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Savings Maximiser 4.55% p.a. Interest on Balance up to $100,000 (Monthly Deposit, Balance & Spend Requirements) @ ING

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New rate announcement on Savings Maximiser from ING website:

Effective from 13/12/2022

4.55% p.a. highest variable rate (made up of the standard variable rate and 4.00% p.a. additional variable rate) for customers who also have an Orange Everyday Bank account and do these things each month.

1. Deposit at least $1,000 from an external source to any personal ING account in their name (excluding Living Super, Personal Loans and Orange One)
2. Make 5 or more settled (not pending) eligible ING card purchases
3. Grow their nominated Savings Maximiser balance (excluding interest earned for the current month).

When the criteria is met in a calendar month, the benefits and additional variable rate will apply in the next calendar month. Available on one account for balances up to $100,000.

The standard variable rate is 0.55% p.a.

Referral Links

Referral: random (466)

Until 30/6/2024, referrer and referee will each receive $75/$100/$125 for opening new Orange Everyday & Saving Maximiser Accounts.

Referrer: Do not participate in the referral system if you do not have a current $75/$100/$125 referral code.

Referee: To qualify, you are required to deposit a minimum $1,000 and make at least 5 (settled) card transactions within any calendar month.

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closed Comments

    • +14

      You really said this with your whole chest and probably thought everyone would be huffing and puffing alongside you. Classic Karen response, and I feel sorry for the person who had to break the news to you that if you don’t meet the criteria - stiff shit!

      • -6

        No Ozbargain is brutal sometimes- pay not to contribute because of the sad comments you receive. Good luck getting others to contribute with this sad approach

    • +5

      I was in bed for 10 days with COVID

      But you only need 5 minutes to buy 5 $1 Amazon giftcards.

    • +1

      I agree the forfeit is too great - but that's true of the hurdles for all these banks - they make the base interest tiny and the bonus essentially ALL the interest component. So when you miss a hurdle you are essentially losing ALL the interest for a WHOLE month. On the $100K max that's $333 lost and $45 earnt - that's bollocks.

    • you can just buy a $1 amazon gift card for a transaction

  • Nice, just need 99k more in my pocket to reach eligibility

    • +1

      up to 100k*

      • My bad, now that's a deal

    • It's up to 100k, so your 1k will be doing fine ;)

    • +2

      You have $1k in your pocket? You should put it in the bank!

  • +9

    Many people displeased with the conditions, or the customer service, or whatever.

    I just got paid $352.03 in interest last month.

    • +1

      Yeah I find it pretty easy to fulfill the conditions.

    • Must be nice to have a spare $100k sitting in the bank

      • +11

        I do too but I don't have a house :(

        • Let's watch our savings get whittled away by inflation before we can get on the property ladder!

    • Lol, yea me and the missus are the same. Try getting Commonwealth Bank on the phone, Citibank is better but it's outsourced so it's a shitty line with some Filipino reading from a script. We didn't have any problems getting them on the phone, but I'm sure their customer base has grown and they'll experience issues.

  • Anybody know if the $1k deposit has to be into an account just in your name, or if a joint account is ok?

    • +1

      Joint account is sweet, just don’t forget that 1k in monthly with the required transactions

    • We have a joint account and the $1000+ p/m comes in from a third party

  • Does interest start accumulating only after you meet the monthly requirements?/ 5 transactions or can this be made at any time in the month and you’ll get the higher interest rate for the whole month?

    • +2

      Conditions are to be met for the following month to get the higher interest. So fulfill the conditions in December to get the bonus in January. So anytime in the previous month.

    • They give the bonus interest rate immediately for the month you join, and then meeting the conditions within that month unlocks it for the following month.

      • +1

        they actually give you the first two months grace (waiver from conditions)

        • +1

          Ooooh I didn't know that, even better!

  • This could be a stupid question to ask so please be kind. If I have a loan with interest rate 4.3% and have some equity that I can draw out (rate remains the same), is it profitable to just put that money in ING savings account at 4.5% as the interest earned from savings apparently exceeds the interest incurred by the loan itself?? Or is this stupid maths? (Assume it's PPOR not an investment). Appreciate some insight (I would have thought many people would do if this is the case…)

    • +5

      Depends if you pay any tax.

