ubank: From 01 Oct 2025, Save Account Balance Must Grow to Earn Bonus Interest

SBOB on 15/07/2025 - 07:48
Last edited 15/07/2025 - 08:04 by 1 other user

As this just isn't the usual tweak to interest rates, and may impact those that use their account where the balance doesn't always increase, worth noting the new change ubank just announced on their website.

I know for me that makes ubank unsuitable and now need to find an alternative for daily banking over the new couple months.

https://www.ubank.com.au/savings-update

From 1 October 2025 (so there’s nothing for you to do now)

We’re evolving the way you qualify for bonus interest on your Save accounts. From 1 October 2025, you’ll need to grow your combined balance across all your Save accounts (excluding linked offsets and excluding any interest credits) by $1 each month.

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Comments

  • mouseman99 on 15/07/2025 - 14:46
    -1

    No love for AMP at 4.7%?

    • Grok on 15/07/2025 - 14:52
      -1

      4.2%

    • scotty on 15/07/2025 - 14:53
      +4

      AMP Saver Account:

      + 4.20% pa Bonus Interest Rate

      This is the ongoing bonus variable rate when you grow your account balance by at least $250 (excluding any interest earned) by the end of each calendar month.

      Same ridiculous condition.

      • mouseman99 on 15/07/2025 - 14:57

        Didnt realise that was the case.

      • moneyhungry on 15/07/2025 - 14:58

        When will this change, it's still showing 4.7% for me

        • M00Cow on 15/07/2025 - 15:00

          0.50% pa standard rate + 4.20% pa Bonus Interest Rate = 4.70% pa total rate

      • sentinel on 17/07/2025 - 11:29

        The AMP Cash Manager from the Accounts Leaderboard sheet doesn't appear to show under personal banking on the website now but still accepts applications.

        No hoops other than balance needs to be between $10k - $5m to earn interest.

        Your account balance Your interest rate
        $0 - $10,000 0%
        $10,000.01 - $250,000 4.5%
        $250,000.01 - $5,000,000 3.85%
        Greater than $5,000,000 0%
    • leeroys_dad on 15/07/2025 - 15:10

      Must grow balance

      • Swa8821 on 15/07/2025 - 17:54

        is it similar to ING grow balance condition or different?

  • Swa8821 on 15/07/2025 - 15:01

    this whole thing with these banks is all stupid… make us do lot of hoops

    • sangohan on 17/07/2025 - 00:14

      These hoops are both to try catch you out, so that they save on having to pay you interest. The other is to keep you from moving the money away, which lowers the bank's cost of capital (for their loans).

  • mouseman99 on 15/07/2025 - 15:03
    +1

    So basically if your balance doesnt grow with any of these banks, you might as well move the whole lot out and into a bank that doesnt have this requirement?

    • leeroys_dad on 15/07/2025 - 15:11
      +5

      Exactly. It's too risky and one month where you forget/need money/etc will totally destroy the economics! Better off with just a slightly lower rate with less stringent restrictions

      • mouseman99 on 15/07/2025 - 15:14

        Cheers. So doesnt matter what time of the month you withdraw and move it (for interest purposes)?

        • leeroys_dad on 15/07/2025 - 15:34

          Any account with the 'grow balance' restriction - if you need to move hte money, the most economical would be moving on 1st of the month so you lose as little interest as possible. If you move on 20th of the month to a new account, you lose 20 days worth of interest at the higher rate

    • scotty on 15/07/2025 - 15:16
      +6

      Instead of "the whole lot" it's possible to have a reasonable buffer to take advantage of the higher paying banks. For example, you have $100,000 in the ubank Saver account, and you estimate that you won't spend more than $30k. So you can

      • Keep $70k in ubank Saver (4.6%)
      • Move $30k to Macquarie Transaction + Savings (4.5%)
      • Use Mac bank for everyday banking, keep the rest in Mac bank savings as "buffer"
      • Move at least $1/month from Mac savings to ubank to fulfil ubank's condition

      The balance of your buffer might go up and down depending on how you spend, but it can still earn reasonable interest without being penalised. On the other hand the bulk of your savings will still earn at higher interest rate.

      For some (I myself included) it's just too much work.

