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Macquarie Bank Savings Account: 4.85% p.a Interest First 4 Months on Balance up to $250,000 (Expired: 4.50% pa on Bal up to $1M)

2920

Credit to those who pointed out Macquarie is better than AMP in my previous post.

2.25% p.a. on balance above $1M.

https://www.macquarie.com.au/help/personal/home-loans/unders…

12-Aug-2025
On 12 August 2025, the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) announced its decision to decrease the official cash rate target by 0.25%.   

In line with the reduction to our variable home loan reference rates, we will also be reducing the interest rates available across our Transaction, Savings, Business Savings and Cash Management accounts effective 15 August 2025.

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closed Comments

    • Lol! Yes.

    • In my experience working for a bank a lot of the customers with these type of accounts are retirees.

  • Rabo is 5.15 and existing Macquarie customers gets zilch from the special

    • Rabo falls back to 3.80% after 4 months (lower base rate), and they require a much longer sign up progress. They do have the same level of guarantee though.

      • +1

        After 4 months, you move your money to Premium Saver for 4.80%. But that with $200 deposit/month and growth requirement.

  • You're better off putting your money with MeBank, in their HomeMe account that already gives 4.85%

    • +5

      Requires a hurdle of $2k a month through the linked transaction account though, and it only applies to $100k.

      • you can deposit 2k and take it out immediately? Is it easy to take money out?

        • +1

          Yes. Yes.

          • +1

            @timhn: thanks mate. That's a very easy hoop to jump, you could transfer to an external account and back.

      • +1

        it aint a hurdle at all since you can take it out immediately

        • Yes, as long as no balance increase or no withdrawal, I am happy with put $2K and get it back, that is a easy one… also no 5 card transaction things…

    • The bonus interest only applies to the following month right? So just put $2000 the first month to activate it for the following month, and then only transfer the rest of your funds?

      • +1

        The bonus applies from first month for new customers. You’re also limited to one individual and one joint account.

        • I am a new customer. Can you link me to where it says it applies from first month for new customers?

          The only thing that it says in the fine print is:

          The Bonus Interest Rate applicable to your HomeME Account will apply: For each calendar month where: a minimum of $2,000 was deposited into your SpendME account in the previous calendar month from an External Account. The SpendME account to which money is deposited must be held in the same name (sole name account) or names (joint names account) as your HomeME account;

          And in the app it says:

          To activate your bonus rate next month, simply deposit at least $2,000 this month into your SpendME Account from another financial institution.

  • +28

    Or you can just refer to this legendary spreadsheet, crowdsourced live update of every Aussie bank’s interest rates, their requirements, even the honeymoon rates, credit to the creators of course: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/u/0/d/145iM6uuFS9m-Rul6…

    • +4

      Whoever does this, thank you!!

  • +1

    This is great since I already have the Macquarie Transactions account so opening this up was super easy. I'll have to move away from my Ubank Savers since I need a fluctuating savings account to handle bills and large withdrawals. I generally try to keep the bare minimum in transaction accounts for obvious reasons.

    • i have too, why is mine only 2.25%?

  • +1

    Just pointing out there is also BCU Bank, which offers 4.9% interest rate. Conditions are you need to deposit $500 per month and make at least 5 transactions on their debit card. Might be a good option for some - I haven't tried them myself.

  • +2

    I have a CBA Netbank saver and it’s paying 1.9% lol what an absolute robbery.

    Don’t pay the lazy tax, shop around.

    • +4

      Open a GoalSaver acct. Not the best rates at 4.45% but better than 1.9%. Unless you already have a HISA elsewhere.

  • +3

    If you have an offset account on your PPOR, I would highly recommend you dump the majority of savings in there. It is pretty much always going to beat a savings account given the rate differences and interest savings.

  • +1

    This one looks to be ongoing 4.85 for up to $100k if you deposit $2000 pm but not increase. Anyone see any other hoops?

    https://www.mebank.com.au/banking/home-deposit-savings-accou…

    • +2

      Page not loading (seriously), which is the hoop for me right now

    • +1

      No, that is the only condition.. that is easy one…

  • +2

    Tried to open an account online
    Failed on ID for Aus drivers license. Never had a problem before
    Anybody else getting this
    Now have to get signed certified copies, so won't be doing that

    • +1

      Same for me. Tried again to open one in wife's name using passport rather than drivers license and same result.

