The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) has broken its holding spree, hiking the cash rate at its November meeting on Tuesday.
Many Aussie savers will likely have their eye out for bolstered savings account interest rates, particularly after once-market leaders Bank of Queensland and ME Bank slashed savings account interest rates last month.
- For June’s movements, see this page.
This page will detail the latest rate change announcements for savings accounts and term deposits following the RBA's November 25 basis point rate hike - be sure to check back here regularly.
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November highlights
- Rabobank has hiked the introductory rate on its High Interest Savings Account to a market leading 5.75% for the first four months
- Macquarie Bank will lift the introductory rate on its savings account to 5.50% p.a. for the first four months
- Australian Unity has bolstered the interest rate on its Freedom Saver account to 5.50% – now the market's highest unconditional rate
- AMP will increase the maximum interest rate on its Saver Account by 20 basis points to 5.20% p.a. from 1 December
Need somewhere to store cash and earn interest? The table below features savings accounts with some of the highest interest rates on the market.
The market leaders
Rabobank
Market leader Rabobank left savings account fanatics biting their nails after the RBA's November hike.
It bolstered the introductory interest rate on its High Interest Savings Account by 15 basis points to 5.75% p.a. for balances of up to $250,000 more than a week after the central bank's move.
That leaves it a significant 20 basis points above the rate offered by the market's next best, ME Bank's HomeME, which boasts a conditional 5.55% p.a. rate.
Rabobank's 5.75% p.a. rate is made up of a 4.40% p.a. standard variable rate and a 1.35% p.a. bonus rate, the latter of which is only available for the first four months.
For balances of over $250,000, the standard rate decreases to 3.40% p.a.
The bank also offers a maximum rate of 5.10% p.a. on its PremiumSaver Account to those who grow their balance by at least $200 each month and a rate of up to 5.25% p.a. on its Notice Saver Account.
ING
ING responded to the latest rate hike on Thursday without mentioning its cult-favourite Savings Maximiser account.
Though, it did announce it will increase the interest rate offered on its Savings Accelerator product by 35 basis points to 4.70% p.a. for balances over $150,000, effective 14 November.
From that same date, the bank will offer a market leading 5.30% p.a. interest rate to customers locking $10,000 or more away in a 12-month term deposit – 30 basis points higher than its current rate.
The interest rate offered to customers entering a six month term deposit will also increase by 25 basis points to 5.05% p.a.
Bank of Queensland
BOQ has responded to the RBA's latest hike, increasing its variable home loan interest rates.
It didn't mention its Future Saver account, which currently boasts a total rate of 5.40% p.a., nor any of its other savings accounts.
It was a similar story over at the bank's subsidiaries Virgin Money and ME Bank.
Macquarie
Macquarie has revealed it will pass the 25 basis point increase on in full to customers holding its transaction and savings accounts, effective 17 November.
From that date, both products will provide an ongoing, unconditional 4.75% p.a. interest rate on balances of up to $1 million.
Macquarie is also lifting the introductory rate offered to new customers opening a savings account by 10 basis points to 5.50% p.a. for the first four months.
The new welcome rate will be effective from 10 November on balances of up to $250,000.
The rates offered on its term deposits don't yet appear to have been impacted by the RBA's rate hike, though many were increased last week.
Beyond its consumer products, the bank's business savings account and CMA Accelerator product will also see rates boosted 25 basis points to 4.75% from 17 November.
Australian Unity
Australian Unity has increased the maximum rate offered by its Freedom Saver account to 5.50% p.a.
That makes it the highest yielding unconditional savings account on the market.
However, the maximum rate is only applicable to balances of less than $50,000.
If a customer's balance surpasses $50,000, their entire deposit will earn 5.25% p.a.
If it exceeds $250,000, the deposit will earn an interest rate of 4.75% p.a., and if its between $500,000 and $5 million, it will earn 4.25% p.a. of interest.
Other top unconditional savings accounts include Unity Bank's MoneyMAX and the app-exclusive ANZ Plus Save – both of which boast a 4.90% p.a. interest rate.
ANZ, CommBank, Westpac, NAB
ANZ
ANZ was the second big bank out of the gates on Wednesday, just behind NAB.
The bank revealed it will increase the base interest rate available to customers holding its ANZ Plus Save account by 25 basis points to 4.90% p.a., effective 16 November.
That rate will be offered to those with balances of under $250,000.
Customers holding more in the account will realise an interest rate of 3.75% p.a.
The bank said it is continuing to review other deposit rates.
CommBank
CommBank was the last of the big four banks to react to the RBA's November move, announcing it will pass the hike on in full (or more) to savers.
The bank's NetBank Saver account will see its introductory interest rate bolstered by 35 basis points to 5.10% p.a. for the first five months.
That will be made up of a 2.75% p.a. fixed bonus margin (up 20 basis points) and a 2.35% p.a. standard variable interest rate (up 15 basis points), to which it will revert after the introductory period.