      • +1

        Yep, understand it now why people don't do it (and instead opt for redraw or offset account instead). Never thought about tax implications. Especially if you are on a higher tax bracket, this move doesn't make sense at all.

    • +3

      Your interest is taxable

    • +1

      If I have a loan with interest rate…

      Well let's assume that there are no catches and you could earn a net interest of 0.2% (4.5%- 4.3%). For $100k investment it will yield $16/month.
      That seems like a lot of time and effort for $16.

      • +1

        That's true too. But no time and effort if that money is sitting there. If the money sit there in offset account, same thing but less than money. So I'd rather move the 100k ro this account once and for all and earn that bit of cash for no any other efforts. But, tax implications certainly isn't worth it.

        • But no time and effort if that money is sitting there

          You have to set up an account, then ensure you deposit $1000, then spend 5 transactions, then also ensure the balance grows. It's all overhead, and for what, $16 at most? If you really need $16 I'm sure there are easier way to get it.

    • The lenders rate is on the balance of the loan while the savings rate is on the balance of your savings, so your savings balance would need to be equal or greater than what you owe (not accounting for tax payable on interest income, possible differences in how interest is calculated and applied, and/or other gotchas).

  • For conditions #1 and #3, if you transfer in $1,010, then transfer out $1,000, still qualify? This is so that not to hit $100,000 too quickly.

    For condition #2, I guess you can use self checkout to split payment 5 times, so get it done in one shop.

    • +1

      The $1000 deposit needs to go into the Orange account. The $100,000 should be in the Saving Maximizer. So, the 2 do not impact each other.

      • Ok make sense.

        So you can deposit $100,000 into the high interest account, then grow it by a dollar each month. Granted anything over 100k doesn't earn bonus interest but it is only a small amount.

        Circling back to condition #3, interest earned does not count as "growth", but if you transfer out any interest the overall balance will reduce, would that offset the growth you put in? Does timing matter (i.e end of the month/begin of new month)?

        • +2

          ING says the interest does not count but in practice it does. You need to leave interest there and add 1c. The good thing is ING tells you exactly the balance you must have at the end of the month to get the bonus. Therefore, best to start the account with $90/95k. There are other ways of managing this if you look at the previous ING threads it has been discussed in detail and you will find answers to all your questions. You can also look here

          https://forums.whirlpool.net.au/thread/32712lq9?p=300

          • +1

            @Yola: Thanks, I suspected so. Good to know they tell the balance required to earn bonus interest.

  • Ubank condition says "Take money out at any time without affecting your bonus rate" whereas ING says "Grow their nominated Savings Maximiser balance (excluding interest earned for the current month)". So does it mean that for example I have $10k in bank account for current month, I fulfil all conditions for boonus interest rate but and in next 2-3 months I withdraw some money and my balance reduces it to $8k instead of growing, then ING will stop paying bonus interest rate benefit from that month onwards when balance reduced to $8K? if yes then isn't it Ubank is better in such scenario? Can anyone pls guide me for this. Thanks

    • +4

      You can withdraw but have to return the funds plus 1c before the end of the month. So if your balance drops you should withdraw all money on the 1st of the next month. For the remainder of the current month, you will still get the bonus because you qualified in the previous month. So,
      Jan qualified in December balance was reduced - still get the bonus
      Feb no bonus as did not qualify in Jan. Withdraw funds, leave a small amount and take all steps to qualify again.
      March will receive the bonus and return funds.
      Others have suggested you can also create another SM account, nominate it to receive the bonus interest, and move the funds to that account. I am not sure of the details of how to qualify for that account the previous month but if you look at the previous ING threads this has been discussed in detail and you will find answers to all your questions. You can also look here

      https://forums.whirlpool.net.au/thread/32712lq9?p=300

    • +2

      Yes and yes. Then if the following month your balance grows to $8000.01 it will apply again

  • Increase to 1 million would be better.

