In this article, I will show you the five best high interest savings accounts in Australia to give you the best interest rates. Every year, I research the best current savings rates in Australia so you guys have somewhere decent to park your money. Now, there are two main criteria I look at when choosing a good high interest account. When considering a best high interest savings account, it’s important to understand how much bonus interest you’ll receive and the process of unlocking it.
Typically, there are a few requirements or tasks you need to complete each month. In compiling this list, I didn’t just focus on the banks with the highest interest rates. I also took into account the ease of unlocking this bonus interest, ensuring a more comprehensive selection.
There must be a combination of people’s choice, bonus saver interest rate, security, convenience, reputation, and ease of use. I also understand some of you don’t trust digital banks, want to avoid jumping through too many hoops, or only want to deal with the big four banks. So, I’ve taken all this into account, and there should be a bank in Australia that satisfies everyone.
Best High Interest Savings Account Australia
This is an exciting time for all those savers out there because the current interest rates are the highest they’ve ever been in over ten years. You can earn fantastic interest rates when we put your money into high-interest savings accounts. Now, banks change interest rates all the time, and they’ve got specific criteria you must meet to be eligible.
I’ve compiled the top five highest-yielding high-interest savings accounts in Australia. I did a similar comparison at the beginning of last year, and when I looked at this year’s list and compared it to last year’s list, only one bank was the same, and that’s because the top of interest rates is never going to stay the same.
The first high-interest savings account is with AMP’s savings account. This no-frills, high-interest savings account offered by AMP will provide a competitive interest rate of 5.4% per annum or balances of up to $250,000. The 5.4% best internet interest rate can be broken down into a 1.2% standard rate and the ongoing standard variable rate regardless of your account balance.
The only requirement for that bonus interest rate is depositing at least $1,000 into your AMP savings account, which isn’t that hard to do, in my opinion. You’ll also gain access to a Visa debit card, which you can link to your savings account if you choose and use for your everyday purchases. AMP also knows that every dollar counts, which is why they don’t charge a monthly management fee for any of their accounts.
The following high-interest savings account is the ING High Yield Savings Maximizer account. This is the only account from last year still on this year’s list. ING has always been one of the best, passing on the highest and best interest rates quickly, and the interest rate for this current account is 5.5% per annum. To obtain this monthly best savings account and bonus interest rates, you must jump through three hoops. Firstly, you’ll need to deposit at least $1,000 into your account.
This doesn’t mean that your balance has to increase by $1,000 each month. You can set up an automatic transfer of $1,000 going in and immediately going out, which will satisfy that criteria. Secondly, you’ll also have to make five purchases. I typically go to the self-checkout at Woolies or Coles and make five separate $1 transactions.
Sure, sometimes people might look at you weird, but who cares? If you don’t want to do that, you could set up a few recurring direct debits, such as Netflix, which will also satisfy the criteria. Lastly, you must grow your monthly savings maximizer account by at least $1.
This excludes any interest earned from the prior month. With the ING savings maximizer account, you must open an Orange Everyday account and link them together. Now, the Orange Everyday account differs from most of your other bank transaction accounts. In fact, when you meet all the criteria that we talked about before, you gain access to some additional benefits that are really, really good.
Second, there are also no international transaction fees when you spend with this card. Lastly, you’ll also receive five rebated ATM withdrawals per month. So, for the first five times that you’re charged a fee when you’re looking to withdraw cash at an ATM, you’ll be refunded that fee. Now, that last benefit used to apply to international ATM withdrawals, but they have since removed this benefit, which is a bit of a bummer because that was a great selling point for that transaction account.
As an added incentive, ING is currently running a promotion where you can receive $75 for free. All you need to do is open an Orange Everyday account, open an ING savings maximizer account, deposit $1,000, and then make five settled transactions. After that, ING will deposit $75 into your account.
Well, except for money. So far, most of the high-interest savings accounts have been around that 5.5% interest rate mark, but what if you could receive highest and best interest ratesup to 6.8%? Moomoo is currently offering an interest rate of 6.8% for 180 days for cash balances of up to $100,000, and you can cash out any time you want with no minimum deposits.
Plus, if you deposit $100, you’ll get three free shares; if you deposit $2,000, you’ll receive ten free shares worth up to $3,300. You can click the link in the description to get the bonus. It’s free money so that you could give it a go. Moomoo is a new brokerage platform savings tool in Australia that allows you to invest your money in the interest rates in Australian banks, US, and Hong Kong stock markets.
