Good news! We’re increasing our saving rates again, so that you can continue to get ahead with money.
From 1 September 2022, you can earn up to 2.85% p.a. on your Save account.
We’ve made it easy for you…
Simply deposit at least $200 per month into any of your Spend or Save accounts (not including internal transfers) and the bonus interest is yours. Seriously, that’s it.
The new bonus rate is 2.75% p.a. and is paid on balances up to $250K per customer on top of the 0.10% p.a. base rate.
Referrer and referee each receive $10 after referee makes 5 settled card purchases within 30 days.
Except that most annoying of hoops, the space-time continuum.
Good to see someone thinking fourth-dimensionally.
Surprisingly, recent research has revealed that the fourth dimension is actually cashback, and not credit card price protection, as once theorised
isn't it just time and not space?
if you forget to transfer $200 until day n of the month, you will miss out on n-1 days of (bonus) interest
That was not my understanding of how the interest was accrued. I've done some math for some months extrapolating the monthly interest rate from the interest payment to an annual interest rate and always found it very accurately close to the eligible total interest rate offered.
Can anyone confirm this?
Lower down in this thread there is a link that confirms my info is fake news
Citi is already giving 2.85% with no terms ! Screw Ubankf off!
Not a fan of these "we will give you the rate rise in a month" deals. Essentially giving you last month's rate the week where they raise interest rates again.
For what it's worth, Macquarie offering 3.1% for 4 months as a welcome rate for their savings account. But be warned that they will not increase your rate as their "welcome rate" offers increase. I opened one when their welcome rate was 1.8% a month or so ago and they won't increase the rate.
Same as me. I thought they would increase if you just joined. Nope
Oh well, on to the next bank for me. Next will be either ubank (2.85%) or Citibank (2.6%). Citibank may end up better if they pass on the rate rise over the coming week.
citi has risen to the challenge! Its now 2.85%
Though to be fair Macquarie didn't drop their welcome rate once you were on one, when the rates were going down previously
Fair point, just isn't a very new customer friendly policy.
Citibank on the other hand, will give you the variable bonus rate for the duration of your promotional period. I am sure that means it would go down in a decreasing interest rate environment but don't need to worry about that for a while.
Do you require a mobile phone number to open an account - or are you able to do 2FA via e-mail addresses or the Google Authenticator app?
What?
The account can only be opened and used via the app on a mobile phone. So you do need a mobile phone number.
This is actually a dealbreaker for me, I don't feel comfortable transacting tens of thousands of dollars on a mobile.
Internet banking for the new ubank is in trial/early access.
Apparently banks think the vast majority of their clients use whatever app they tell them to use - so they just flat-out ignore web banking - even though that's accessible to far more people on both desktop and mobile.
These banks are a pure digital play and they focus on apps because that's where the markets heading. If Internet banking is important for you stay away from these digital players because they're not going to be investing heavily on Internet banking. and Internet banking will always be a second after thought if they choose to roll it out.
I have had 86400 App for a few years but now after the amalgamation I can use it on a laptop and it works really well. So they have actually enabled people who signed up for an App only Bank to use web banking.
@Yola: Yeah but this was planned for ages never a priority from what I understand and only became a priority because of the ubank merger as they need it to on-board legacy customers from ubank Legacy to the new :86 400 tech platform.
From my understanding :86 400 were internally developing Internet banking but it was not a priority project and it was pretty much it launches when it launches.
As there is a large number of these customers given the fact that you bank is a early digital play when they used to heavily focus on Internet banking. There is a large portion on ubank legacy of that apparently don't even have any mobile app banking installed.
But given that it's now :86 400 Tech, ubank customers should consider this mobile digital play first. Internet banking second.
@Kyle-K: Is there a reason why customers should prefer mobile banking. I prefer using web banking, better for my fat fingers and failing eyesight. Serious question.
@Ryk: I'm not really sure if that's true.
And you have the added risks with mobiles of porting and sim swapping.
I use web banking with the bank's authenticator app, so I'm using two separate devices, a laptop and a mobile. Unlikely that a bad actor would try to take over both devices when there is plenty of low hanging fruit just doing their banking on a mobile.
From 1 September 2022
It's always a month late. A few days after 1 Sept the RBA is likely to raise again and then they are behind again.
Regardless, good to see it going up.
Regardless, good to see it going up.
BUT WHAT ABOUT THE HOME OWNERS!?
Everyone with money in the bank are happy.
