Is ING Savings Maximiser Interest Calculated Daily?

macadamia on 28/02/2024 - 10:53

The ING Savings Maximiser fine print states that the balance has to be higher at the end of the month than it is at the start. Easy enough to transfer at least $1 to it each month. But if I need to use some of the money I then suffer not getting the high interest rate for the next month (5.5% vs 0.55%)

So my question to those more familiar with the product than I, can I have say $1 in the account on the first of the month, transfer $50,000 to it on the second of the month, and then transfer $49,999 out on the last day of the month. thereby still having access to the money if I need it but still getting the bonus interest for all but two days of the month on the $50,000?

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Comments

  • Duckie2hh on 28/02/2024 - 10:54
    +1

    bringsoutthepopcorn

  • Kramo on 28/02/2024 - 10:55

    Yes. But take into account potential transfer times of moving $50k around.

  • souths123 on 28/02/2024 - 10:59
    +2

    open a second account and every 2 months swap it all over to that….change the interest for the next month to the new account and just grow the balance from a very small amount

  • LFO on 28/02/2024 - 11:19

    Yes.

    However, as noted before, transfer times might spoil the worthiness of a "daily" thingy.

  • Joshaz on 28/02/2024 - 11:30
    +1

    Also keep in mind if you need to spend some of that $50,000 on a large purchase. Say you had to spend $5000 in the month of March. Will you make that money back (through salary etc) by the end of the month to maintain your maximiser interest? If not, then you either could:

    A) accept that for one month, you won't make interest because you had to spend big (e.g., a car, holiday, large purchase)
    B) keep a 'spending' account (for large purchases) separate from your maximiser, so the prior doesn't impact the latter.

    • Gdsamp on 28/02/2024 - 11:54
      +2

      i think it's just that the account has to grow each month, so if you added and withdrew you could farm the interest on balance+50k but not then have to grow balance 50k for the next month:

      1. 10k balance on 1 Mar
      2. Add 50k on 2 Mar
      3. farm interest on 60k over 2 - 30 Mar
      4. Transfer out 49,999 on 30 Mar (grow account by $1)
      5. Balance on 31 mar 10,001
      6. daily-calculated interest (on ~10k for 2 days; 60k for 29 days) paid on 1 Apr

      cos then it doesnt matter if OP buys car in April, his starting balance to grow will be 10,001 which doesnt require him to add 50k

      Assuming you meet the other criteria of 5 transactions in the month, this also hits the transfer 1k/month requirement.

  • avoidfullprice on 28/02/2024 - 11:59
    -6

    You are conflating balance and rate with end of month interest.

    a) your end of day balance is recorded to calculate interest at end of month. The interest itself is not calculated daily.

    b) the interest rate depends if you meet all criteria

    Whatever rate you get in (b) is then multiplied with (a) to get your end of month interests.

    • silverstone2023 on 28/02/2024 - 12:07
      +6

      Wrong! From the ING FAQs:

      How do you calculate the interest on my Savings Maximiser?

      Your interest is calculated daily on the closing balance and added to your account at the end of each month, so you earn interest on your interest. The formula we use is:

      Daily closing balance x interest rate (as a percentage) / 365

    • ESEMCE on 28/02/2024 - 12:26
      +1

      You're incorrect and do not appear to understand the rules of Savings Maximiser.
      The Savings Maximiser Account Interest rate for the following month is determined if you grow your account from last day of last month versus last day of this month.
      ie at 11:59pm on 29 February, I only need my account balance to be at least 1c greater than it was at 11:59pm on 31 January 2024 for the month of March Interest to be calculated at 5.5%.
      Should I fail to have growth in the account balance on the final day of the month, the Interest rate for March will be only .55%

  • hasher22 on 28/02/2024 - 12:27

    Bruh, ING has too many hurdles.

    Just go with a bank like Ubank and you only need to deposit $200 per month, and you can spend and withdraw as much as you like. You don't need to be above the previous month's figure.