    • +1

      Same for me, so annoying…

    • I failed opening mine this morning using just the drivers license but when I opened my wife’s account I used both the DL and her passport and that worked.

    • same. passport and dl both failed luckily the local library ha a JP available so have emailed the notorised docs

    • So due to delays getting cert done , just signed up wife, no issues with drivers license
      Tried mine again with different email - no issues for me either

  • So ubank is currently paying a flat 4.6% per month on balances up to 1m. With this offer you'd be about $80.31 better off on $100,000 invested for 5 months.

    • +2

      Until the next RBA interest rate move and then you need to figure out if you have to play this game all over again.

      • Yes, apologies, forgot to add the disclaimer: variable rates are subject to changes so the position is only valid on the assumption that the rates stays the same for the entirety of the 5 months.

    • +3

      Only if you never withdraw.

      If you withdraw from uBank under their new rules then you are much worse off

      • I couldn’t find any rules regarding withdrawals that affect the bonus flat 4.6% interest up to $1M.

  • +15

    Ubank are going to lose a lot of customers with their new rules.

    • +2

      I'm moving on from 86400, ubank and ing, things are definitely changing all the time. If banks think they can sting their existing customers without consequence then they need to think again. People are not stupid these days.

      • Absolutely! We’ll keep our ING for the occasional cash deposit and paying utility bills (1% cashback), but we’ll close our Ubank accounts and move over to Macquarie as we don’t regularly manage to grow our savings. Real shame that!

  • Aus. Unity are paying the same rate ongoing with no requirements

  • With MEBank term deposits, which are now only up to 6mth terms, and hassles with ING savings bonus interest requirements… Macquarie Bank is better.

  • +4

    These savings accounts are basically full unrestricted accounts without a debit card. You can transfer in and out directly, set up direct debits, pay BPAY, buy Macquarie Marketplace gift cards etc. Most of my expenses come out of my savings account.

    • +1

      That’s such a handy feature. I was gutted when ubank removed that option from their savings accounts. Enshittification is real

  • +6

    Here is a Google spreadsheet that lists all the interest bearing accounts and the details such as how much interests you get and what you need to maintain it etc.
    Personally, I just keep maybe $100k in ING and until recently had $100k in uBank and rest in MacQ. Given the recent change in uBank lifting the interest rates to be 4.6% even beyond $100k, it is easier to just pour the excess into uBank if you have >$200k in spare cash.
    That being said, my opinion is to leave only about 20-30% tops in a cash account such as ING/uBANK/MacQ and put the rest in things like ETFs (eg. VAS/VGS combo, VDHG otherwise, consider YMAX/VHY if you are a bit more yield orientated etc). Getting into the share market, even in a small level is relatively easy and cheap. Just register for a free Webull account (for CHESS sponsorship etc) and ETF trades are free. Go buy a small allotment of $5k worth and register for the DRP (Dividend Reinvestment Plan) and then just watch that $5k investment grow beyond what you would have ever gotten compared to the soon to be dropping max ING rates of 5%.

    Please note that the above is just my personal opinion and does not represent financial advice.

    • Get nvidia and msft and avgo in your portfolio. Snd have some etf to hedge.

      • Maybe as part of a portfolio of stocks, keep 70% of your core in ETFs and the satellite (30%) can go into more specific markets like your Nvidia's etc. Personally I 'invest' in the US tech market via Australia domiciled ETFs but my longer term preferences are to invest in stocks that have not just the growth potential but the dividend potential (especially the franking components (via Aussie shares) to reduce tax).

    • Thx good interest rate ING but 5 card transactions kills it for me. I think ME @4.85% deposit $2k per month then take it straight out is good option to shift from UBank.

      Of course everything can change overnight or next rate change as we’ve seen with UBank.

    • Hey @danielh
      What do you think of this statement?
      I'm torn between doing what you said, and leaving it in my offset and saving $$$ on interest during the start of the loan, (currently year 2) and that peace of mind that goes with it. As rates drop, keep the payments the same, or even slightly increase by $100, or $200 pw, to fight and keep the loan down as much as possible?