    • +1

      And we officially have a first world problem.

  • What about people money is being stolen in ING?

  • 'When the criteria is met in a calendar month, the benefits and additional variable rate will apply in the next calendar month'

    I didn't realise this.

    So month 1 you only get the 0.55% interest. Then you meet the conditions and get the full 4.55% in month 2.

    If moving from say Ubank, it sounds better to put $10 in ING month 1 and meet conditions (earning slightly less interest in UBank still on the rest of the balance) and then moving the rest of the money in month 2.

    • +3

      Actually, for the 1st & 2nd month, you get the default bonus rate. In your 2nd month, you have to satisfy all conditions to get bonus for 3rd month and so on.

    • +4

      Nope, in month 1 they give you all benefits immediately.
      You then have to meet the conditions during month 1 so it stays live for month 2.
      They make it pretty clear how you're getting on each month in meeting the conditions.

      • +1

        My wife set up a new ING account around the 20th Nov and moved funds into it but didn't make any of the 5 card purchases and is receiving the bonus rate in December.

      • +1

        Yes you are right.

        I didn't see the bonus conditions tracker.

        it says as a new customer they are giving me Dec and Jan at full rate, then i need to satisfy the conditions in Jan to keep for Feb.

  • +1

    My ING account was closed last year with a week warning, and no information. I wasn't able to speak to anyone except for a couple of emails telling me they were not able to disclose the reason why. I was a customer for around 6 years and there was no reason for it to happen, still very salty about it.

    • +1

      Sounds like anti money laundering, did any relatively large bank transfers to/from potentially dodgy people?

      • Nop, had/have a regular income, and regular spending.

    • +1

      How did you satisfy your 5 monthly transaction?

      • +1

        Paying bills, buying food at work, and regular income.

        • That’s so strange. I’ve heard of them debanking customers for doing 5x 1c transactions, but not for just normal purchases

    • Yep, same thing happened to me. Got my balance as a bank cheque. Be warned everyone, ING is well known for debanking if they consider you non profitable.

  • +7

    I am working on this little app that has the updated rates for a lot of savings accounts. The UI isn't really optimised yet, so be kind, but I believe this might be useful for some. First comment too but been a lurker so why not!!

    https://savings.streamlit.app/

    • +1

      Post it up over in the forums too.

    • +2

      Nice. This spreadsheet is easier to navigate though - https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/145iM6uuFS9m-Rul65--e…

      • +2

        Thanks for the feedback. Admittedly my app is a bit dodgy at this point, but it might be ok to view on a phone compared to a spreadsheet. I will try make it more user friendly and more informative :)

        I think the spreadsheet is great btw, I may have seen it before ;-)

      • why spreadsheet locked now? cant sort filters

  • Been trying to not tip over to 100k but I have just crossed the rubicon. Does this mean I'm not eligible for an interest payment this month?

    • +1

      No, first 100k still has the bonus rates.

      • +1

        Thank you. It was bloody stressful trying to hoover around 99k for months as I thought going over 100k would forfeit interest. I feel immeasurably lighter without that responsibility hanging over me!

        • +4

          Yeah I can't imagine the stress having of having 100k in a savings account, must be awful, I'm so sorry you have to experience that >_>

          • @SnakeDoc:

            Yeah I can't imagine the stress having of having 100k

            Mo' money, mo' problems…

        • +2

          open a 2nd SM account and when it gets close to 100k nominate the new account to get the interest and on the first of the month move 99k or less over to the new account that will get the bonus interest. you can flip between the 2 every few months and not miss any interest

          • @Squeezy: Is thie an option? And if so, how many SM accounts can anyone have?

            • @Lunarboogie: not sure but Both my wife and I have 2 now. Makes life much easier - you only get bonus interest though on ONE SM account at a time so you are still limited to 100k

          • @Squeezy: Do you have to do anything in the prior month to ensure the second account will receive the bonus?