      • jizmo on 16/07/2025 - 02:06

        70k @ .1% would be roughly $6 a month loss or 20 cents a day + take off tax on top of that.

  • Ave Maria on 15/07/2025 - 15:29
    +6

    The ubank version of the theory of evolution is destined to turn us all into monkeys -:)

    I will be moving all my savings out of uWank in $20K OSKO chunks from today (like most everyone else)

    • bigmudcake on 15/07/2025 - 16:25
      +1

      I was about to ask what the max amount(s) you can move without having to bend over and sing moon river.

      Can you use PayID or is it overnight standard EFT for the 20k max ?

      If 20k is the limit then its a bit rich that they give you less than a days notice of the change in rate.

    • Swa8821 on 15/07/2025 - 17:51
      +1

      why waste so much time on them? why not just do a large transfer by increasing your transfer limit on a day. I did it today

      • onetwothreefour on 15/07/2025 - 18:25

        What's the maximum you can increase it to?

        • Swa8821 on 15/07/2025 - 18:26

          your maximum balance.
          call them quickly as they close by 7:30pm today

      • Mad Max on 15/07/2025 - 18:30

        Is the increased transfer (over $20k) still Osko same day?

        • Swa8821 on 15/07/2025 - 18:33
          +1

          yes but has to be done before 6pm

      • bigmudcake on 15/07/2025 - 20:08
        -2

        Depends how much time you have to waste on the phone to prove who you are. I mean they are not going to just accept your word that who you are is who you are and let you transfer what you like.

        Can you give a an indication of what type of rectal exam you need to go through first before being approved.

        • Swa8821 on 16/07/2025 - 00:40
          +1

          its not much questioning just 4-5 questions which are basic, and then followed by OTP verification

      • Ave Maria on 15/07/2025 - 21:12

        exactly as to not waste any time on them (on the phone) -:) I will take my $100K out in 5 days and interest loss is minimal (about $1.50)

        • Swa8821 on 16/07/2025 - 00:40
          +1

          its not much questioning just 4-5 questions which are basic, and then followed by OTP verification

          • Ave Maria on 16/07/2025 - 10:16

            @Swa8821: My Ubank account was hacked in 2021 with internal involvement (a dreadfull experience) so the last thing I want is to answer questions of a personal nature

            All the good things about Ubank (of past times) are gone

            • used to have auto-feed from saver to spend account when the card was used
            • used to be able to pay and have direct debits from Save Account
            • used to have $100K per day transfer limit to linked acccount(s) (only had to call for higher amounts)
            • used to be able to use online system without an SMS each and every time (device verified once and remembered)
            • did not have a balance increase requirement

            Now even AMP @4.70% up to $500K ($250 increase per month) with a $250K daily transfer limit looks better than AMP, the only option better with Ubank is that the transfers are all OSKO to $20K (or the temp increase) - I wil only used them as an interim transfer bucket & keep no money there.

    • topherboi on 16/07/2025 - 08:12
      +1

      Sorry to be the one to break it to you, but we're already monkeys.

  • Swa8821 on 15/07/2025 - 16:03
    +3

    Im sick and tired of these banks making us do hoops etc. every bank giving a good interest rate asks us to monitor every month as if we have no other work but just to do these things. it was not so complicated few years prior to Covid when it was just simply getting a good rate once deposited money

    • smartazz104 on 17/07/2025 - 10:19

      Exactly, it's not like they aren't playing with our money and making interest off of it for themselves, now they need you to dance and waste time.

  • bigjobme860 on 15/07/2025 - 16:11
    +1

    ANZ caught out my old (79) father with a similar change midway through his investment. If you miss your bonus interest for sneezing, they pay you nothing.
    Pretty much fails the pub fairness test..

  • leeroys_dad on 15/07/2025 - 16:17

    I have majority in Macquarie as no frills with good rate. I have some in Rabobank which I don't touch (other than adding deposit bonus), and $100k in uBank which I will now move to Mebank homeme

  • junet on 15/07/2025 - 16:22
    +3

    Pretty easy to set up a Macquarie account and their authenticator is pretty good so far. Got fed up with ubank removing biometric login and passkey didn't work well. Time to vote with my feet in 20k increments lol.