      • Well you can take a more risk based approach if you want. Lets say you have $200k in the Offset and the loan interest rate is 6%. Ie. having $200k in the offset will 'save' you $12k a year ($200k x 0.06) in interest payments.
        You can consider taking out $100k and putting it into the share marker (EG an ETF like what I have mentioned in a few posts in here).
        That way you are hedging between the guaranteed savings on interest of $6k ($100k x 0.06) a year in the offset vs the hope of getting greater returns via the share market (after tax).
        It is a bit of a balance but my personal rankings are:
        Invest in an ETF long term (and do DRP) > savings via Offset > interest from ING type accounts (especially when you factor in tax on the interest earned)
        Hopefully this helps you decide on how to balance your approach.

        • Thanks mate. I think the key takeaway here is

          the hope of getting greater returns via the share market (after tax).

          I do agree with you about your last line. Long term, investments are going to pay more and since we aren't paying CGT unless we sell, it'll continue to compound for us.
          I suppose once interest rates drop to around 4%, it'll be good to start investing and playing the long game. Currently, having that $200k in the offset reduces home loan by 18 years, so it's a big jump on interest saved.
          Thanks.

          • @Lord Ra: Yeah but if the share market does better (after tax) than the saving on interest then you would have been better off via that route. Maybe another nuance for you to consider is to put $100k in high yield/dividend shares like YMAX and hope for ok long term growth but rely on the 8+% dividend returns to more than cover the interest savings.

  • +4

    I was with Ubank for around 10yrs moved to Macquarie from them - have never looked back. Vastly superior overall product offering.

    Yeah you might from time to time be on an interest rate a few basis points lower but if you are REALLY that obsessed with return on investment - you have to wonder is cash the answer? And are the rest of your finances/expenditure so perfect that you cannot make more savings there?

    Ubank (which was initially amazing!) gradually sucked more and more the last few years I was with them - and Macquarie has been excellent. I've zero complaints.

    • What's bad about ubank? They have good service so far

      • From October 1 you need to grow your balance every month to get any interest

      • If you had close to 250K in Ubank, until recent rate drops that equalled about $1K in interest a month. So if you wanted to withdraw $10K for a big purchase then, bam, you lose the whole months interest.

        To retain most of the $1K you would need to have a second UBank account (e.g. a spouse) that is pre-armed (not hard as you just need to send $1 the previous month), and then tranfser the whole lot to the second account as close to the first of the month as possible, however this would be annoying as you have to increase daily transfer limits and your spouse might be at a different (higher) tax bracket. And, the next month you have to do the whole thing again to switch back to the preferred Ubank account.

        So, a whole lot of stuffing around if (= when) you withdraw a sizable amount, with the guarantee of losing at least a small amount of interest, or potentially lots more if you must transfer in the middle or end of the month.

        Macquarie being 0.1% lower rate but with none of the hoops is very appealing!

        • Hmmm, that is what happens with ING. With uBank currently you just need to dump in $1000 a month min and feel free to rip out $2000 in that particular month. You would still get the interest the following month.
          Post 1 Oct, it is going to be a more ING-like GROW model though so depending on how much minimum you intend to leave in uBank, you might want to manage how much cash you have in uBank on 30 Sept 2025 to lock in a lower level of cash on 1 October 2025 when the new rules kick in. This way you have a bit more choice in how much you want to leave in uBank for cash growth as well as having the ability to emergency take out large amounts of cash (maybe to buy a car or to reinvest in something else) without impacting your ability to have higher interest in the following month.
          EG. You have $120,000 in uBank but you think you might need up to $70,000 for some future expense or investment. If that is the case, just leave only $50,000 in uBank (stick the $70,000 somewhere else like Macquarie etc), on 1 October 2025, uBank will record your total bank balance as $50,000. On 1 October, you then throw the $70,000 back into the uBank account to make it $120,000 again and earn the 4.6% interest. If you need to take out up to $70,000 that month for your expense, just make sure the end of October balance is at least $50,000.01 and you will still be good for earning higher interest in November 2025.
          If you had not set the bar at $50,000 on the 1 October 2025, you would have not been able to maintain the required minimum of $120,000.01 for higher interest in November 2025.

