Saving Accounts with No Growth/Zero Withdrawal Requirements (or with work around)

Ave Maria on 21/07/2025 - 12:15
Last edited 02/09/2025 - 13:10 by 1 other user

Use the provided tables & info as guide but please make up your own mind what to use & always check the bank provided Term & Conditions (and fine print).

Note 1: ING, BOQ, MEB require bonus interest criteria to be met in the previous month. This allows taking money out in the current month without loss of interest.
Note 2: The account flip/swap method, allows taking money out any time (keeping balance to the minimum growth required, e.g. $50 for St George) without loss of interest.
Note 3: Press the CONTROL Key while clicking on a link to open in a NEW TAB (all links have been tested to visit the official web site)

Ongoing Current Rates

Saver Products	Max%	Up to	Card Tran	Monthly Deposit	Grow Amnt	Transfer Limits	ATM Out	Pay Out	Direct Debit	Useful Tips & Information
ING.Maximiser	4.80% 0.05%	..$100K >$100K	5	$1000 to Any	$.01	$5K.OSKO $20K.BECS >ViaApp	$2K			Monthly 3 account flip for growth criteria. 5x$1 Amazon Gift Cards for card trans. Balance limited bonus rate.
BOQ.SmartSaver	4.60% 0.05%	..$250K >$250K	5^	$1000 to Everyday		$5K.OSKO $25K.BECS >ViaApp	$2K			Smart App Access. Limited bonus rate. ^Eligible card transactions: Direct Debits, BPAY, ATMwithdrawals, VISADebitCard. Instant MEB transfers. BECS to AMP.
MEB.HomeME	4.60% 2.60% 0.05%	..$100K ..$1Miln >$1Miln		$2000 to Spend		$5K.OSKO $20K.BECS >ViaApp	$2K			Tiered rate applies to tier balance portion. $125K:4.60% on $100K,2.60% on $25K. Instant BOQ transfers. BECS to AMP.
ArabBankAustralia.TransSaver	4.55% 0.90%	<$500K ..$500K+					$1020	✔	✔	TargetMarket ProductDisclosure Features&Charges Online&AppBanking
GreatSouthernBank.HomeSaver	4.50% 0.50%	..$100K >$100K	5	$2000 to Edge		$5K.OSKO $30K.BECS >ViaCall	$2K	✔		Anytime no limit instant internal transfers. 5x$1 Amazon Gift Cards for card trans. Balance limited bonus rate.
P&N.SavvySaver BCU.BossSaver	4.50% 0.20%	..$100K >$100K	5	$500 to Transact		$5K.OSKO	$1K	✔	✔	Selfie for ID check. Low transfer limits. Balance limited bonus rate.
Incentive Incentive Incentive	4.40% 4.25% 0.40%	<$250K *Over% ^Base%			$50	*$100K	$2K	✔	✔	*Rate for entire balance if >= $250K. ^Base rate applies if growth not achieved. Flip between savers for growth criteria. *OSKO via Freedom. BECKS to AMP.
AustralianUnity.Freedom	4.35% 4.25% 3.50% 3.00%	..$050K ..$250K ..$500K ..$5MiIn				$1250 OSKO >ViaCall	$1K			Selfie for ID check. OSKO limit of $1,250 can be permanently increased to $20K. Tiered rate applies to entire balance. Balances > $5 Million earn no interest.
Macquarie.Saver	4.25% 2.00%	..$2Miln >$2Miln				~$100K	$2K	✔	✔	Tiered rate applies to tier balance portion. Discount Gift Cards. Multiple accounts. ~NPP / Authenticator APP.
CBA.GoalSaver	4.25%				$.01	*$20-250K	$2K	Pay Now		First time transfers held up to 24 hours. *OSKO from App. $100K branch/$250K relationship mngr. Flip savers for growth.
AMP.GOSave	4.25% 3.50% 0.00%	..$250K ..$5Miln >$5Miln				*^	$1K	^	^	Smart App Access. Selfie for ID check. ^Money transfers out via linked Everyday. *No daily limits for e-payments.

Possible Saver Account option with no deposit/growth to consider.

Product	Max%	Up to	Card Tran	ATM Out	Pay Out	Direct Debit	Useful Tips & Information
Up Bank Grow-Flow	4.60% 1.25%	..$250K >$250K	5	$1K	✔*	✔^	Smart App/Selfie. Multiple accounts allowed. Flow% applies to accounts you spend from & balance over $250K. Draw month 1st & move to new saver to avoid rate drop. *Up sets dynamically transfer max & OSKO/BECS. Transfers may delay for 24 hours for 1st time payees or amounts greater than previous transfers to same payee. ^You have to ask Up Bank to enable direct debit requests for specific payees.

Introductory rates for saving accounts with no conditions (Ubank saver listed in growth account table).

Product	Max%	Up to	Transfer Limits	ATM Out	Pay Out	Direct Debit	Useful Tips & Information
Rabo.HISA	^5.00% 3.45% 2.70%	..$250K ..$250K >$250K	$300K ($5M)	✘	#	#	^Intro rate for 4 months from account opening day. *Ongoing rate after 4 months. Variable rates subject to change any time. Applicable to Personal & Joint accounts. #BECS Direct Credit/Debit payments via direct debit enabled linked account. Direct Debit $5M deposit limit. $300K pay limit per account. Business Day transactions.
CreditUnionSA.NetSaver	^4.85% *1.00%		$5K	$2K	✔	✔	^Intro rate for 4 months from account opening day. *Ongoing rate after 4 months. Transfer limit is $5K via NPP. Call 13 8777 for $50K permanent limit. Terms&Conditions Fees&Charges InterestRates
BankWest.EasySaver	^4.80% ^4.05% 4.00% 1.35%	..$250K >$250K ..$250K >$250K	$20K $50K	$2K	+	+	^Intro rate for 4 months from account opening day. *Ongoing rate after 4 months. Transfer limit is $20K online, $50K from app with SMS code. Call for larger transfer. +Payments in/out from Easy Transaction. $5K OSKO daily limit.
ING.Accelerator	^4.70% ^3.75% ^2.85% 3.95% 3.00% *2.10%	..$500K <$150K <$050K ..$5Miln <$150K <$050K	$20K >App	$2K	+	+	^New customer rate for 4 months from opening day. *Ongoing rate after 4 months. ^Introductory rate drops to ongoing if balance>$500K. Rates apply to entire balance. +Payments from Orange Everyday Account. $5K OSKO daily limit. $5M deposit limit.
Macquarie.Saver	^4.60% ^4.25% ^2.00% 4.25% 2.00%	..$250K >$250K >$2Miln ..$2Miln >$2Miln	~$100K	$2K	✔	✔	^Intro rate for 4 months from account opening day. Ongoing rate after 4 months. ~NPP / Authenticator APP. ^Tiered rate applies to tier balance portion.
CBA.NetBankSaver	^4.45% *1.55%		$20-250K	$2K	+	+	^Bonus rate for first 5 months on first NetBankSaver. *Ongoing rate after 5 months. +Payments from linked Smart Access Account.
CoastlineBank RiseOnlineSaver	^4.40% *1.65%			$2K	✔	✔	^Intro rate for 6 months from account opening day. *Ongoing rate after 6 months. Terms&Conditions Fees&Charges AccountSummary InterestRates