    • Bargain Bin Bernie on 16/07/2025 - 12:15

      ditto

    • sangohan on 17/07/2025 - 00:18
      +1

      Time to vote with my feet in 20k increments lol.

      you can call them up to increase the transfer limit to whatever you have in your balance.

  • ozziekhoo on 15/07/2025 - 16:57
    +2

    For anyone that currently uses a macquarie savings account, does it have a similar feature to ubank currently where I can have multiple savings - or even just separate "buckets"?

    • miwahni on 15/07/2025 - 21:36

      You can open multiple savings accounts although I'm not sure if there's a limit to the number you can have. I have two.

    • Hampton Wick on 17/07/2025 - 09:39

      I wanted to know the same thing and found that you can have up to ten saving accounts.

    • sghetti on 17/07/2025 - 10:38
      +1

      You can also do transfers directly from the savings accounts, bpay etc. scheduled payments and whatnot which is better than UBank.

  • mline on 15/07/2025 - 17:02
    +3

    Yeah I'll be leaving. Everything good about Ubank is gone.

  • Swa8821 on 15/07/2025 - 17:49

    is the $1 condition similar to ING condition?

    • The Project on 15/07/2025 - 18:51

      Kinda but it's $0.01 for ING

      • Swa8821 on 15/07/2025 - 19:13
        +1

        both are honestly an annoying conditions,u have to be on the lookout at the end of the money to increase your balance

  • poppingtags on 15/07/2025 - 18:46
    +5

    Thank goodness for this thread, otherwise I would have completely missed it.

    Off to Macquarie, beyond the interest rate, Ubank sucked anyway.

  • squeeb on 15/07/2025 - 18:50
    +3

    Drained my account to $0 the moment that they reduced the interest rate from 4.85% to 4.6%. Sorry 4.6% is not even competitive. Email came through at 11.58am today that they were dropping their rate today. Not even a reasonable amount of time given as forewarning of the rate drop.

    Their recent "app improvements" to pay anyone is a joke. Still so many steps just to transfer money out.

    • Swa8821 on 15/07/2025 - 19:14
      +1

      same . transferred all my money.

      very very strategic timing of emails. not even at 9am

      mine came at 10:40am

  • CtrlAltDelicious on 15/07/2025 - 19:11
    +2

    AMP Bank GO have just released a new savings account that pays 4.50% and there are no conditions attached. The rate is not the highest out there but considering what you see is what you get it’s a good deal and the new app is pretty easy to use and you can set up I social savings spaces within your main savings account. Worth a look if you’re considering switching and their linked transaction account allows you to earn qantas points so you can divide your savings up to either earn interest or Qantas points or both !

    • surfingedge on 15/07/2025 - 20:58

      Even if there were no other accounts paying more, it would still be better to stick with ubank at 4.6%… at least until October.

    • ozBForLife on 15/07/2025 - 21:29

      do you know what is the daily xfer limit and if the xfer is instant ? eg NPP or Osko?

      • CtrlAltDelicious on 15/07/2025 - 22:07
        +2

        pretty sure there is no daily transfer limits and they have NPP / Osko PayID, Most payments I have made come through immediately except for first time high value payments which can get held sometimes but they usually clear within 24hrs.

        • ozBForLife on 16/07/2025 - 00:54

          ok thanks! will take that into account!!

  • nubzy on 15/07/2025 - 19:35

    Transferring all my savings back to ING now

  • SleepyUberDriver on 15/07/2025 - 20:06
    +1

    Why is Macquarie the preffered alternative ? I'm sick of ubank tbh

    • DoaAn on 15/07/2025 - 20:59
      +6

      4.5% interest - not the highest but far from the lowest these days.
      No hoops for interest. You earn in on any money in your savings account.
      Easy access to discounted gift cards - including 3% off Coles
      App is really easy to use and well laid out.
      You can pay from your savings account, so no worries about transferring it first before direct debits come out.

      • SleepyUberDriver on 15/07/2025 - 21:01
        +1

        thx for your insight I'll transfer to Macquarie

        • DoaAn on 15/07/2025 - 21:03

          I'll be using Me Bank for my house deposit for the slightly higher rates, and Macquarie for the rest. Except that I may be getting my home loan soon and if it's through Up Bank, as I plan to, I'll just put most in there (offset accounts) with just some emergency savings in Me Bank. Just waiting on some info before I can take the plunge and apply.