However, they also offer a unique feature called their cash plus feature, which you might be interested in. Essentially, how the cash plus feature works is that whenever you add money to your stock trading platform like Moomoo but haven’t bought any stocks yet, your money usually just sits there. But in the case of Moomoo, you’ll be able to earn interest on your uninvested cash balances. If Cash Plus is safe, Moomoo is owned by Futu, a company on the Nasdaq index regulated in Australia.
Australia has stringent financial laws, so nearly every move will be monitored. Not only does Moomoo have a significant cash-plus program, but it’s also an excellent investing app. The Moomoo app has cool professional-grade tools without being too scary or intimidating. Whether you’re a new or experienced investor, Moomoo offers customizable features, from the ability to invest to quickly look at company financials to more advanced charts and detailed stock analytical tools like their valuation analysis tool.
Compared to other trading platforms in Australia, such as Comsec and Selfwealth, Moomoo has the lowest commission rates. Fees are necessary because you wouldn’t want them to eat away at your returns. So make sure you sign up using the link in the description box. The following high-interest savings account is the Hiver Target Saver account.
Still, Hiver is one of Australia’s largest mutual banks, with over 230,000 members and over 10.7 billion dollars in assets. It’s also FCS-insured, which means that your money is insured for up to $250,000 if the bank becomes insolvent. But enough about that. Hiver offers a competitive interest rate of 5.5% with no maximum deposit limit.
Yes, you heard that right: There is no maximum deposit limit, meaning you could have over a million dollars in the account and still be earning 5.5% in interest. They do have a small caveat that deposits over 5 million dollars are subject to the bank accepting them.
Now, the 5.5% variable interest rate can be broken up into a 0.01% base interest rate and a 5.49% bonus interest rate. The base interest rate is meager, so you’ll want to ensure you always meet the requirements to receive that bonus interest rate.
The 5.55% comprises a 0.55% base interest rate and a 5% bonus interest rate. To be eligible, you must first deposit at least $2,000 into your linked spend Emi transaction account and ensure that you grow your savings balance in your Home EmiSaver account every month.
The account comes bundled with a transaction account similar to ING, which is also packed with features and is even better than ING’s everyday transaction account. It has no monthly accounting fees, no international transaction fees, and $0 ATM withdrawals domestically and internationally, which is one up when we compare it to the ING everyday transaction account.
As a bonus, every time you pay with your spend Emi digital card, they’ll donate $0.01 to the National Breast Cancer Foundation, a pretty nice bonus knowing that you’re contributing to a great charity.
This account has the highest interest rate on the list today at 5.7% per annum, comprising a 0.1% base rate and then a 5.6% bonus interest rate. Now, while the interest rate on this account is excellent, the downfall is that it’s limited to account balances of up to $25,000.
Anything over and above that will only earn the base rate of 0.1% per annum, so this account is only good if you’re starting to build up your savings and have less than $25,000. Luckily, this account has probably one of the most accessible criteria. To receive the total 5.7% interest rate, all you’ll need to do each month is grow your account by at least $200 and make no withdrawals. We never know what the RBA will do with the best internet interest rates.
The first account on the list is uBank term deposit smsf Save. iBank is a digital bank with no physical branches. iBank is owned by NAB and operates as a separate entity. It currently offers a 5.1% interest rate, and the best thing about UBank is how easy it is to get that bonus interest rate. High-interest savings accounts generally have some requirements to complete every month to get the total bonus interest rate.
However, uBank has a straightforward requirement: to transfer $200 into your account every month, and that’s it. ou can get a 5.1% interest rate of up to $250,000, the same amount the government guarantees for your money. The great thing about keeping money in an Australian bank is that the government will protect you. So, if something happens to iBank or any other banks, the government will cover you for up to $250,000.
It has PayID and Osco, so transferring money is extremely quick. It also has a 20k Osco daily transfer limit to access large amounts of cash quickly. ou can create up to 10 accounts and name them different things. So, as I mentioned, one is for bills, long-term savings, a fun account, or an emergency fund.
The cool thing is that you only need to transfer $200 into any of these accounts, and every single account will then earn the bonus interest for the month. If you’re interested in uBank, click the link in the description, sign up using this code, and make three purchases with your uBank card to get a signup bonus of $30.