For reference & comparison, here is the details for some of the mandatory growth saver accounts (in case they still make sense to use for some)

Product	Max%	Up to	Grow Amnt	Transfer Limits	ATM Out	Pay Out	Direct Debit	Useful Tips & Information
Rabo.Saver	4.65% 3.00% 0.60%	..$250K >$250K ^Base%	$200	$300K ($5M)	✘	#	#	#BECS Direct Credit/Debit payments via direct debit enabled nominated linked account. Direct Debit $5M deposit limit. $300K pay out limit per account. Business day transactions. ^Base rate applies when growth not achieved.
AMP.Saver	4.45% 0.25%	..$500K >$500K	$250	$250K*	$1K	✔^	✘	*$5K NPP daily limit. BECS for payments over $5K. ^Future dated BPay from Access only. Transfers from STG/BOQ/MEB via BECS. Verified fast NPP from CBA, ING, GSB, MBL.
Ubank.Saver	^5.00% *4.35% -0.00%	..$1Miln ..$1Miln >$1Miln	&$1	$20K	$2K	+	+	^New customer rate for 4 months from account open day. *Ongoing rate after 4 months. +Payments from Spend account. Transfers are OSKO/NPP. Call to arrange larger transfers. &Current bonus rate requires $500 monthly deposit. Changes to $1 growth from 1st October. -Ubank Saver pays ZERO interest if criteria are not met.

This link is for Hiver Target Saver account holders, now with UNIBANK, to stay up to date on Current Rates and Product Terms&Conditions

Financial Bank Account Savings Account

Comments

jv on 21/07/2025 - 12:16

-6

why?
- LFO on 22/07/2025 - 10:53
  
  -1
  
  'cause money talks …
  - Mugsy on 22/07/2025 - 13:02
    
    -1
    
    … and BS walks!
    - LFO on 23/07/2025 - 10:48
      
      Does it?
      
      Where does it go?
- Dr Phil on 22/07/2025 - 12:53
  
  +1
  
  Exactly jv. why?
  
  Lets keep it SIMPLE!
  
  Remove the accounts with "hoops" and ridiculous work arounds and all the "NO"s and only Macquarie Savings Account remains.
  
  Furthermore most of these accounts (with all the "NO"s) are totally duisfunctional - you need a transaction account to do anything.
KangaDrew on 21/07/2025 - 12:33

+11

Sorry to ruin your day, but, yeah… someone's already doing this on a much larger scale.. It's constantly being updated also.

You an read about it more in this thread and from the original Whirlpool source.
- squeeb on 22/07/2025 - 11:04
  
  +2
  
  I was actually only thinking the other day that the formatting in that interest rate Google sheet could be improved for better readability. I like the way that @Ave Maria has clearly defined and expanded the columns. This has some very useful information that is not included in the Google sheet. Thank you @Ave Maria!
Ave Maria on 21/07/2025 - 13:26

+8

I am aware of the whirlpool spreadsheet - this is Oz Bargain audience specific - the xls scope is too wide and also not updated regularly - this is for a more specific/narrow audience & give a bit more info on what the account can do (like direct debits and scheduling payments) - there is no duplication of effort in that respect and nobody's day has been ruined -:)
- KangaDrew on 21/07/2025 - 14:43
  
  +5
  
  The scope may be "too wide" for you, but not for others. There's a reason why the leader board spreadsheet is so popular across OzBargain, Whirlpool and Reddit. Having a larger dataset that can be filtered down to suit any individual's circumstances is much more beneficial to a larger number of people than a cherry-picked dataset. You simply need to run a quick search using the word "grow" on the spreadsheet and you can see all the banks that have that requirement.
  
  But if you have the time and inclination to monitor the banks and update the table, happy trails.
  - Mugsy on 22/07/2025 - 07:42
    
    +2
    
    I'm fond of the accounts leaderboard spreadsheet as much as the next person and am grateful to those who maintain it… but there's definitely improvements that can be made to make the filtering down process easier and quicker.
theHMASfriendship on 21/07/2025 - 13:27

-1

I think the most important saving you can make is the memories you make with your friends and family
- Ave Maria on 21/07/2025 - 13:29
  
  +3
  
  Nice Quote - here is another one (also not relevant)
  
  The best weather for a picnic is a sunny day with no rain and no wind (or other unnecessary distractions)
  - theHMASfriendship on 21/07/2025 - 16:20
    
    -3
    
    That is beautiful what poet is that from
Gdsamp on 21/07/2025 - 14:06

boq has no growth requirement and high interest rate but for 18-35 only.
Bredo on 21/07/2025 - 14:26

+1

Why include those that require grow balance? Shouldn't those be excluded by the title?

Edit: also Australian unity freedom saver it's worth checking out, 4.85% (4.6% from EOM) with no hoops

https://www.australianunity.com.au/banking/savings-accounts/…
- bluesky on 21/07/2025 - 15:22
  
  Only if you don't mind submitting a selfie in addition to your ID. I spoke about this in some other posts. They do make it easy to withdraw the application though, with the link in the acknowledgement of your application.
bluesky on 21/07/2025 - 15:13

+1

I think it will also be useful if you have another column which tells us whether the bonus comes into effect the month the criteria is satisfied (e.g St George Incentive Saver), or whether you need to wait 1 month after meeting the criteria (e,g ING). Up to you to judge, as I can also see that a table that has too much info may also detract from the main info you are trying to convey.