      • Grok on 16/07/2025 - 00:07

        And no $20k daily withdrawal limit as well.

      • MeesusEff on 16/07/2025 - 17:30

        Ffs i didnt know macq lets you direct debit from savings. I opened the transaction account when ubank stopped letting it and park $1k for direct debits.

  • SeeTheLight on 15/07/2025 - 20:24
    +1

    The customer service person on the phone tonight said the 1st October "increase balance" requirement was just something they were considering, not definite, and that Ubank would notify customers before then with whether they were going ahead with that or a different change or none.

    Not sure if they misunderstood, or if that's the new PR spin from Ubank (to defer complaints and hold onto our money longer or to somewhat walk the unpopular decision back).. Maybe the negative feedback and people transferring money out is hurting.

    The new spin gave me one more thing to add to my complaint!

    • SBOB on 15/07/2025 - 20:29
      +15

      Ubank would notify customers before then with whether they were going ahead with that or a different change or none.

      They emailed it today.
      Consider us all notified that they are going ahead with it, and if they aren't, not sure I wanna bank with a company that just throws ideas out there with the aim to see which ones are border line just bad enough to not lose customers :)

    • junet on 15/07/2025 - 20:30
      +9

      The reduction in interest rate with no notice was pretty definite.

    • Swa8821 on 16/07/2025 - 00:42
      +2

      my complaint about this I raised

      they said - its a business decision, we will close your complaint!!!!

      • SeeTheLight on 16/07/2025 - 09:45
        +1

        That was a rude response you got. They sound like they have some better customer service reps and some not so good.

        For what it's worth, I was told the process was they would put in my complaint, and I'd get two emails, the first to say my complaint was lodged, then another to say it was closed, but that it didn't mean they just discarded/ignored it, it meant they had actioned it and sent it to the relevant team. Without them clarifying that I would have been upset at the second email.

  • SeeTheLight on 15/07/2025 - 20:38
    +2

    I thought it was interesting that Ubank has a new Welcome Bonus Rate for the Save account of 5% for new customers, and in the offer T&Cs "To be considered a new customer, you must not have held any Ubank branded products in the previous 24 months."

    That's a long time to wait after closing all accounts to be eligible for a future honeymoon rate.. Wondering if it's better to keep them open with tiny balances for any stray incoming payments I might have forgotten to change..

    And sucks for any new customers taking up the offer then finding out later the cool new account gets a very uncool increase balance restriction.

  • DoctorCalculon on 15/07/2025 - 21:29

    Has anyone tried P&N Savvy Saver bank account?
    The hoops are fairly easy to fulfill, and there is no grow you saver account requirement bollocks.

    Up to $100K. 4.90% rate.

    • Swa8821 on 16/07/2025 - 00:42

      2 of the hoops, one is doing in ING

  • Bredo on 15/07/2025 - 21:44
    +1

    Australian Unity Freedom Saver 4.85% for up to $50k with zero hoops

    • naviln on 16/07/2025 - 17:18
      +1

      I replied elsewhere in this thread, just be careful with Australian Unity, read the fine print:

      "When your balance increases to the next interest rate tier you will receive the interest rate for that tier on the entire balance of your Freedom Saver Account.":

      https://www.australianunity.com.au/banking/savings-accounts/…

      1 The ongoing variable interest rate applicable to the Freedom Saver Account is determined by the value of the balance in the Freedom Saver Account. Balances up to $5,000,000.00 are eligible to earn interest as outlined by the interest tiering structure set out in the Schedule of Interest Rates – Transaction and Savings Accounts. When your balance increases to the next interest rate tier you will receive the interest rate for that tier on the entire balance of your Freedom Saver Account.

      This means if you are lucky enough to have more than 50k in your account, say 50,001 dollars, you lose a chunk of interest immediately.

  • mrhugo on 15/07/2025 - 21:47

    So if I make no withdrawals, deposit $501 (was $500) to get the bonus rate on the 10th of the month, and return $500 on the 15th of that same month, then I'm fine?

    Assuming I had to withdraw, I'd move the lot to ING for that month. Lower rate, but still better than 0%

  • txb on 15/07/2025 - 22:15
    +23

    From 1 October 2025 (so there’s nothing for uBank to do now)

    I’m evolving the way I engage with banks. From 1 October 2025, I’ll be closing my uBank account in response to the continued enshittification of savings conditions.