This account offers a 5.4% interest rate, but you must be between 14 and 35 to qualify. For your information, you’ll still qualify until your 36th birthday. If you’re 36 years or older, the interest rate drops to 5%. Transfer $1,000 or more into your everyday account, a transaction account that will automatically come with your savings account.
Two, you need to make five purchases from this transaction account. Again, you can buy five $1 Amazon gift cards on the first of every month and be done with it. The maximum balance is $50,000, so you’ll receive 5.4% interest for up to $50K. However, after I signed up for an account, someone told me about a hack you can do to receive the 5.4% interest over $50K.
You can create multiple savings accounts and max them out to 50K each and still get the 5.4% interest on all of them. I’m pretty sure the Bank of Queensland knows about this loophole, but for some reason, they choose not to acknowledge or advertise it. Please note that if you go over 50K in a single account, you’ll receive a default 3% for every $1 over 50K. Of course, there are no monthly fees.
Unlike UBank and ING, this is a physical bank, so you could visit one of their branches in your state if you ever have a problem. I understand some people prefer having a physical branch they can walk into. So, if that’s you, consider the Bank of Queensland.
The following savings account on the list is the Macquarie Savings Account. They offer a 5.5% interest rate for the first four months for up to $250K. Then, it’ll revert to a variable rate of 4.75% for up to $1 million. So, it’s still pretty. The best part about Macquarie is that there are no requirements to get the bonus rate, no deposit conditions, and it’s swift to sign up.
You can sign up in three minutes, deposit your money, and start earning interest straight away. The steps are simple: You open a Macquarie transaction account, which takes three minutes. You add a Macquarie Savings Account to earn your bonus interest rate. If you’re interested in opening an account, just follow the guide on this page. As a bonus, Macquarie has physical branches all across Australia.
The following savings account on the list is the ANZ Plus Save Account. Please note that I acknowledge that other savings accounts have higher interest rates than ANZ Save, but I wanted to include a Big Four Bank on the list. I understand that some people only trust the Big Four Banks. If that’s you, then I wanted to give you the best option from the Big Four. I’ve also looked at CBA, NAB, and Westpac, but in my opinion, ANZ has the best savings account.
They offer a 4.9% interest rate for up to $250K. There are also no requirements to get the bonus rate every month. Like all the other savings accounts on the list, you will be given an everyday transaction account, which you can use to pay for things. Then, your ANZ Save account will be attached to it, where you will earn your bonus interest. In addition, major Australian bank ATMs have no monthly account fees and no ATM withdrawal fees.
This means it’s free to withdraw money from any Big Four ATMs. Please note that ANZ Plus is the digital version of ANZ. So, while technically it is a digital bank, it is still backed by a Big Four Bank. You can still withdraw money directly from your ANZ Plus account from any Australian ATM and deposit cash or even a cheque into your ANZ Plus account at ANZ Smart ATMs. So, you will receive a higher interest rate than a digital bank offers, yet you can still do things other digital banks cannot.
Should You Have Multiple Accounts?
No laws in Australia limit the number of accounts you can create, so it won’t affect your credit score or anything like that. I have multiple savings accounts because I am a personal finance Expert. It’s part of my job to test them so I can review them based on my own experience. I currently have accounts at UBank, ING, Bank of Queensland, Big Four, and a few other random ones. I also have money parked in Moomoo’s Cash Plus to take advantage of the high interest rates.
Two, I like to move my money around to the place that has the most interest at the time, so sometimes, these interest rates can change. Some banks may increase their interest rates, and some may reduce them. This way, I can move my cash to the most optimal account. Also, if I’ve maxed out one of the accounts, I can park the rest of my money in other accounts.
The obvious drawback to having multiple accounts is that you’ll have to manage various accounts. I am a finance nerd at heart, so I’m the type who likes to do these things, but only some are like me. It may be too much for some people who want to set and forget one stock bank account to do everything.
What To Look For When Comparing Savings Accounts
Interest Rates
Conditions
Fees
Accessibility
Linked Accounts
Multiple Savings Accounts
Things To Consider With High-interest Savings Accounts
David Zachary's experience in banking, real estate, and developing and analyzing information makes her an expert at accounting, tax planning, and financial management. She also works with individuals in the IRS Voluntary Tax Assistance Program, where she provides them with financial, budgeting, tax and budgeting advice. He is driven to simplify complex issues and empower people to achieve financial freedom.