Thanks for this effort to track them.
silenthillrocks on 21/07/2025 - 15:13

+1

Should add BCU Boss Saver & P&N Savvy Saver - 4.9% up to $100k (requires 5 card transactions + a min deposit but no growth)

Also for BOQ - the 5 transactions can be bpay, direct debit or atm withdrawals - making it a bit easier than card purchases only.
- silverstone2023 on 01/08/2025 - 11:32
  
  BCU Boss Saver P&N Savvy Saver have dropped from 4.9% to 4.75% effective today.
bluesky on 21/07/2025 - 15:16

OP, do you know whether Great Southern Bank allows a Home Saver account for company or SMSF? You spoke about SMSF accounts before, so just wondering. Thanks.
- Ave Maria on 21/07/2025 - 18:31
  
  +2
  
  Home Saver is for personal use only. The Future Saver / Everyday Saver combination is the current accounts that can be used by an SMSF. I also have the older accounts (Advantage Saver/E-flexi) that are no longer available. Highet interest available is currently 4.35% for SMSF. Next downthe line is the Macquarie Cash Management/Accelarator accounts with the Accelerator offering 4.15%
bluesky on 21/07/2025 - 15:26

+4

Another feature which would be good to know - does the application requires a selfie, given the new trend that banks want you to submit a selfie. Perhaps this is something people who recently applied can add their comment on, so others know.

Granted, many do not mind this, and some do. So again, up to you if you feel this is a feature worth adding.
- Mad Max on 21/07/2025 - 16:34
  
  +2
  
  Agree. It would be great to know beforehand, to avoid wasting time with the selfie and video conditions.
- tenpercent on 21/07/2025 - 16:52
  
  +1
  
  Agreed.
trekbound on 21/07/2025 - 15:31

+4

I may be wrong, but I think if you have accounts with Virgin Money, BOQ and ME bank, your 250k government guarantee applies to the total of combined accounts in these three.
- silenthillrocks on 21/07/2025 - 15:32
  
  +1
  
  Correct, they are all the same bank (BOQ).
Ave Maria on 21/07/2025 - 18:36

+5

I intentionaly left out accounts that require a selfie (I mentioned that in my original post but not here) - also included those accounts that do have a work-around to the growth requirement, especialy ING as it is offering the highest rate -:) - this was a quick attempt to give a quick reference to anyone wanting to move out of a must grow balance account and not imposing a selfie requirement. I will look at all the feedback when I get a chance and amend accordingly but I do not want to have to maintain all available banks as it would be to big a task. For full details of any of the listed banks and their saving acounts it is always advisable to check directly on the bank web site.

And yes, it is very bad that banks do not tell you upfront that they require a selfie until after almost completing the application and uploading all your private details.
- bluesky on 21/07/2025 - 18:52
  
  I intentionaly left out accounts that require a selfie
  
  This is great!
DoctorCalculon on 21/07/2025 - 21:37

@Ave Maria Could you please explain how the following strategy works for ING Savings Maximiser?

Buy 5x$1 Amazon Gift Cards. Flip between 2-3 accounts to bypass growth requirement.
Ave Maria on 21/07/2025 - 23:51

+5

To meet the 5 card usage you can simply use your card 5 times (need money inthe Orange Acccount) or like I do each month just put $5 in the Orange account and repeat 5 times buying a $1 Gift Card on Amazon. What I also do, so I can withdraw if I need the money (or rates drop and need to take it out), is to have 3 Saving Maximisers. I have $100K in the currently bonus interest nominated account, $1 in the one nominated for next month, and one empty. I just shift the money between the 3 accounts ($100K to $1, $1 to zero account) on the 1st of each month, nominate the 1 that now has $1 (from zero) to receive the interest next month and take the interest out (as it is over $100K). It literaly takes just 5 minutes to do that each month.
- Speckled Jim on 22/07/2025 - 10:20
  
  Explains my last couple of service term updates.
  - silenthillrocks on 22/07/2025 - 10:28
    
    Do you mean they're cracking down on this by updating the T&Cs?
    - Ave Maria on 22/07/2025 - 11:53
      
      Not really - they clearly stated that they can close accounts for any reason they see fit - they could have done that already - they just put it in writting.
      I have been doing the 3 account rotation for 2 years now - it is within their rules & unless they change their rules it is legit -:)
      
      Main reason for closing accounts is for suspect deposits & trading (like bitcoin)
- Mugsy on 22/07/2025 - 11:46
  
  This is probably the clearest way anyone has explained the 3x SM trick to allow for funds to be taken out and still get max interest.
  - Ave Maria on 22/07/2025 - 11:50
    
    and I would have explained this and other ? the same way in WP if I was not banned 2 years ago for life -:) their loss not mine -:)
    - bluesky on 22/07/2025 - 15:46
      
      Why were you banned? Does WP consider sharing legit tips/tricks that optimise someone's saving to be gaming the system? I keep hearing complains here about WP moderators being dictators (I don't use WP other than the casual visits following others' links when they reference some specific topic in WP).
      - Ave Maria on 22/07/2025 - 19:58
        
        @bluesky: Conflict with a moderator - less said the better -:)
- Mugsy on 30/08/2025 - 23:50
  
  Just wondering if you know where the option to change the SM account that is eligible for the bonus rate can be found in the ING app? Or is it only found on the web banking portal?
  
  Cheers!
  - Ave Maria on 31/08/2025 - 00:40
    
    +1
    
    You can only check and change your nominated Savings Maximiser account via online banking. You can still do it from the phone, just not from the app.
LFO on 22/07/2025 - 10:49

Scheduled Payments with ING Bank

Yes you can schedule transfers from OA and SM (between accounts).

Does it count as "scheduled payments"?
Does not count ?
- Ave Maria on 22/07/2025 - 11:46
  
  +1
  
  I only count "Scheduled or Payments" as YES if you can do so directly from the Saver account without any assumed timing & indirect transfers to the Transaction (i.e. ING Orange) account first. This is an important point to help decide if an account is suitable for day to day expence & bill payments that can be scheduled in advance.
  