          • +1

            @danielh: You’ll need to grow your balance by $1 (not 0.01) each month. From the above example, in order to receive the higher interest, the required minimum should be $50,001 (not $50,000.01) for October balance to earn higher interest in November.

  • Rabobank is 4.8% ongoing

    • Needs to increase balance by $200 each month, but yes

      • $200/month is not alot. Wouldn't Rabobank Premium Saver be the best option?

        • +1

          Depends. Everyone has diff situation. For example for my mum whos retired, it wouldnt be a good option. If you've got a definite consistent increase in balance then go for it.

    • Number 7 on the list so not bad. It does not seem to have the other side benefits of a fee free card for things like international purchases like ING/uBank/Macquarie but good if you are doing the ING/Rabo combo.
      Rabo, who are late to the game, are probably trying to get more switchers from the others lower in the list like uBank to come over with the 0.02% differential.

  • Good for those who is lucky (or unlucky) to have spare cash sitting around.

    For most, it will make more sense to have all you spare cash in offset which at currently rate should give you at least 7% net (tax free)

    • +1

      For people who has a loan, yes correct

    • I would argue that cash saving with a home loan at say 6% (which is what you would hedge against with the off-set), would be better served by investing in a high yield ETF with good franking credits (wth DRP enabled). EG YMAX (Div yield of 7.6075% and about 42% franked). You can also consider a growth play as well like the ETF VDHG (Div Yield 4.2266% with growth already of 2.82% since March 2025 for me on top of). IE. for me if I had a home loan, the share market would be multiples better off vs savings via an off-set.

      • -1

        The argument been there long time, one can argue to invest in bitcoin right?

        The essence herE is that currently variable with offset at between 5.3 to 5.7, You are getting around 7% net return WITHOUT DOING ANYTHING. No risk, no research….

  • "If you hold, or have held, a savings account individually or jointly, the welcome rate won’t apply to any other savings account you open"

  • -2

    Great Deal Shame About Macquarie's Principles

  • +1

    Macquarie is pretty good. Got account opened last month and the app and website are top notch

    • +4

      Totally agreed, I just moved over all my banking from a combination of ING and Up.

      Macquarie benefits:

      • No limit to the number of savings or transaction accounts
      • Savings accounts have normal BSB and account numbers can do all the regular payments or direct debits or whatever with them
      • No hoops to get the base 4.5% on savings accounts
      • Transaction accounts get 2.25% (very unusual AFAIK)
      • Zero fees on domestic ATM withdrawals, probably zero fees on international withdrawals
      • Zero fees on international purchases
      • Excellent web app and mobile app, including renaming and grouping accounts
      • Super easy to open new transaction and savings accounts
      • No need to associate savings accounts to transaction accounts to get a good rate, it just works
      • Loads of discount gift cards available for major retailers with a very smooth in-app purchasing experience
      • Excellent security - passwords longer than ~12 chars cough Suncorp cough and their authenticator app
      • Up to 10 offsets to help bucket your money if you have a mortgage
      • The ability to add notes and attachments to payments and transfers

        If Macquarie added the ability to create virtual debit cards for once-off online payments, they would be unassailable.

      • -1

        There's a couple of areas in addition to virtual debit cards that would make Macquarie a one stop shop for me:

        • 2% cashback on card taps. In short, until all vendors get rid of surcharges on using cards, I will continue to use my HSBC everyday global debit card to negate those surcharges. I lose money on all other card payments. The $1250-2500 that I spend on my debit card each month doesn't net me $25-50 in interest in a HISA either
        • bank@post support. There's currently bugger all way to deposit cash into my Mac account
        • proper EFTPOS support for immediate medicare rebates. I know medicare will send that rebate to my nominated bank account so this one isn't as critical but would be nice still

        In saying all this, I'd still get a good VISA debit card from another bank to complement the Mac MC debit card for travel.

  • +1

    Switched back to Macquarie from UBank the other day. Don’t forget Macquarie Marketplace for discounted gift cards. Woolies and Amazon cards arrive instantly in my experience

  • Is it even possible to get rich with these offers like having multiple cards and splitting 250k x4 accounts?