CommBank's GoalSaver account will see its total interest rate increase 25 basis points to 4.90% p.a.
That will comprise a 4.50% p.a. bonus rate – available to those who grow their balance each month – and a 0.40% p.a. base rate.
Finally, the bank's Youthsaver account will see its standard variable rate increase 25 basis points to 2.60% p.a. while its bonus rate stays at 2.40% p.a. – resulting in a total of rate of 5.00% p.a.
Those holding a Youthsaver account must grow their balance each month on order to earn the bonus rate.
All the above changes made by CommBank will be effective as of 17 November.
Westpac
Third off the ranks out of the big four, behind NAB and ANZ, was Westpac.
The bank will increase the total interest rate offered on its bonus rate account, Westpac Life, by 25 basis points to 5.00% p.a. from 17 November.
Right now, the savings account's interest rate is made up of a 2.00% base rate and a 2.75% bonus rate, provided to customers who grow their balance each month.
It will also increase the introductory offer available to new customers opening a Westpac eSaver variable interest rate account to 5.00% p.a. for the first five months on the same date.
NAB
NAB was the first of the big four to announce it will pass the November hike on in full, increasing its Reward Saver account to offer a total interest rate of 5.00% p.a.
To earn NAB's Reward Saver's total rate of 5.00% p.a. customers will likely be required to make no withdrawals and make at least one deposit on or before the second last banking day of the month.
Prior to passing on the RBA's latest hike, the savings account offers a 0.35% p.a. base rate and a 4.40% p.a. bonus rate, totaling 4.75% p.a.
The new rates will come into effect from 17 November 2023.
The best of the rest
AMP to boost savings account interest rate to 5.20% p.a.
AMP will increase the interest rate offered on its Saver Account to 5.20% on 1 December – marking a 20 basis point increase.
The new rate will be made up of a 1.00% p.a. base rate and a 4.20% p.a. bonus rate.
The bonus rate is available to those with balances of under $250,000 who deposit at least $1,000 a month.
From next month, the bank will also scrap its additional Wealth Bonus Variable Interest Rate – currently an extra 10 basis points – available to existing AMP super, pension, or investment account holders.
Ubank to hike Save account interest rate to 5.10% p.a.
Digital bank ubank has announced it will increase the bonus interest rate on offer to those holding its Save account by 10 basis points to 5.00% p.a. from 1 December.
Combined with the base rate available from the bank, savers can receive a potential 5.10% p.a.
To realise the maximum rate, depositors need only put $200 into any Save account each month (they can open up to 10) and ensure their combined balance doesn't exceed $250,000.
St George, BankSA, & Bank of Melbourne to hike rates to as much as 5.35% p.a.
Westpac subsidiaries St George, Bank SA, and Bank of Melbourne will each increase the maximum introductory rate offered to new customers opening a Maxi Saver account online to 5.35% p.a. from 17 November.
That rate will be made up of a 1.10% p.a. variable rate, a 3.90% p.a. fixed introductory rate, and a 0.35% p.a. bonus rate for opening an account online.
Both the introductory rate and the bonus rate will be made available for the first three months.
Those depositing less than $250,000 in an Incentive Saver account with any of the banks will also see their bonus rate increase 15 basis points to 3.30% p.a. on top of the current 1.85% p.a. base variable rate – bringing it to a total of 5.15% p.a.
New customers opening an Incentive Saver account online will also receive an extra 0.10% for the first three months, lifting the account's total rate to 5.25% p.a.
The bonus rate is available to those who grow their balance each month (customers aged over 21 much grow their balance by at least $50 a month).
Balances of over $250,000 in an Incentive Saver account will attract a 3.15% p.a. bonus rate – leading to a total offered rate of 5.00% p.a. or 5.10% p.a. with the online introductory bonus.
Bankwest to increase savings rates
CommBank subsidiary Bankwest announced its plan to increase savings account interest rates by 25 basis points from 17 November.
From that date, its Hero Saver account will boast a 4.60% p.a. interest rate for balances up to $250,001, as long as customers deposit $200 and make no withdrawals each month.
Meanwhile, its eSaver Variable Smart account will offer a 2.45% p.a. interest rate for balances up to $500,001 as long as depositors make no withdrawals in a month.
On top of that, the introductory rate on its Easy Saver account will lift to 5.10% p.a. for the first four months on balances of up to $250,001.
Virgin Money fake out cut to Boost Saver
Earlier in November, Virgin Money announced it would be cutting back interest rates on its Virgin Money Boost Saver account on 27 November.
However, it subsequently emailed customers saying rates would no longer be reduced, in light of the cash rate increase.
The Boost Saver rate will remain 5.05% p.a if monthly criteria are met, and 5.35% if the Lock Saver Feature is enabled.
First published on November 2023
Image by Nattanan23 on Pixabay.
Harry O'Sullivan
Denise Raward