  You can have a linked external account to the Saving Maximiser, but that limits transfer to that account only - so not really enabling bill payments unless you set up a complicated multiple account transfer setup - and when it fails you pay the price.
  - LFO on 22/07/2025 - 12:38
    
    unless you set up a complicated multiple account transfer setup
    
    Yes agree.
    And as ING banking system doesn't understand "time" a scheduled transfer has to be at least 24hs before (SM to to OA transfer).
    
    and when it fails you pay the price.
    
    Didn't quite "pay" as it was the first failed transfer (no funds on OA) but I agree it is not friendly.
    
    Thank you.
    - Ave Maria on 22/07/2025 - 13:04
      
      +1
      
      I meant if an important payment was missed (like a credit card bill) - and a huge amount of interest was applied to the balance -:)
Ave Maria on 22/07/2025 - 11:49

+1

I just received a survey from AMP - I gave them a ZERO on both queries & explained that the reason is about them converting a save & spend product into a balance growth product. Anyone receiving that survey please reply (I hope likewise) as that may actually help reverse that decision in which case AMP will again become a saver (and spend) option. Hopefully UBANK will be doing the same after realising how much $$$ has exited their coffers.
- bluesky on 22/07/2025 - 15:55
  
  I also moved away due to that. The problem I see is if they revert to non-growth, they may drop the interest rate - so we can't win :-) In fact, didn't they come out now with the AMP Go account 4.5% with no growth requirement to take its place? And no, I didn't get a survey.
Essem on 22/07/2025 - 13:52

I’ve moved $80k into Macquarie since Friday and I won’t be the only customer.

Expect UBank will have to revisit their decision.

Hope Macquarie don’t get greedy and go down the same path.
- barghunt1 on 22/07/2025 - 15:34
  
  How was the sign up process?
  - Essem on 22/07/2025 - 19:11
    
    +1
    
    I already had a Macquarie debit account, so was dead easy 😉
barghunt1 on 22/07/2025 - 15:33

Commonwealth bank goal saver has a growth requirement and should be removed from list.

From the goal saver page

How to qualify for bonus interest

Make at least one deposit of any amount into your account in the calendar month; and
Have a higher account balance at the end of the calendar month than at the start of the calendar month. If you withdraw from your account, deposit more money than you withdrew in the calendar month.

https://www.commbank.com.au/banking/goal-saver.html
- Ave Maria on 23/07/2025 - 00:13
  
  a requirement that can be easily worked around by having 2 goal savers and swapping funds on 1st of each month - I did indicate a growth by $.01 in the relevant column.
  - barghunt1 on 24/07/2025 - 14:51
    
    Good to know.
bluesky on 22/07/2025 - 16:43

With the ME Bank HomeMe account, if you just opened the account and deposit some funds, does the bonus rate applies immediately?

They do say "To help you get your savings off to a good start, you’ll earn bonus interest for the first month of your account being opened", but just to be sure, if you have already opened this account, and can confirm this, it would be appreciated.
- silenthillrocks on 22/07/2025 - 16:44
  
  +2
  
  First month is indeed inclusive of the bonus. Note that its a calendar month so if you open it mid-month the free bonus is only for the rest of that month.
  - bluesky on 22/07/2025 - 17:41
    
    Thank you! 👍
Ave Maria on 23/07/2025 - 18:45

+1

Teachers Mutual is changing terms and conditions (1st September).

To be more specific they have clarified the timing of when you can make the required deposit for the bonus interest (before 5pm on the last day of the month) and mentioned the introduction of providing name verification for payees. They are also introducing a new Saver Product (Momentum Saver).

https://www.tmbank.com.au/-/media/accounts/term-deposit/pdf/…

Here is the actual links to the changes

https://www.tmbank.com.au/important-information/terms-and-co…
https://www.tmbank.com.au/-/media/global/pdfs/conditions-of-…
https://www.tmbank.com.au/-/media/global/pdfs/credit-card-te…
https://www.tmbank.com.au/-/media/global/pdfs/fees-and-charg…
https://www.tmbank.com.au/-/media/global/pdfs/notices-of-cha…
Ave Maria on 27/07/2025 - 15:02

+5
I have seen a lot of missinformation on WP as of late. As I cannot respond & correct on WP I will just add some correct info (based on 20 years as a rabobank customer) here. I will not add a new forum post as that comes with unwanted attention (unfortunately -:)

The below only relates to Rabobank Online banking (HISA, Premium Saver, Notice Accounts & Term Deposits)

What do you need to operate a Rabobank Online Savings account?

You no longer need a dongle. Both Online & Smart App access is provided but you can only change the nominated linked external account online. You also need a code generated from the smart app to logon online so having a smart phone (or using an android pc emulator) is necessary.

What is a nominated linked account ?

A nominated account is the only way to transfer funds in/out via the rabobank Direct Debit/Credit facility. You can only have one nominated linked account at any point in time. To create or change a nominated acount you must go through a verification process that normally involves sending $1 from the nominated acount with a "Verify" in the reference text. It can take up to 2 business day to be activated. If the automated process fails alternate method is to provide a statement or letter of ownership for the nominated acount and email it to Rabobank. Their it support has aways been helpful on the occasional issue (usually BSB missmatches with some Credit Union/Mutual based banks and St George).

What is their Online Support like?

Good. By calling 1800 445 445 MON – FRI 6am - 8pm (Sydney time). The Rabo web page has more info https://www.rabobank.com.au/contact-us

Can you pay to anyone?

No. Only to Australian held accounts & only payments via direct credit to the nominated account can be made. No transactions can be requested on a non business day. Payments go via the BECS schedule same day if requested before their deadline (6pm). Doing payments earlier will quarantee payment is received same day (with St George is the same but funds will not be available until next day).

Can you receive funds from anyone?

Yes but only from Australian bank held accounts.

How can you deposit funds?

Funds can be deposited from an external account into the HISA/Premium Saver accounts. If initiated from the other bank, via BECS. If done early the day that quarantees same day transfers. If initiated via a direct debit request from Rabobank before 6pm, funds are credited immediately same day otherwise processing is delayed for next day. Funds received via direct debit are locked for 2 business days before made available.

Does Rabobank support OSKO/NPP ?

Sadly NO. All payments go via the Australian BECS system as standard payments.

What are the Transfer limits ?