    • +2

      Step 1 be rich
      Step 2 invest riches in these accounts
      Step 3 be richer

    • Cash deposits don't make anyone rich, they're for storing liquidity to cashflow your life, which in order of expense goes:

      daily costs -> recurring bills -> emergency fund -> short-term goals -> self-insurance

      Long-term ownership of productive assets (businesses, property) is how value beyond monetary inflation, i.e. wealth, is created.

    • I used to be 'simple' and have $100k in ING (5%), $100k in uBank (4.6%), $xxxk in Macquarie (4.5%).
      Now that uBank has lifted the 100k cap, I have dragged in my Macquarie excess into uBank to be $100k + $xxxk in uBank (4.6%), $0 in Macquarie.
      Going forward, especially when the RBA drops interest rates down further as expected in August, I'll probably strip myself down to be just $150k cash tops and reabsorb the excess more into the share market.

  • +2

    I joined them a year ago on a similar deal after being sick of being swindled by CBA and the tricky hoops ING make you jump through. Very happy. I love it that you can make payments and direct debit set up straight from the saver account without having to constantly transfer money back into the everyday account. So you only need to leave enough in the lower earning card account to cover the situations where you need to use a card. The app is a dream to use and Authenticator feels very safe… So I hope it actually is safe ha ha. Probably the only negative I can think of is that the debit card is not eftpos so Aldi etc. Still charge a fee for using the debit card. However, we expect the RBA will kill all those rip-off charges within the next 12 months.

  • +1

    When the RBA drops rates next month it may shuffle things up a bit. Good idea to monitor rates regularly

  • Highly recommend Macquarie in general - we've recently moved all of our banking to them.

  • Forgive my ignorance but it feels unsafe to just open up a bank account through an app and put your whole life savings into it. Can soemone chime in on how it is ok to trust a bank that doesnt have a brick and mortar location.

    • -2

      Why the (profanity) would you downvote and not respond?

    • +1

      They are one of the largest banks in the country and were established over 50 years ago. Is that enough for you to trust them?

      Edit: I didn't downvote you by the way, it's a valid question but you could have figured it out.

    • +1

      Financial institutions are highly regulated in Australia and the government's Financial Claims Scheme will cover you up to 250k in the event any of them go bust or lost funds. You can find Macquarie in the official list here https://www.apra.gov.au/list-of-authorised-deposit-taking-in…

  • I currently use ANZ Plus for my kids' savings accounts. On the app, I can see all their accounts and transfer to them from my own. With Macquarie bank, is this possible? Or is this going to be one account per device? The intent is to continue to put money into their bank accounts until they turn a certain age where I pass it onto them to manage themselves.

  • Moved from Ubank and while moving things around Macquarie accounts, they blocked access right away and needed to call them to get it unlocked lol. They said just making sure it's not a fake account getting created using my name. Annoying but somewhat impressed.

    • Same thing, had to do a ID scan and selfie to unlock. After unlocking deposits were still barred, could not transfer any money in. Had to contact them a 2nd time and they said they'll have a look and it all worked suddenly, no explanation given.

    • I think after you have established your accounts in uBank and Macquarrie, you should have no issues as I literally send back and forth large amounts of cash between the two accounts that I have with them and have had no issues. I also love that I can send large amounts ($100k) from Macquarrie to uBank with no issues. uBank is capped at $20k though but relatively easy to all them up to give you a temp rise to a nominated amount.

      • Yeah not sure if I did it correctly but needed a Macquarie Transaction account to create a Savings account, afterwards I put a small amount on the Transaction account then my whole account got blocked. I called them and they said they're just making sure no one created an account under my name and just had to verify who I am pretty much. I mean it was a hassle but I'd rather be protected than not (my first time my bank got blocked ever tho from any other providers.)

  • How soon is the transaction transfer from Commonwealth Bank to Macquarie? What is the limit?

    • +1

      It's always instant for me since both of them on Osko. Don't know about limit - I'm sure you can lookup at CBA.

      • +1

        for Commonwealth Bank you set your own limit, 1st time payee is slow , up to 2 days, after you add it to your payee list, should be within a minute.

        • i believe so.Thanks/

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