia to our kids, and grand kids. 

[stoner]

1 hour ago, KhunHeineken said:

You probably brought your house for $100,000.  The same house, well, really it's just the land, is now $1.5 million in the burbs.  (Sydney) 

 

Data shows people's wages haven't kept up with house prices.  It's a bubble, made by interested parties, including all three tiers of government.  Withhold supply to artificially drive up demand, thus prices. 

 

The banks are happy (more money in interest) the council is happy (rates) the state government is happy (stamp duty) the federal government is happy (land tax) the insurance companies are happy (higher premiums) the developers are happy (forced downsizing) the real estate agents are happy (commission) the politicians are happy (they own land set to be rezoned) employers are happy (they have property owners as slaves for employees now) investors are happy (negative gearing) and the list goes on and on. 

 

Meanwhile, here's a young Aussie couple just wanting a house in the burbs to start a family.  Normal in 1991, now, they need "The Bank of Mum and Dad" to get a look in.   

 

Also, a lot of "cash in hand" back then, but not now. 

 

Difficult for young people to even save for a deposit these days. 

 

You are laughing at an Australian housing crisis that is even effecting Australia's birth rate.  Australia actually needs immigration for the economy. 

 

There's plenty on the net about it.  Here's an interesting historic link i stumbled across that explains my point.  It's a lot worse now in 2024. 

 

https://www.9news.com.au/finance/rates-1990-versus-2007/8251875f-a878-49a5-bca6-559d2dcdb361#:~:text=Back in March 1990%2C the,up 44.99 percent of income.

 

Maybe you can post how "lucky" these young Aussies are these days, living in "The Lucky County" while you are laughing at them at 6.5% interest rates.    

 

Clearly, you are out of touch with what is happening back in Australia to our kids, and grand kids. 

 

rent in canada is sky high now as well. 2k a month gets you a shack in toronto...if you could even find at that price. smaller cities like where i am 2k would get you a 2 bdr apt. with frozen wages and brutal living costs saving for a new home is out of reach for so many now. the game is not the same as it was 30 or 40 years ago. not at all. 

[georgegeorgia]

You forgot HSBC 

[Pattaya57]

4 hours ago, georgegeorgia said:

You forgot HSBC 

I didn't include HSBC as I didn't think it was that good (I closed my HSBC account 2 years ago)

 

HSBC Bonus Savings requires a $300 increase in end of month balance, so at least a $300 deposit and no withdrawals. Interest is only 4.25%

 

Not competitive compared to NAB and Westpac that give 5.00% with $0.01 monthly increase (I just do $1)

 

[KhunHeineken]

19 hours ago, stoner said:

 

rent in canada is sky high now as well. 2k a month gets you a shack in toronto...if you could even find at that price. smaller cities like where i am 2k would get you a 2 bdr apt. with frozen wages and brutal living costs saving for a new home is out of reach for so many now. the game is not the same as it was 30 or 40 years ago. not at all. 

Australia now has working homeless people.  These people have full time jobs, but sleep in their cars. 

 

Government policy over the last few decades has created the Australian housing market Ponzi scheme, and the social damage is now there for all to see, with the pain being felt by many. 

[Pattaya57]

On 9/11/2024 at 5:28 PM, gearbox said:

Ubank - 5.5% up to 100k, need to deposit 500 every month , can withdraw as much as you want. The Ubank debit card is fee free overseas, only foreign ATM fees apply.

Ubank actually have 5.50% up to $100k and then it's 5.00% up to $250k. The $500 deposit a month is a drag but since you can withdraw it straight a way not really a problem.

 

I went for years transferring $1k to one bank, then withdraw and sent to another bank then sent back to original bank. Met the 2 banks deposit requirements but a complete waste of time. 

 

[gearbox]

1 minute ago, Pattaya57 said:

Ubank actually have 5.50% up to $100k and then it's 5.00% up to $250k. The $500 deposit a month is a drag but since you can withdraw it straight a way not really a problem.

 

I went for years transferring $1k to one bank, then withdraw and sent to another bank then sent back to original bank. Met the 2 banks deposit requirements but a complete waste of time. 

With the phone apps it takes a few minutes to do a couple of transfers. I do this every month with HSBC to maintain my premier status.

 

Ubank changed to tiered interest in July. One can feel the NAB's way of trying to screw the customers there

[Pattaya57]

33 minutes ago, gearbox said:

Ubank changed to tiered interest in July. One can feel the NAB's way of trying to screw the customers there

 

I thought my Citibank account was the best thing going around. After NAB took over they gradually killed every product Citibank had so NAB was better. Hope they don't do the same to Ubank.