You can transfer in up to $3Million via direct credit or by direct transfer from external bank up to that bank's limit.
You can transfer out via direct debit only, up to $300K per account held with Rabobank. That is $300K from each of HISA, Premium Saver or Notice accounts.
Limits can be increased if needed by calling 1800 445 445 MON – FRI 6am - 8pm (Sydney time)

Can you fund a Rabobank Term Deposit directly from an external acount?

No you have to transfer 1st either into the HISA or Premium Saver accounts. Funds received via direct debit are locked for 2 business days before made available. So if you plan to fund a term deposit from external funds via direct debit you have to wait 2 days. Alternatively do a direct transfer from the external account to the HISA or Premium Saver so received funds are available for use immediately.

Can a matured Term Deposit and/or interest paid to an external account?

No, only to the HISA or Premium Saver that was used to fund the term deposit.

Can you transfer between your own Rabobank accounts anytime?

Transfers between own accounts are unlimited but can only be done on business days.

Can you shedule future payments?

Yes, but sheduling is only availabe for transfers to occur on a business day.

Have you ever had any troubles banking with Rabobank.

Not to my recollection & I never missed a single day of bonus interest or otherwise -:)

What is BECS and what is the BECS transfers schedule ?

BECS (Bulk Electronic Clearing System) handles Australian electronic payments, including direct debits and credits, by batching transactions and processing them in bulk throughout the day. Payments are exchanged in bulk six times a day on weekdays (10:00 am, 1:00 pm, 4:00 pm, 6:30 pm, 8:45 pm, and 10:30 pm). Settlement occurs on the same day after each of the first five exchanges. Transfers at 10:30pm are procesed and settled next day. It is a very robust system and the reason why standard transfers, done early enough, are processed same day even if you have to wait until very late, sometimes after 9:45pm, to see the funds in the receiving account. St George is a strange one as you may not see the funds unitl next day.
Ave Maria on 27/07/2025 - 23:44

+4

Recent WP posts state that Rabobank internal transfer on weekends & public holidays are instant. Please pay attention to the actual transfer date. The system enforces next business day, so if you are eluding yourself to believe you did a transfer on the weekend you may be in for a nasty suprise if you are attempting to meet the premium saver bonus criteria on he last day of the month and it is not a business day. HSBC operates on the same basis, allowing funds to be transfered internally (and to their credit allows the funds to be used for payments with the debit card) but everything is posted as if it happened on the next business day. St George is the same with Sundays, worse actually as it debits instantly but credits next business day, although internal tranfers on a Saturday are credited same day. Not a good practise to be doing transfers on weekends unless they are OSKO as it may lead to some very costly mistakes. Banks that I Know for sure that are safe to do internal transfers on weekends are CBA, ING, MEB, BOQ, AMP, Great Southern Bank and Unibank (TMU).
- surfingedge on 29/07/2025 - 07:02
  
  I did a direct debit from St George to Rabo and St George recorded the money as being taken the previous day, which caused St George to charge overdraft interest.
  - Ave Maria on 29/07/2025 - 16:33
    
    That is one of the many wonders of St George bank, expecting that money was available the previous day for direct debits occuring today. I hope you asked them to pay you back. How can a direct debit requested today be debited yesterday (only St George can answer that -:).
    
    It is not Rabobanks fault, depending what time you requested the DD, Rabobank would send the DD request via BECS on one of the next scheduled batches. It will never be received yesterday -:). The BECS batches run between 10am and 10:30pm and Rabo switches over to processing requests next day after 6pm. Is it possible you scheduled a DD after 6pm. Rabo credited it next day but the request was send & processed by St George today (and there was no money in the account until tomorrow)? That is the only logical explanation I can think of.
    
    I would avoid doing St George transactions around mid-night as well. It confuses the hell out of them as they do most of their processing around that time.

Ave Maria on 28/07/2025 - 21:36

-1

I got this email from Ubank today. They must be in short supply of money already. What are the geniouses at Ubank going to come up with next? Aparently anything that is not what their customers realy realy want = a no growth, no conditions account with a decent rate and decent banking facilities (all of which they have gradually taken away).

The email clarifies that you must set up an automated pay cycle to qualify. I anyone fancy their chances of being one of the 20 $10K winners do that. Set a Pay Cycle (you just tell them how much you earn and how offer - forget all about privacy) and deposit and take $3K straight out of the spend account in August/September or August/October (must be consecutive months).

Ubank Email Promotion Text
Got your salary landing into your Ubank account? Or thinking about making the switch?
If so, you could be in with a chance to win BIG!
We’re giving away $10,000 to 20 customers. That’s 20 chances you could have at winning $10,000! 😱
How to enter the draw:
Set your Pay Cycle in the Ubank app
Deposit at least $3,000 into your individual Spend or Bills account each month for two consecutive months
That's it!

Competition starts at 2pm on 1 Aug 2025 and ends 1:59 pm on 31 October 2025 (Sydney time), and you must be at least 18 years old to enter.
Read full eligibility criteria, Ts&Cs, and permit details here https://www.ubank.com.au/campaigns/win10k

How does someone enter the competition?
The Entrant must:
By the end of the Competition Period have Pay Cycle set up in the Ubank App; and During the Competition Period meet the Deposit Criteria.
To meet the Deposit Criteria you must deposit at least $3,000 in total (in one or more deposits) each month for two consecutive calendar months
during the Competition Period into the same individual Spend or Bills account.

Simply put, they are in need of money and they will do anything to get it other than keep their customers happy (that would be the sensible way).

bluesky on 28/07/2025 - 22:07

I too got this, but could not be bothered to read it :-)

Ave Maria on 28/07/2025 - 22:13

I actually deleted it without reading as matter of habit for anything pretending to be an offer from Ubank and then noticed it again when I went to clean my delete folder -:)

They are now operating a lottery as means to do a survey on customers income and payroll details.

So what are they? A bank, a lottery operator or an online survey agent ?

They realy need to establish an identity and do it quick, especially with all the changes they forced on their customer base in the past 2-3 years it is suprising that any of the old customers are still with Ubank. Ok it was the high interest rate.Now that is gone there is nothing to keep savers here.

djoz on 28/07/2025 - 22:20

Was almost going to sign up to uBank due to their (earlier) no requirement to grow balance. But now having second thoughts about it.
uBank was the only single-hoop (Deposit requirement), high interest savings account, albeit with a few restrictions such as 20K daily limit, sign-up issues, etc.

