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What’s changing?
Commonwealth Bank, Macquarie Bank, Suncorp and ING are among the latest banks making changes to savings account rates.
Commonwealth Bank cuts savings rates
Commonwealth Bank is cutting savings rates today by 0.05 percentage points for the second time this month, rounding out a dozen cuts to its popular NetBank Saver account over the past year.
The bank’s NetBank Saver and Youthsaver rates have both been cut by 1.25 percentage points in just 12 months, while its bonus GoalSaver account has seen its rate drop by 0.90 percentage points over the same period.
Taking into account these changes, long-term NetBank Saver customers (whose introductory offer has already elapsed) are now earning just over $2 per month on a $50,000 balance, Canstar analysis shows.
The new CommBank savings rates, from Friday, 26 February, are as follows:
- NetBank Saver: 0.40% (0.05% base rate + 0.35% introductory rate for the first five months)
- GoalSaver: 0.35% (0.05% base rate + 0.30% conditional bonus rate)
- Youthsaver: 0.60% (0.05% base rate + 0.55% conditional bonus rate on balances up to $50k).
Macquarie Bank, Suncorp cut rates
Macquarie Bank is slashing its Online Saver account by 0.25 percentage points today, down to a maximum total rate of 1.10%. The rate reverts to 0.95% after the first four months.
This move sees Macquarie Bank fall out of Canstar’s top savings rates table (see below), replaced by IMB Bank, MyState Bank and neobank 86 400.
Prior to the cut, customers of ING may have been seriously considering Macquarie’s savings account as an option to switch their money to, if they’d decided they weren’t happy with new bonus interest conditions from ING that will discourage customers from taking more money out of their savings than they put in each month.
In fact, some savers have expressed their frustrations via social media forums, including Reddit, saying they had already made the effort to switch to Macquarie in preparation for the changes at ING, only to discover via email correspondence on Thursday that the Macquarie interest rate would be cut.
ING’s new bonus interest conditions are set to take effect from Monday, so existing savers who find the changes could be too restrictive for their saving behaviour might still be looking for a new place to stash their hard-earned cash.
After all, it may be worthwhile considering your options if you think not being able to meet bonus conditions each month could see you lose out on valuable interest entirely. And as the case of Macquarie’s cut shows, it’s important to keep an eye on the competitiveness of your interest rate too.
Suncorp is also among the banks on Canstar’s database to cut savings accounts this week, having reduced its Growth Saver rate by 0.05 percentage points to 0.85% on Friday (0.05% base rate + 0.80% conditional bonus rate).
Where can I find a better savings interest rate?
After this week’s savings cuts, these are the top rates for savers available on Canstar’s database at the time of writing, for people with balances of $10,000.
Top savings interest rates on Canstar’s database
| Provider | Account | Base Rate | Bonus Rate | Promo Rate | Bonus Conditions | Total Rate |
| Rabobank Australia | High Interest Savings Account | 0.30% | – | 1.45% (4 months) | – | 1.75% |
| ING | Savings Maximiser | 0.05% | 1.30% | – | Deposit $1,000, make 5 settled card purchases per month, and from 1 March 2021 grow your balance each month | 1.35% |
| Heritage Bank | Online Saver | 0.65% | – | 0.65% (4 months) | – | 1.30% |
| Bank of China | Online Saver | 0.40% | – | 0.90% (4 months) | – | 1.30% |
| 86 400 | Save Account | 0.10% | 1.10% | – | Deposit $1,000 into any of your Pay or Save accounts each month | 1.20% |
| MyState Bank | Bonus Saver | 0.10% | 1.10% | – | Deposit $20 and make 5 settled Visa Debit transactions each month | 1.20% |
| IMB | Reward Saver | – | 0.55% | 0.65% (4 months) | Deposit $50 and make no withdrawals each month | 1.20% |
Source: www.canstar.com.au – 26/02/2021. Based on savings accounts on Canstar’s database, excluding age-limited products, with rates based on a deposit of $10,000. Table sorted in descending order by total rate, followed by base rate, and then alphabetically by provider. Total rate includes the base rate plus any conditional bonus or introductory promotional rate. Conditions may apply to bonus and promotional rates, refer to the provider for more details.
This article was reviewed by our Sub Editor Tom Letts before it was published, as part of our fact-checking process.
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The comparison table below shows some of the savings accounts on Canstar’s database for a regular saver in NSW. The results shown are based on an investment of $100,000 in a personal savings account and are sorted by Star Rating (highest to lowest), then provider name (alphabetically). For more information and to confirm whether a particular product will be suitable for you, check upfront with your provider and read the Product Disclosure Statement or other terms and conditions before making a decision.
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