    This means that instead of growing my balance by a token $1 each month just to be eligible for bonus interest (which, let’s be honest, is looking more like a bonus chore), I’ll be reducing my balance to $0 and growing my peace of mind instead.

    For example, if my combined balance is $1000 at the end of September, it will be $0 and happily elsewhere by the end of October (bank fees and bureaucratic nonsense don’t count towards the joy of leaving).

    Just like uBank, I’ll treat each month as ending at 11:30pm (Sydney time) but with less hoop-jumping and more freedom.

    Don’t worry, there’s nothing uBank needs to do differently right now just prepare for my exit.
    For now, continue inventing new ways to make saving more complicated than it needs to be

    • squeeb on 16/07/2025 - 10:36
      +2

      Please send to UBank. In return you will receive a case reference number and no action.

  • donman92 on 15/07/2025 - 22:30

    At this point you're probably better off buying stocks/houses instead of using a savings account.

    • Grok on 16/07/2025 - 00:04
      -8

      Well apparently, Millennials and Gen Z think current interest rates are punitive so interest rates need to be lowered to encourage (more) consumption and borrowing. Savers be damned.

      The much maligned today Boomers would have killed for current rates in their time.

      • donman92 on 16/07/2025 - 00:06
        +3

        boomers wouldn't have killed for today's cost of living and housing though..

        • Grok on 16/07/2025 - 00:16
          -4

          Housing was cheaper relatively, everything else was 💩

          But Homes were more basic
          Wages were lower.
          Interest rates were much higher, well above 10% for an extended period
          You had to build a “relationship” with a bank then beg them to give you a loan and they expected a big deposit.
          Today’s common appliances were much more expensive or not invented yet.

          The quickest local cars were slower than today’s Camry.

          • mecusherb on 16/07/2025 - 10:50
            +4

            @Grok: hahahahah yeah ok

            So my postie Dad didn't just buy a house whilst having 4 kids as easy as you like. Get off it.

            • Grok on 16/07/2025 - 11:02
              -7

              @mecusherb: Did your dad order uber eats every few days, have holidays at the drop of a hat, have a house full of fancy technology and drive new cars?

              Plus housing didn’t get expensive because Boomers gamed the housing system. Housing got expensive because governments gamed the GDP calculation and labour system.

              People like you simply don’t want to make the sacrifices involved. Every young person I know has bought a home.

              • mecusherb on 16/07/2025 - 11:08
                +6

                @Grok: No, so you're saying housing was relatively cheaper which is correct. Everything else was shit? But then go on to mention all these other expenses that exist now.

                So no he didn't order uber eats (mainly due to the non existence of that company) but we had takeaway every Friday, every child had a hobby, he had hobbies, mum had hobbies and we went on Holidays.

                If every young person you know has bought a home I can only put that down to you not knowing that many people.

                I have a lot of savings now, more than it cost my parents to build a house on an acre block but I'd be lucky to get a 2 bedroom apartment within distance to work. Or should I just move to the country and commute for 4 hours a day….are those the kind of sacrifices you are talking about?

                  • mecusherb on 16/07/2025 - 12:40
                    +3

                    @Grok: You're delusional and contradictory. Things have never been better

                    Also, if every young person you know owns a house how is it that you know that every young person takes holidays and buys the latest tech? Doesn't add up, it's almost like you're making things up, imagine that.

  • VW-Kombi on 16/07/2025 - 08:40
    +1

    We are very semi retired (due to health issues, ages 57,54), and live off the interest from savings from the wife and I that both have accounts in UBANK and ING. We earn just over 1K a month from a small contract I have, then have some dividends which are not 'monthly'. Our expenses outweigh our income so our balances do drop.

    We are going to have to have a think about what to do as of today.

    From research just now, I suspect we will cancel the direct debit for out monthly expenses from ubank (that then went in and out of ING) - and now open a maqcuarie account that can be used as the 'drawdown' account and leave other sums in the ubanks/ING just getting interest.

    Knowing my luck, If I move it all to Maquarie, then they would change their rules and on the move again!

    We still have 6 years minimum before super access.