            • +2

              @Yola: yes you need to go and change the nominated account which will get interest in the following month so in my case since I just opened my 2nd one in Mid november I went and specified that one as the one to get the bonus interest NEXT month then on the first of the month did an internal transfer across from my original SM to the new SM which now will have an end of month balance higher than the start of the month. The other conditions just follow on. ie you everday account still needs to get the $1k in it per month and you still need to do the 5 tap n go

              • @Squeezy: Thank you for a good explanation. Could you please post at the end of the month to say if you got the bonus in your second account? I am a cautious person.

    • Now the "problem" is any new interest will not earn bonus interest (the extra 4%).

      That's about $333 added to the account each month missing out on the 4%, about $86 interest lost over 12 months if the rate doesn't change.

      Not a huge amount in the schemes of things, better than withdrawing causing balance to drop.

      • +3

        You can move the excess out on the first of the month, then back in on the last day, this way you only lose one day of interest on anything over 100k.

        Or you can plan a month in advance to clear out the account, get eligibility again for the following month and then moving your money back in. 95k is good for about a year at the current interest rate, then you'll hit 100k again.

        Another method is to have more than one Savings Maximiser account, you can choose which one gets the bonus rate so you just move the money around when you start hitting the 100k cap.

        It is extra work, but that's kind of the ongoing theme with getting that higher rate.

  • Closed my ING due to the conditions using the card. Moved to UBank and it is great, only need to deposit. Up to 250K also.

  • I guess I should really not be keeping most of my money in a CBA transaction account. I'm fine with the increased balance but the 5 transactions monthly dance is just extra gotchas. Does it even make economic sense to ING if many of the transactions are just the 5 minimum to get the extra interest on Savings Maximiser?

    • +1

      The 5 transactions can be achieved quite easily, just use self checkout to split payment into: 5 x $1 using ING, the balance using your regular card.

      It will be harder if there's a condition to ensure 5 different merchants, or each transaction has to be at least 5 days apart, but currently not the case.

  • Virgin is going to be 4.6% tomorrow (with lock feature on) and 5 x transactions per month and $2000 deposit to transaction account (previous month)

    • Yep VM is a good option, plus one less hurdle

      • but their other rqmt is getting locked / no withdrawal for 32days ?

  • +3

    I'm not affiliated with ING, and won't endorse them over anyone else. However, here is my thoughts as a customer:

    • If you have a savings plan, then this account is good.
    • There's probably no point doing this unless you have your current account with ING as well.
    • I get 1% cashback on utility bills, refunded international transaction fees and ATM fees, so although the APR is slightly lower than other saving accounts, for me at least, this ofsets things. It normally works out at about $20-40 a month depending on what I've been spending.

    So for me ING works okay. For others it probably doesn't.

  • Any on-going referral/referee reward for new sign up?

  • +7

    Never ceases to amaze me how much angst ING causes people.

    Me, I don't care. Been with them for 20 odd years now and have no complaints as I have earned shitloads of interest with them over that time, and so far I have not had to deal with them with problems because there's been none. Not saying it will always be like that, but for the time being it is one less thing to worry about.

    My age pension and super go into my Everyday account every fortnight so I meet the deposit criteria. I do my 5 transactions, bread or milk from Woolies in the first two weeks to ensure I have met that condition. Then I have Roundup turned on, so I meet the grow the Maximiser balance easily and save a bit more.

    I also have notifications turned on to alert me to transactions on my account, so I am immediately across anything that could be fraudulent.

    People here seem to over complicate things for the sheer hell of it, then wonder why it all goes to shit on them.

    Not happy with ING? Dump them and go elsewhere. Simple. Just stop whinging about it over and over and over again. Not good for your blood pressure!

    • +1

      If people actually uses the account, the 1k and 5 transaction is not a barrier at all. Even if you don't actively uses the account, transfer 1k in/out, 5 spilt payments at Coles/Woolies, or 5x $1 Amazon gift cards. Its far less than what many of here do to save a buck or two.

      The monthly growth just need you to manage your funds. Think of the account as a more flexible term deposit. Put money in there that you won't be using anytime soon. Then have a secondary account else where at a lower interest rate.

      More than 100k? Then just have accounts at multiple banks.