I don't think any banks discrimate against home owners 😀
Wow so is this the highest rate for banks now?
give it a couple of days, ING/AMP/VM are going to respond
They said now, dammit. I’m not interested in the future. For some, the future never comes
Sad… very sad…
@stockastics: Being impulsive works great for me. Never put off until tomorrow something which you can get today. But, as always, YMMV
@stockastics: Hope is just around the corner. At least, they’re working hard to get it back in stock
@stockastics: Lot sure, but weight inclease plessure for sure (unless that's what you mean and your accent is lot as thick as mine)?
I'm getting 3% with Boq but I think it's restricted to under 35 year olds.
Youth is wasted on the young
Up to 50k only.
BOQ is 3% if you're under 35. Highest that I'm aware of.
ING will beat this before 1st Sept ;)
Just wish they removed their grow your balance condition,.
I just wished they upped their max amount from the $100k limit
I just wish that Santa is real
I agree, they have a lot of conditions and this one atleast must be removed
ING's conditions are solely based around finding as many ways as possible to not pay interest, while trying to attract as much money as they can. Decreased your balance $1 from last month to this? No interest for you! Yes, they really are 'Cheering from the sidelines, helping you save' (their advertising words) by trying to trip you up as much as possible.
I'm surprised ING hasn't implemented no withdrawal requirements on their account too. Withdrew money during the month? No interest for you!
Oh - but didn't you know, ING's customers told them they wanted more hoops to jump through because that helps them save! Wasn't it so nice of ING to respond by giving their customers exactly what they asked for! </s>
You can work around this by having multiple savings accounts that you switch the nomination between. If you plan ahead you won't miss a month if you need to shrink for balance for any reason.
Can you elaborate on this one a bit for me? So for example, I have $150,000 in one savings maximiser (I didn't realise they had a 100k limit), and want to take 50K out so it doesn't go to waste, so is the plan:
- Open a new savings maximiser account on my main account.
- Transfer 100K into that and nominate it as the one to get the interest straight away.
The result being, I won't get interest in the first account as I took out money that month, but the new account would get the interest?
Also, guess it is best to do that now as it is a new month.
Thanks for your time.
The result being, I won't get interest in the first account as I took out money that month, but the new account would get the interest?
You will need to move $50k to the account 1 on the last day of every month just to meet their requirements of increasing balance month over month and then move the amount back on the first day of the new month. I guess this is the only solution unless you are happy to skip one month without earning interest and your account balance will reset to a lower amount so that you don't have to play this gimmick perpetually.
@dansozb: You can do what you want with the 50k whenever
Open the account
Nominate anytime this month it will take effect next month current month will carry on as normal
Put $0.01 in new account it to grow the balance.
Transfer the 100k on the first of next month.
That is it
Just check in the app before the end of the month to make sure your new account has the 3 ticks to activate bonus interest to be sure.
Doing this you can avoid what Virhlpool describes above, and you can do it again and again just by switching the nomination not even having to open a new account. so you'll never miss a month interest if you plan ahead.
@Given: You have to do it in browser If you click to expand the account info at the top of your savings account.
@denserham: You can use the same account, transfer to transaction account leaving 0.01 more in savings than last month on the last day of current month, and transfer back next day, isn't it?
@Meovel: No you are thinking of something else, I'm talking about when you are not able to meet the .01 more then last month criteria for whatever reason. You can switch nomination to a second account and because that second account would have had $0 in it last month you just put one cent in it and transfer your savings over on the 1st you don't miss a month of interest.
@denserham: Yeah true I was talking about when you can beat last month but would like to keep the figure low
This is literally why their rates are consistently the highest. Its an essentially a cross between a savers account and a term deposit. We get higher rates and they can more safely use our money elsewhere, not worrying about us taking it out randomly.
So you either keep a buffer elsewhere at a lower rate, or move money out/in at the end of the month.
On another notes, 86400 emerged as the dark horse among all other neo banks.
It was a bummer to see them being acquired but turns out it is a highly competitive industry and they could either try and keep afloat with the help of others or perish like Xinja and the others.
Either ways very happy with them since the initial days.
UP is still great, not sure if they’ve been acquired or not tho
They were. Its not possible to be an independent neobank it looks like.
I bet those banks were set up with the idea to be acquired the whole time.
@samfisher5986: Maybe but they had to reach a certain threshold and many failed before they could do it.
I loved Xinja for their branding and overall service even though I also signed up for 86400. Too bad they just collapsed.
Up never were an independent bank. It was a joint venture between Bendigo and their App designer.
Up never were an independent bank. It was a joint venture between Bendigo and their App designer.