    • Grok on 16/07/2025 - 10:52
      -3

      Living off interest is a bad idea.

      A little late now with markets at all time highs but a much greater emphasis on sharemarket investments would have given you income and growth.

      Even so, for example, even at today’s historically high prices, if you bought 3000 ANZ for ~$90k you would receive ~$2400 twice a year in dividends. You probably can’t fully take advantage of imputation credits but the return is still excellent. Do the math. Even if the shares dip the dividends don’t necessarily follow (baring major events).

      Also Australia isn’t exactly a hard country for people in your situation. Welfare payments are extremely generous to people like you. You need to aggressively take advantage of this (if you haven’t already).

      This is not financial advice as I don’t know blah blah blah.

      • VW-Kombi on 16/07/2025 - 14:26

        We do have shares. Hence dividends.
        We have a thirds rule, third shares, third cash me and third cash wife. We don’t pay any tax and under threshold and get the shares imp credits, but we get no benefits. Don’t qualify for any.

        Yes, I know inflation can eat into and interest, but that’s the same for all here.

        Shares can go down. I lost a load 20 years ago. I know it comes back eventually but still…….

    • robbyjones on 16/07/2025 - 18:51
      +1

      Only three years before one of you can access super. You can work part time and still access super under 'transition to retirement' rules. If you have retired completely and sign a declaration to this then you can access your super completely, even if you go back to work.

  • never waz on 16/07/2025 - 09:46
    +1

    Has anyone looked at BCU Bank? 4.90% overall rate, with only requirements of depositing $500 from outside bank account and then 5 card transactions per month. Seems pretty competitive.

    • finbar on 16/07/2025 - 10:08

      Sure but for how long tho. They don't have history at being regularly up near the top. No harm in putting money there tho and departing if things change.

  • kalithreaver on 16/07/2025 - 10:12

    time to leave. ive only been with them for like 2 years and they seem to be getting worse and worse during that time.

  • igeekyayush on 16/07/2025 - 10:34
    +2

    Macquarie all the way.

  • TheCad on 16/07/2025 - 11:47

    There any keep-interest loop holes anyone can find in the event the bonus isn't met (eg the ING savings Maximiser switch).

    Otherwise I guess the month I spend under i'll be pulling it all out and moving banks!

  • Bargaphile on 16/07/2025 - 11:49
    +8

    Been with Ubank for over 10 years, they are totally insane doing this.

    • Bargain Bin Bernie on 16/07/2025 - 12:23
      +4

      19 years and 6months for me… I'm seeking a new Bank and Macquarie is its name-o

      • kerfuffle on 16/07/2025 - 12:57
        +1

        How have you been with UBank that long when they were established in 2008 i.e. 17 years ago?

    • DoaAn on 16/07/2025 - 21:56

      I was with the original Ubank since 2012, 86400 since 2019 and stayed with them after the switch to being Ubank. Have used others at the same time, but they've been my main for most of that time. I'll finally be closing my accounts as there is nothing left of what I originally liked of the bank

  • movieman on 16/07/2025 - 14:10
    +2

    Literally just joined last month.

    Oh well, back to the drawing board lol.

    • S Baldrick on 17/07/2025 - 18:52
      +1

      Me too, I procrastinated creating a HISA for ages, and finally created a UBank account and transferred a chunk of savings.

      Then this happens a few weeks later lol

  • Ave Maria on 16/07/2025 - 15:01
    +1

    To avoid some of the issues arising from setting all your direct debits with a bank that keeps changing the rules, I have all my bills direct debited to a single credit card (Coles MC). I use to pay the credit card via automated direct debit from CBA once a month. I now do not even do that, when I receive the monthly credit card bill I just schedule BPay payment from whatever account suits (in my case Great Southern Bank) to go out on the due day (or business day before that). Absolute control with minimal effort.

    • Hangryuman on 16/07/2025 - 15:39
      +2

      all bills from credit card - sounds good, except many billers now add (soon to be stopped - one can hope!) credit card surcharges like 1.5% or more for credit card transactions

      I can agree it might be worth to avoid the PITA of changing direct debit bank accounts - lemme guess - $30Kpa of bills at 1.5% might cost $450pa in CC fees ?

      hmm - I'll give it some thought … thanks for the suggestion for what works for you !

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