 

(I guess their strategy worked as I closed my Citibank and opened a NAB instead)

 

[KhunHeineken]

4 hours ago, Pattaya57 said:

After NAB took over they gradually killed every product Citibank had so NAB was better.

That was not my experience. 

 

Citibank was great. As another member said, NAB just wanted to treat Citibank customers in the same way they treat their own customers, like cr*p.  I closed the migrated NAB account.   

 

I was disappointed when Diners Club pulled out of Australia also. 

[Pattaya57]

RBA kept the interest rate on hold today so we get to enjoy the high interest savings accounts for a little longer.

 

Next RBA decision meetings 5th November and 10th December

[KhunHeineken]

On 9/24/2024 at 4:56 PM, Pattaya57 said:

RBA kept the interest rate on hold today so we get to enjoy the high interest savings accounts for a little longer.

 

Next RBA decision meetings 5th November and 10th December

The RBA are in a difficult position. 

 

Mortgage stress across the country is very high.

 

https://www.mpamag.com/au/news/general/majority-of-australian-homeowners-face-mortgage-stress/489375

 

"More than half of Australian homeowners are grappling with mortgage stress, with research commissioned by Aussie revealing that 52.5% of them are allocating over half of their income to mortgage payments, and 16% are struggling to meet repayments due to rising interest rates."

 

Raise rates, and they could collapse the Australian housing market Ponzi scheme.  

 

Lower rates, and inflation rises again.  

 

The inflation rate is already higher than what the RBA would like, and has been for quite a while. 

 

Whilst you may enjoy higher interest rates on your savings, just think about what happens to the AUD is the Australian housing market tanks. 

[Pattaya57]

Heads up for Westpac savers.

 

I just logged into my Westpac app and it demanded I change my Password (said if I don't change it within next 3 log ins it will lock my account).

 

It seems Westpac just changed their password criteria so my password no longer complied (it now requires a special character). Bit rude to threaten locking account though as I haven't used my password in years (use 4 digit pin or finger scan on app)

 

[Lacessit]

Australian Unity Freedom Saver 5.2% on first $50K, 5.0% on next $200K.

 

No restrictions on deposit or withdrawal, interest paid monthly.

 

Zero account keeping fees.

[Pattaya57]

16 minutes ago, Lacessit said:

Australian Unity Freedom Saver 5.2% on first $50K, 5.0% on next $200K.

 

No restrictions on deposit or withdrawal, interest paid monthly.

 

Zero account keeping fees.

Looks good but be aware once you go over $50k the 5% applies to the whole balance so you no longer get 5.2% on first $50k. (5% is still great rate though with no other deposit rules)

 

From the fine print:

 

When your balance increases to the next interest rate tier you will receive the interest rate for that tier on the entire balance of your Freedom Saver Account. 

 

[Pattaya57]

I'm reminded that bigger banks are sometimes better.

 

Due to low daily limit of Great Southern Bank it's taken 4 days to clear out my deposit. Meanwhile I get no interest on that account for the 4 days due to first withdrawal breaching bonus interest rules.

 

Also the instant osko transfer limit is only $5k so the daily transfers took 10-16 hours. It said it could take 3 business days, so I guess I should consider myself lucky.

 

Meanwhile Westpac has $70k daily limit and osko instant transfer applies to the whole $70k

[Pattaya57]

Macquarie bank changing their interest rates from tomorrow, 17-Oct.

 

Savings account:

was 4.75%, now 5.00%

 

Transaction Account:

was 4.75%, now 2.75%

 

Same as before, there are no deposit rules for bonus interest 

 

[Pattaya57]

I'm sure people have heard Westpac has a problem whereby customers haven't been able to log in online or in the app over last 3 days now.

 

Mine was okay until this morning but now I haven't been able to log into Westpac all day. Luckily I could log in when I used my vpn. How weird that I'm blocked using overseas IP address but okay if logging in from Australian IP via vpn.

 

Pretty freaky thinking Westpac may have been hacked but you can't access your accounts to see if your money is okay 😞

 

[Pattaya57]

So the rumour is that the RBA will drop the interest rate by 0.25% on the 5th of November and then again in next few months. When is it time to switch to term deposits?

 

Savings accounts have been much better than term deposit rates for a couple of years now but I'm thinking that will change in the next 3-6 months or so.

 

Does anyone have any good term deposit suggestions or is it still too early?