  • +2

    Meanwhile Macquarie bank today LOWERED the 1 year rate from 3.9% to 3.8%
    The day after the RBA hiked the interest rate lol

    • Macquarie's 3.8% rate is for a 1 year Term Deposit. This thread is about the interest rate on a Savings Account.
      Two different products.

  • what is the condition of end of month balance. if my account is having 10,000 on 30th Dec and 9900 on 31st Dec, will I get interest paid? also, what if on Jan 31st my balance is 9800? can someone clarify this? thanks in advance

    • +2

      The balance at the END of the month must be more than at the start. The website tells you how much it was at the start. It must be more than that $1 at the end of the month EXCLUDING interest. in your first example if you had say 9800 on the 1st Dec then you would be good if it was 9900 on Dec 31st. Interest is calculated daily so you can have more in during the month earning more interest

    • +1

      You don't get the Bonus Interest. Maximiser account has to at least 1 cent more on the 31st Dec than it was on 30 Nov, and then at least one cent more on 31st Jan than it was on 31st Dec etc etc. to get the extra interest.

      • +1

        *including the interest received

        so 1c more than it was on 30-Nov PLUS the interest you received on 1-Dec

  • Can you game the 'must grow your balance' system?

    31st of the month: Reduce balance from $10k to $10 by moving money into Orange Everyday

    Date ticks over

    1st of the month: Move money back into Savings Maximiser

    The whole point of doing this is inevitably there will be a month when I must reduce my month end balance, ruining the bonus interest for the month.

    • +3

      NO ..dont do that ( unless you balance at the start of the month was $9 ) , You will end up missing out on interest all together for the next month. Either create a 2nd SM account and play the swappy game every few months on the 1st of the month or move your money elsewhere for that month cause if your end of month balance is less than the start you will miss out on the bonus interest in the subsequent month. Whilst the wording is vague it does no include interest either ( found that out the hard way ). The bonus conditions are worked out PRIOR to the interest being paid on the last day of the month.

  • I'm closing quickly upon the 100k limit.. what should I do when I meet it? If the amount needs to be better than previous month, even if I take money out it will eventually tip over $99,999.99 so would be impossible from there on to continue to receive the maximum interest… should I just move it all over to Ubank permanently?

    Edit* Doh, I realize i can move the money to Ubank for one month and skip a month of ING's and it will reset to a lower amount needed to beat next time. Brain fade today nevermind lol.

    • +2

      You will keep getting the bonus interest but only for the $100k, the rest will get only 0.55%. As to the first question all the answers are above and even look at the previous ING threads this has been discussed in detail and you will find more explanations because it's quite complex. You can also look here

      https://forums.whirlpool.net.au/thread/32712lq9?p=300

    • +8

      open a 2nd SM account online ( takes a few minutes ) and then nominate that account to get the bonus NEXT month. Chuck a few bucks in it to kick it off then wait until 1st Jan after you have been paid the interest on the original account and then transfer $97k or whatever from the old SM to the new SM. You'll have a few months till the balance grows back closer to the 100k. Rinse and repeat in 6 months time

  • Ubank is at 4.10 on 1st Jan and up to 250k (I believe). Thank god I switched, all I have to worry about is deposit 200 dollars.

    Reading these comments about the hurdles is a headache.

    Rather sacrifice a bit of interest than play the hurdle game each month. But each to their own

    • 0.45% difference could mean up to $1,125 extra interest per year

      • Where you getting the $1,125?

        If a person has 100k, 0.45% is only $450

        Max interest a person can get with (if interest rates is the same all year):
        ING (100k): $4,550 on 4.55% interest
        Ubank (250k): $10,250 on 4.10% interest

        • Ah my bad, I forgot about the 100k limit with ING

          • @uwuwu: Another reason why I left ING cause of the 100k limit, another hurdle for people to keep transferring to/from banks.

            I am happy sacrificing a little bit of interest if it means I only have to satisfy 1 hurdle ($200 deposit with uBank)

            I was with ING for maybe 1 year because I was fed up with the hurdles, I can say I am happier without thinking about if/when I satisfied the ING criteria.

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