Ave Maria on 28/07/2025 - 22:46

@djoz: I would suggest that the BOQ/MEB pair of accounts would be a good option as neither have a growth requirement and transfers between the 2 are instant. Not difficult to meet the bonus criteria either. When you 1st open accounts with them you pre-qualify for the bonus for the 1st 2 months, You have to keep in mind that if you keep qualifying then you qualify for the next month.

The 2 of them give you a total of $350K savings option at a reasonable interest rate 4.75%/4.85% without a worry if you need to spend some of it.

I also use Great Southern Bank (another $100K at 4.75%) as I do all my SMSF banking with them so it is convinient when I have to pay a pension payment out or put money back into the SMSF (all done as instant internal transfers).

Next level down (or up depending on how you see it) is Macquarie bank, set & forget, no conditions, no bonus criteria just a flat 4.5% interest rate.

bluesky on 28/07/2025 - 23:55

@Ave Maria: Can I ask how do you manage to get Great Southern Bank 4.75%? I am under the impression that Home Saver is not allowed for SMSF. Am I wrong?
- bluesky on 29/07/2025 - 01:41
  
  @bluesky: Question retracted - re-read your comment carefully again and realised you were referring to a personal account, not SMSF.
bluesky on 29/07/2025 - 00:05

@Ave Maria: The BOQ account you mentioned here - it it the Smart Saver? If my memory serves me, as it was quite a while ago, is that the bank where you need a BOQ Secure App, and need to key in lots of details to effect a transfer - string of numbers to represent the from/to account, and cryptic long number to represent the transfer amount? That was the downside back then, not sure what it is like now.
- Ave Maria on 29/07/2025 - 00:48
  
  +1
  
  @bluesky: Nothing like that for the Smart App version (there is no online version for BOQ unlike MEB that introduced one recently) - Payments from the app receive and auto-pick an SMS authentication (all automated). No dramas. You can also increase temporarily your daily limit to whatever your balance is by answering secrect questions in the app.

djoz on 29/07/2025 - 01:11

@Ave Maria: Thanks for the detailed explanation, @Ave Maria. I have a question, if I have 100K in MEB for a whole month, and I get bonus interest at 4.85% which takes my total balance above 100K, will I then earn the lower tier rate 2.85% on the entire balance, or just the portion above 100K (with the first 100K still earning at 4.85%)?

I tried finding this on the website of ME Bank, but it isn't very clear, and it feels like the lower tier of 2.85% will apply to the entire balance.

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;

to the balance of your HomeME account up to $1,000,000

Ave Maria on 29/07/2025 - 13:53

@djoz: Good question, I would lie if I said I knew the answer to that for sure. Their Term & Conditions or other statements does not fully clarify with an example. They have an online calculator that could be used but only works for the Saver account that has a flat rate.

I never left my balance go over $100K, always removing any excess interest on the 1st of the month. That avoids the issue.
The interest rate after $100K is low so you would not want to have a balance over $100K anyway, but that is up to you.

Me Bank Home saver advertises a tier based interest rate. Each tier gets it's own rate so on that basis the lower interest rate should only apply to that tier and not the amount below (but again who knows - I don't). It would be worth asking for clarification but my experience is that bank stuff don't really know either.

https://www.mebank.com.au/banking/savings-calculator/

Account Balance	Base Rate	Bonus Rate	Max Rate
$0 - $100K	0.05% p.a.	+4.80% p.a.	4.85% p.a.
>$100K - $1 Million	0.05% p.a.	+2.80% p.a.	2.85% p.a.
>$1 Million	0.05% p.a.	N/A	0.05% p.a.

Some calculation examples would have been useful. Other banks that use tiered rates clarify that the the rate applies to that portion of the balance, so there is no ambiguity. All statements from ME Bank are ambiguous. That never bothered me before as I never go over $100K. I will post on their facebook chat and ask them to clarify.

djoz on 29/07/2025 - 14:28

@Ave Maria: Thank you.
Yes, I did observe some banks clearly mention so. For Eg: NAB Reward Saver states that "For Tier based balance interest - The entire account balance will receive the interest rate(s) for the tier it falls within." But as of now NAB has the same rate for all tiers, so doesn't really matter.

I was looking for some confirmation of that sort for ME Bank on their T&Cs :-)
- Ave Maria on 29/07/2025 - 15:17
  
  +1
  
  @djoz: I got a reply from the ME Bank Facebook account (via comment query - they actually replied back pretty fast -:)
  
  ME
  Hi Ave, I'm really sorry for the confusion caused with this! I can confirm that our interest rate tiers work for our HomeME account so that if your balance is $110,000 for example and you qualify for the bonus interest rate, you would earn 4.85% p.a. on $100,000 and the remaining $10,000 would have an interest rate of 2.85% p.a. calculated on it. If your balance exceeded $1,000,000 for example, you would earn 4.85% p.a. on $100,000 of that balance, 2.85% p.a. on $899,999 of that and then 0.05% p.a. for the remaining balance over $1,000,000. - Nick

bluesky on 29/07/2025 - 14:33

+1

@djoz: I found this at their HomeME FAQs lower in the page.

What are the different tiers to earn Base + Bonus Interest rate?
When you meet all bonus interest conditions, you can earn our highest interest rate of 4.85% p.a. on balances up to $100,000, and 2.85% p.a. on balances between $100,000 to $1,000,000. Please refer to the tier table for more information.

Please note that bonus interest is not payable on balances over $1,000,000 but balances over $1,000,000 will still earn our base interest rate of 0.05% p.a.

So you will still get 4.85% up to 100K.
- Ave Maria on 29/07/2025 - 17:57
  
  @bluesky: if you read that carefully you will realise it does not exactly say what you think it says -:) it is ambigous as it does not clearly state if the rate applies to the entire account balance or that portion of the balance that falls within the tier. It does need calrification, until then it remains ambiguous.
  - bluesky on 29/07/2025 - 18:44
    
    @Ave Maria: I agree. But unless they are being dodgy (which I don't think they are), then it is not one rate on whole balance.
    
