The Best High Interest Savings Account you could have right now….
If you have been online the last few weeks you might have seen the Reserve Bank of Australia or the RBA increased the cash rate, which is very difficult to hear news for mortgage holders as it does mean that their mortgage repayments go up. For those of us in our savings era, it's likely good news because it means you earn more interest on your money kept in a high-interest savings account. Every couple of months, we like to go through all of the savings accounts available in Australia to see which one has the best interest rate.
There are a couple of things to note when it comes to high-interest savings account interest. Usually, there is a base interest rate, and oftentimes, for a super high-interest rate account, the base interest rate is like 0.1%, which is really low, but then the bonus rate might be like 4.5%. To get that bonus rate, there are usually some steps. Some of them might be simple, like you need to grow your balance by $1, which for lots of people is easy to manage, but others could be annoying, such as five eligible purchases. If you withdraw, then you don't get the bonus, so those sort of savings accounts we try to avoid because they require so much work to be able to maintain that savings rate. More often than not, you miss out, so we look for high-interest savings accounts that require you to do very little to earn that savings rate.
Finally, before we get into the list, lets talk honeymoon rates. A lot of time banks will have something called a honeymoon rate, which is a really, really good interest rate, much higher than others on the market, but it's only for three months. Your high interest savings rate then drops down to something like 3%, which is well below the average for a high interest savings account. They're hoping you don't move because it requires admin, so we just don't want to include honeymoon rates because they do not help you to push your savings goals further.
The accounts on our watch list in order of %
Number #1 The highest percentage you can get right now is 5.40%.
Savings Account: MOVE Growth Saver
Percent: 5.40%
Requirements: deposit at least $200 and no withdrawals within a calendar month.
Start Date: NOW
Max Balance: $25,000
Notes: This is the highest percentage that you can get right now; however, it only applies to up to $25,000. So if you have one dollar over that, you will only receive 0.10% for any amounts above that. So something to note if your savings gets above that threshold.
Savings Account: Judo Bank personal savings account
Percent: 5.35%
Requirements: Deposit at least $300 and a $20k withdrawal limit.
Start Date: Now
Max Balance: $250,000
Notes: This is a great option if you have more than $25,000 because this bonus rate covers up to $250,000, and for all balances above that it is a 4.85% up to $2 million, which is really good to see.
Savings Account: St George Incentive Saver, Bank of Melbourne Incentive Save, Bank SA.
Percent: 5.15%
Requirements: Grow a balance by $50 and stay above zero.
Start Date: 15 May
Max Balance: No limit.
Notes: These three banks all offer the exact same conditions for their high-interest savings account. So whether you're with St George, Bank of Melbourne or BankSA, these all look like really good options if you have lots of money stashed away
Savings Account: AMP Go Save
Percent: 5.10%.
Requirements: No requirements.
Start Date: Now
Max Balance: $500,000
Notes: If there is an account on this list that has no hoops at all, it is definitely this one. Literally zero hoops. You get the base rate the whole time.
Savings Account: UBank Save account.
Percent: 5.10%
Requirements: Grow savings balance by $1, excluding linked offsets and excluding any interest credits.
Start Date: Now
Max Balance: $1 million.
Notes: A good option for a pretty high rate and threshold.
As always none of these are recommendations just a list of the highest percentages with not too many hoops for you to jump through! Make sure you do your own research and if you find a better deal send it our way! See you next quarter with another round up.
***Please remember our blogs aren’t intended as financial advice - they’re intended only as a starting point to give you a little extra info! For more in-depth advice catered to your personal financial position, please see a certified financial advisor.