  • ESEMCE on 28/02/2024 - 12:32

    Yes OP, this is what I do.
    Only I forgot in January so I'm only scraping by this month… I have $100 in spendings! Should be fine, but not so confident for March.. Credit Card is loaded up just to scrape through Feb!
    I've now set a calendar reminder for the last day of each month. Should have done this ages ago!

  • hasher22 on 28/02/2024 - 12:32

    Easy enough to transfer at least $1 to it each month. But if I need to use some of the money I then suffer not getting the high interest rate for the next month

    Correct, nice to know you know this

    can I have say $1 in the account on the first of the month, transfer $50,000 to it on the second of the month, and then transfer $49,999 out on the last day of the month. thereby still having access to the money if I need it but still getting the bonus interest for all but two days of the month on the $50,000?

    Yes you can do this but
    1 - At the end of the 3rd month you will need to have the balance over $50,002.00 (at least $50,002.02)
    1a - If you spend part of that $49,999 you will need to come up with the money for the 3rd month to meet my point 1
    2 - If you don't spend the money, and you deposit $49,999 mid month on the 3rd month (because you forgot or busy or whatever), you will only get half the bonus interest as you know the interest is calculated daily

    This is why I left ING for my savings and went to Ubank, best decision of my life…….

    • Gdsamp on 28/02/2024 - 12:52
      +1

      If they transferred out the 50k (or rather $49,999.99) before end of month 2, leaving $1.01, the min amount for month 3 to which it needs to grow is just $1.02.
      As the closing balance for month 2 was $1.01.

      • hasher22 on 28/02/2024 - 13:02

        Oh right, that's definitely my fault. Thanks for the correction.

        Is it worth the hassle depositing and withdrawing 1st and last day of the calendar month?

        • silverstone2023 on 28/02/2024 - 13:39
          +1

          I think it is. My transfers in and out are done by scheduled recurring transactions, so not much effort for me. I review on the first day of the month to adjust the amounts as needed and change the transfer out date if needed to ensure the next transfer out will be on the last day of the month.

      • ESEMCE on 28/02/2024 - 15:07
        +2

        Not quite.
        ING calculate the end of month balance inclusive of the Interest earned that month.
        If you had 50k in the account for the majority of the month, you'd earn around $220 in interest,
        So from your end Month 1 balance of $1, the end month 2 balance would be $1.01 + $220 Interest = $221.01, so minimum balance for month 3 would be $221.02

        The Target balance is listed in the app in the "Interest" tab for the account.

        • Gdsamp on 28/02/2024 - 15:45

          good point, i forgor the interest paid

  • brokenglish on 28/02/2024 - 12:46

    Yes you can OP.
    All banks savings interest is calculated daily.

  • Uncle Roger on 28/02/2024 - 14:26
    +2

    Joined ING years ago when they were really good. Now there are so many hurdles to get paid interest, I moved all to Ubank, which only requires a $200 deposit (has slightly less interest) - haven't looked back

    • Gdsamp on 28/02/2024 - 14:30

      auto in/out 1k + 5x self-checkout split payment once a month not too hard

      • Uncle Roger on 28/02/2024 - 14:31

        Growing your balance was lol.

        In any case, for some reason the interest wasn't exactly what I should have received…

  • shaybisc on 28/02/2024 - 16:41

    Yes, at midnight every day. And yes, you get bonus interest doing it that way, as long as the balance has increased.

  • LFO on 29/02/2024 - 17:14

    Once more, real easy:

    First day of the month: deposit all you can (<$100K) in an Orange Maximizer

    During the month: use as needed.
    Last day of the month: transfer funds (instantaneous) form Maximizer to an Orange Everyday. Check balance left is enough to qualify for next month.
    Next First day of the month: transfer funds (instantaneous) from Everyday to Maximizer.
    Repeat the previous three steps every month.

    Obviously you'll use less funds than original deposit.

    There are several conditions but these are the basic repetitive steps. Not that hard.

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