    Breaking up the conjunction into independent clauses:
    
    you can earn our highest interest rate of 4.85% p.a. on balances up to $100,000
    
    you can earn 2.85% p.a. on balances between $100,000 to $1,000,000
    
    Which is reasonably clear they intend to apply different rates to the tiers. Although I agree, I would like to see them illustrate with an example, so that there is no doubt whatsoever.
    - Ave Maria on 29/07/2025 - 21:10
      
      @bluesky: No they are not dodgy, but I would say not very careful in their wording -:)
      
      here are 2 alternate & completely different methods that are unambiguous (the term "balance portion" makes all the differece)
      
      4.85% applies to the balance portion up to $100,000.
      2.85% applies to the balance portion over $100,000 up to $1,000,000
      0.05% applies to the balance portion over $1,000,000
      
      4.85% applies to balances up to $100,000.
      2.85% applies to the entire balance if over $100,000 up to $1,000,000
      0.05% applies to the entire balance if over $1,000,000

Mad Max on 28/07/2025 - 22:22

+1

so what are they a bank, a lottery operator or an online survey agent ?

A circus?
- Ave Maria on 28/07/2025 - 22:35
  
  +1
  
  @Mad Max: Quite -:) I actually had a look at how you set a Pay Cycle as it is not an availabel option Online. It is also still not an option in the app (and I keep all my apps up to date). So I used the email link to open the app only to be told I need to update my app. Guess what ? There is no update available yet.
  
  Not a Circus (that will be insulting to all circus professonals and the animals. Just Clowns.
  
  They are fat belly red nose Clowns -:)
  - Mad Max on 28/07/2025 - 22:36
    
    @Ave Maria: 🤡 lol

surfingedge on 29/07/2025 - 07:10

I don't see any requirement to tell ubank how much you earn and when. You can say you earn $3000 on the 1st of the month and then send $3000 from yourself (or your spouse etc, in case ubank wants to be funny about it later).

I can't be bothered to look up how "Pay Cycle" works right now but I don't see that you even need to say you earn $3000, just make up any number
- Ave Maria on 29/07/2025 - 13:57
  
  I will find out what they are asking when that feature becomes available.
  
  I only relied on the information provided on how to set a pay cycle that it states you specify your payment frequency & how much/when you expect to get it.
  
  Yes you do not have to give them any accurate info -:)

pea on 28/07/2025 - 22:25

Hi OP, could you please explain an example for what you mean by flip between 2 Goal Savers for CBA?

Ave Maria on 28/07/2025 - 22:32

I have 2 Goal Savers with CBA since a long time ago. I assume it is still possible to open more than 1. If not apologies.

Say you have $10K in Goal Saver 1 in July. On 1st August move it from Goal Saver 1 to Goal Saver 2. Condition met & you can take it all out if you wish at any point during the month. Just leave 1 cent behind. In September, on the 1st of the month, move the money back from Goal Saver 2 to Goal Saver 1. Repeat each month or as you need to.

According to google (not always correct) you can still open more than 1 Goal Saver account. I actualy followed the link and verified that is 100% accurate.
That makes CBA for those that are existing customers, or prefer a bank with branches an ideal option offerring 4.45% compared to the Macquarie 4.5% (small difference really).

Another tip, if you have a CBA Smart Access, to avoid paying a monthly fee (I never did) all you have to do is move $2K internally between the Goal Saver & Smart Access. Not many realise that you can do that thinking that the $2K deposit must be from an external account -:). CBA is ideal for receiving payroll payments to the Smart Acess (or Goal Saver) & then moving the funds to the Goal Saver of your choise. It also has a very high OSKO limit if you want it (all you have to do is ask for it as explained in the provided table details).

I never tought I will be advocating for CBA, but here I am doing so - only caveat with CBA is that OSKO/Standard 1st time payments get delayed for 24 hours, but if you plan ahead (at least 2 days earlier) a $1 transfer that solves that problem.

https://www.commbank.com.au/articles/banking/tips-for-earnin…

Google Search
Yes, you can open multiple Goal Saver accounts with CBA. Each Goal Saver account is treated independently for bonus interest calculations, meaning bonus interest is calculated and paid separately for each account, not based on the combined activity of all accounts, according to CommBank.

squeeb on 31/07/2025 - 20:09

Just to let you know that the $1 trick doesn't work anymore. I set up a new payee (to an account in my name with another bank) and did three transfers under $250 on 17 July. Then did a $5K transfer on 21 July to that same account and that was held for 24 hours. I called them up to request a release of my money so that I could transfer it elsewhere. They were most indignant about it but eventually did it. I was told it would not be done again in the future. He actually said that all banks hold for 24 hours within the first 5 days of setting up a new payee and it was imposed by the RBA - I tried to tell him that was not true but gave up at that point.

Moral of the story - leave 5 business days after adding first time payments.
- Ave Maria on 01/08/2025 - 01:02
  
  CBA has always been a pain with 1st time payments, even for payments to other CBA accounts. They will hold the payment for 24 hours. I did say plan ahead at least 2 days earlier - 5 business days is obviously safer -:). I did small transfers out of Hiver, months ahead, before I took all money out (I am back with Unibank at the moment) and had no payments held or question when I did larger transfers out.
  
  You hear a lot of BS from the banks all the time, they make it up as they go.
  
  I recently called GSB to increase my daily limit to $250K, they said that it will take up to 2 hours for a secondary approver to look at it & I will get an SMS soon to confirm the increase. 4 hours later nothing so I called back. They said I had to wait until the end of businesss. I was furious as it was Friday and I called them in the morning to make sure I could transfer same day as I was investing in a Term deposit that had to be funded that day. I pointed out to them that they have this ridiculous rule that the money has to be in the account before they can increase the limit and only up to that amount (the money was in at 11am so I could not call earlier). I was told that is a legal requirement. I replied it is not as no other bank has that requirement & just because the bank has a pointless rule it does not make it a legal requirement. What is the harm of increasing the limit for a day to $250K if the money is not there? if not there it cannot be transferred -:) Talking to brick walls most of the time -:). Anyways after my 2nd call they approved the increase within 15 minutes and it all went same day to the other bank (9:45pm with the last eligible BECKS transfer)
  - Mad Max on 01/08/2025 - 13:43
    
    +1
    
    Yes, they are all pretty much the same.
    If you know each bank's rules/systems, and you can make it work online within those rules/systems, they are mostly ok.
    As soon as something doesn't go to plan and you need to talk to a human in the bank, it is often a PITA. Most staff are incompetent and don't know their own rules. Even worse, some are arrogant and want to lecture you from their incompetent pedestal.

bluesky on 29/07/2025 - 18:29
OP, I have a few questions about BOQ Smart Saver, hope you can help.