Yeah which Bendigo bought both and also already owned a share of already.
Same with 86 400 that was backed by one of the largest financial companies in Australia that no one's heard of Cuscal who handles a lot of backend and tech related stuff for most credit unions here in Australia, they did take on some other investors before selling it to NAB though.
axlfan I've been critical of the other two major players Xinja and Volt. Both made a lot of bad decisions and both at the end of the day had nothing. There's a reason why they ended the way they did.
So glad these guys are going alright with the rate rises, even if it is a month delayed,
BOQ was a pain to deal with.
citi is now 2.85%
… for 4 months
BOQ locked me out of my account. When I called them to fix it after the usual questions, they asked me to name a deposit made into the account in the last 30 days. Of course, I cannot log in to see. I explained I make a lot of transactions with several banks was there an alternative question? NO. Then luckily, I found a record of a transfer I had made from Citi and the amount. INCORRECT - he said. I logged into City and saw that I had made 3 transfers to BOQ on the same day and the amount I told him was one of them. So, he cannot read. After I did get back in, I saw the balance of the account was $1. Yes, total pain.
as soon as I saw the RBA announcement I knew to expect an email from ubank about this and I wasn't dissapointed!
since signing up in June @ 1.85% we've gone to 2.35% and now 2.85% next month, great stuff :D
Can I get three cheers for inflation?
hip hip hoo…awwww…. lol
Take away the short-term extreme cost increases of property prices and construction from Australia's 6.1% CPI, and you're down much closer to the long-term 2-3% average. But no denying the increases in fuel and groceries are keeping it above the long-term average atm and hurting most people.
Can I get three cheers for managing your personal finances with a high savings rate of income, an emergency/buffer cash allocation, and no consumer debt or car loans/leases?…
@Ruckmauler: I'm seeing housing, food, and fuel up at the ~2-3% for the quarter, and a lot of the other commodity groups at ~0-1%
Is the bonus interest calculated daily from the beginning of the month or only for the days after the $200 have been deposited? I have looked at the FAQ in the app and there's no specific mention.
For comparison, ING definitely gives the bonus for every day of the month as long as you jump through all their hoops (before the end of that particular month).
For the whole month.
Yep, thought so. Thanks for the heads up.
It is calculated from the date you meet the minimum deposit ($200). I emailed them about it to confirm. So you will need to deposit $200 on the first of each month to get the bonus rate calculated for the whole month.
This is incorrect. You get it for the full month as long as you put $200 in. So you can put $200 on the last day if you wanted to.
Well that was the confirmation I received from the customer service team. If you are correct then that's great!
@Marshmellow20: To earn our bonus interest rate on your Save accounts, you must have a Spend account and put $200+ each month into any of your Spend or Save accounts before 11:30pm (Sydney time) on the last day of each month. This doesn’t include internal transfers between accounts.
You can also take your money out at any time without affecting your bonus rate. It may seem too simple, but it’s really just that easy.
For example, if you put $100 into your Spend account and $100 into one of your Save accounts then you will earn bonus interest for that month on all of your individual Save accounts as well as on any shared Save accounts you hold with a partner-in-finance.
Am I the only one who has had a issue with ubank/doesn't like them? When I set up my new accounts they kept sending me text and email requests to verify myself even after I'd already done it, and never responded directly to emails that I sent them confirming I'd already provided the info and answered their questions…we kept going in a loop like this for a few weeks, at which point I just asked them to return my initial deposit funds and close my account - after which they informed me they were closing my account because I hadn't completed their verification process :/
have literally never had a smoother bank sign up experience… my wife and I joined with 0 issues, absolutely love them so far
True and another aspect that I should highlight is the amazing customer service on phone. Wait time on call with ING is typically 15-30 mins during the day in my past experience and it's never been more than 3 mins with Ubank. Their call centre seems super efficient.
yes I agree any time I've had to call has been pretty good, I like the call back option instead of sitting on a queue too
Yes, super impressed with the UBank call centre. In contrast, I've had to call ING a couple of times recently and I've spent up to 90 (!!) mins waiting for the call to be answered.
Major reason why I'm switching to UBank from ING (along with better app, and less hoops for interest)
nah ubank is pretty shit!
they told me that my account was going to be closed/suspended for being used for "business purposes".
Great but they couldn't even do that. Got an email from them lately saying I still have an account open. Incompetent af. UP bank is much better!
Well was it being used for business purposes
Good to see them leading the way on this great rate and no annoying hoops to jump through.