You mentioned at table above - Osko is between 5K-25K. Is that automatic? Do you need to do anything special to increase the Osko limit to 25K from 5K (such as authenticator etc?)

In a comment above, you said one can increase the limit to one's max balance. I assume the 25K Osko limit stays, amounts above will go via standard transfer. Does their standard transfer arrive on same day, or like St George - after midnight?

Anywhere in the app that indicates if you have met the bonus criteria?

Thanks.

PS I found out the accounts I had with BOQ were old accounts - with the hassles I mentioned above operating them.
- Ave Maria on 29/07/2025 - 21:35
  
  +1
  
  BOQ (similar in ME Bank & ING Bank) - No Authenticator App is used or required. The only banks I use that utlise one is Macquarie Bank & ANZ.
  
  You can set your daily transfer limit permanently in the app to whatever is stated in the provided table ($20K-$25K). You will get a number of options to select from.
  
  OSKO remains at $5K and is part of the daily transfer limit. That cannot be changed.
  
  You can temporarily increase the daily transfer limit, with immediate effect just for the day, up to your account balance by typing in what you want it to be.
  
  For MEB/BOQ, last time I did that I was asked to answer a couple of my secret questions for verification. If I recall correctly ING sends an SMS code.
  Either way nothing complicated. If you forgot your secret questions/answes (keep them simple) you have to call to identify yourself to have them reset so you can set them again next time you logon. If you give the wrong answers a few times you end up being locked out (again just call to unlock). I made that mistake once with BOQ and learned my lesson to keep the questions/answers simple to just one word that is easy to remember.
  
  Yes you can see in the app if you met the current month criteria, either explicitly or by cheking what is the current rate.
  It will also tell you if you qualified for next month. Most info is visible in the account view or using the 3 account detail dots.
  - bluesky on 29/07/2025 - 21:39
    
    Thanks for the detailed info 👍
    - Ave Maria on 29/07/2025 - 21:45
      
      +1
      
      I forgot to mention when you meet the criteria, there is a 1 day delay after you meet the required deposit criteria & a few days for the card transactions to move out of the pending status before you actually see that you have qualified in the next month (again it explictly states that in the account info). You do not have to worry much for the current month if you always check that you qualified for the next month as it becomes a habit.
      - bluesky on 29/07/2025 - 21:48
        
        @Ave Maria: Oh, that being the case, I am too late to sign up now for next month eligibility! :-)
        
        Ave Maria on 29/07/2025 - 21:50
        
        +1
        
        @bluesky: No - they pre-qualify you for the current and next month when you sign up - you do not have to worry about meeting criteria in the 1st month (or next month) -:)
        
        AMP is the only bank (very dodgy) that never offered that.
        
        bluesky on 29/07/2025 - 21:52
        
        @Ave Maria: Oh, ok. That means if I open my account now, I qualify this month. But still, I only have 1 day to make the transactions to qualify next month. And if they do not clear in time (by 31Jul), won't next month be ineligible?
        
        Or are you saying next month (Aug) they will also give the bonus, and so long as in Aug I do the 5 transactions & deposit.
        
        Ave Maria on 29/07/2025 - 22:02
        
        +1
        
        @bluesky: from the BOQ Web Site
        
        Note: To help you get started on reaching your savings goals, you'll start earning Bonus Interest straight away after opening your Smart Saver Account (for new customers only). To continue to earn Bonus Interest each month, you'll need to meet the above bonus interest criteria.
Ave Maria on 29/07/2025 - 21:56

+1

That is why they give you both current and next month as qualified - you do not have to do anything this month -:) - If you wait until the 1st you will not have to do anything next month either -:)

By the way I just checked their web site & they have a special offer for new signs ups

Thanks to Visa, new and existing BOQ Everyday Account customers have the chance to win an exclusive Singapore Race Weekend package (3-6 October 2025) to see the Visa Cash App Racing Bulls in action

Prize inclusions
2 return economy airfares from Australia to Singapore
3 nights accommodation at a 5-star hotel
2 day hospitality package for Qualifying Day and Race Day
Branded Visa Cash App Racing Bulls team gift package
1 day Singapore city tour

How to enter
If you don’t already have one, open a new BOQ Smart Saver account linked with an Everyday Account (or you can choose to open a standalone Everyday Account).
Using the linked Visa Debit Card, make an eligible, settled transaction of $60 or more to earn one entry into the competition between 5 May – 31 July 2025.
Entries are unlimited, so the more transactions of $60 or more that you make, the more chances you have to win.

Full details at the bottom of the page

https://www.boq.com.au/personal/banking/savings-and-term-dep…
- bluesky on 29/07/2025 - 22:02
  
  If you wait until the 1st you will not have to do anything next month either -:)
  
  Good idea! I will do that. Thanks.
  
  I never bother with competitions - I have never won anything ever :-)
  - Ave Maria on 29/07/2025 - 22:08
    
    +1
    
    So if you decide to open in August, you should not have to do anything to get the bonus rate in August or September. But in September you have to do the $1K deposit into the everyday account (not the saver) from an external account (could be from ME Bank) but you can take it straight out, and also the 5 card transactions (do early in the month) so you can continue to get the bonus rate in October. Just to be on the safe side, do check in the app that you have qualified next month (September).
    - bluesky on 29/07/2025 - 22:14
      
      Yeap, will do that. Thanks. Good that they have indication about meeting bonus criteria - I find this really helpful.
      This is the one downside to St George/Bank of Melb. No indication. Same with Goalsaver I guess, although I don't use it much.
      - Ave Maria on 29/07/2025 - 22:17
        
        @bluesky: I checked the ME Bank similar statement but more clear. I recall getting the 1st 2 month bonus, but it may have changed, as you said just check and do what you have to do -:)
        
        To help kickstart your savings, you will earn bonus interest in your first month with ME. Just make sure you meet the bonus interest criteria before the end of the month to continue earning it in the following month.
        
        bluesky on 29/07/2025 - 22:22
        
        @Ave Maria: Yes, since ME does not have an indication whether criteria has been met, I interpret this conservatively as follows:
        Open account in July. July will get bonus. But in July - better start depositing the $2K for August eligibility. I would not risk it by assuming August automatically qualifies :-)

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