• long running

Earn up to 5.50% p.a. on Combined Balance of up to $100,000 across All Save Accounts ($500+ Per Month Deposit Required) @ ubank

3440

Finally on par with ING Bank, less the hassle of making 5+ transactions every month 😄


From July 1 2024, you can earn up to 5.50% p.a. on $0 to $100K of your savings.

Simply deposit $500 or more each month into any of your Spend, Bills or Save accounts, and you’ll start earning bonus interest on the money in your Save accounts – yep, it’s that easy! Don't miss getting our bonus interest rate, as from July 1st the base rate is 0%.

Interest Tier Amount Bonus Interest
Tier 1 $0 to $100,000 5.5% pa
Tier 2 $100,000.01 to $250,000 5%
Tier 3 $250,000.01 to $5,000,000 0%

Referral Links

Referral: random (1030)

Referrer and referee each receive $30 after referee makes 5 settled card purchases within 30 days.

Related Stores

ubank
ubank

Comments

  • +31

    $0-100k = 5.5%
    $100,001 - 250k = 5.0%
    Anything from $251k = 0%


    Overall an increase (assuming 250k)

    • Current Rate of 5.1% = $12750pa
    • New Tier Rate of up to 5.5% = $13000pa
    • +1

      Oh yes, updated the listing, thanks!

    • Is this correct? I couldn't find anything on the site

      • Email should be arriving soon.

      • +2

        yep, this is clarified in the email sent to members

        • +12

          I was expecting people in the second tier to get absolutely shafted, this is better than expected

      • This means, you’ll get 5.50% p.a. on savings under $100K and anything over $100K (up to $250K) will get 5.00% p.a.

        • +7

          AMP pays 5.4% upto 250k

      • +7

        Generally true.

        Some people will have higher net worths with majority holdings in growth assets and will want a decent amount of cash holdings for other goals

        Examples of reasons for high net worth individuals to have cash holdings:

        1. Forms a part of their defensive holdings in their portfolio,
        2. Cash flow buffer, either to counterweight the negative gearing of some of their investment portfolio which is leveraged, or to allow flexibility with their other income sources including employment
        3. Self insurance, they hold policies that either have higher excesses or less/lower coverage

        As always, personal finance is personal.

        • I think you are getting too technical.
          Its much more simple than that.

          Cash reserves build up through postive cash flows.
          These reserves are then invested in share and property or other high growth investments when the right opportunity arises.

          Gold is usually the defensive part of any portfolio.
          Aand more so now, more than ever!

          • +1

            @HeWhoKnows: I think you are still far too technical.
            Cash is king when it comes to transferring assets (between partners, family etc) without incurring CGT. So if you can hold some cash at 5% interest, it’s a very flexible option.
            Anyone with assets (shares, ETF’s, property etc) runs the GST gauntlet any time they need to transfer a decent sum

            • @cashless: Oh my.

              Hold cash, pay year-to-year income tax, don't accrue capital gains so don't pay CGT = that's apparently good.

              Hold assets, pay a margin of it's growth as income tax (i.e. dividends), accrue mostly capital gains and pay CGT (with 50% discount after 12mo) = that's apparently bad.

              If we want to get into transferring assets and inheritance, we'd need to start talking about structuring (e.g. trusts), which is a long discussion.

              Cash is king, eh?

              "Cash is trash. Cash flow is king"

              Cash isn't really trash. The right amount has it's use.

          • +3

            @HeWhoKnows: Cash flow can be a volatile metric.

            Everyone is advised to keep a minimum holding in cash - the idea of an emergency ("rainy day") fund or the 3-6 month rule (usually covering a period of unexpected unemployment).

            Beyond that minimum amount, the reasons above are more likely to apply to higher net worth individuals. Examples of each:

            1. Holding an equities portfolio of 100% shares in the absence of bonds (or other fixed income), an individual may elect to nominate their cash savings as the defensive asset, according to their chosen risk tolerance (5%, 10%, etc.)

            2. A cash flow buffer can be engaged for numerous reasons. Consider property investments where cash holdings can protect against unexpected vacancy periods or capital repairs or interest hikes or legislative changes to land tax. Consider equity loans where cash holdings can protect against interest hikes or short-term capital devaluations and margin calling. Consider sole contractors or business owners who suffer income losses, or otherwise employed individuals who elect to reduce/stop work for personal reasons.

            3. Having wealth often leads to self-insuring, or reducing cover, against the smaller risks in life. Consider first party car insurance or home contents insurance, some might take on the risk themselves when they can cover that cost. Less likely to apply for third party car insurance or home building insurance.

            The amount an individual elects for the goals they have, is the reserve. Positive cash flow above that can be engaged in further investing, or consumption.

            Gold is one defensive asset class, with it's own characteristics. Some people use it, some don't, depending on what it provides to the portfolio. It's best utility is that it tends to be one of the asset classes that acts most counter to the valuations of growth assets like equities, for example gold appreciated 20-30% while equities fell 40% during the GFC, bouying a portfolio during some of the worst short-term performances. Another utility is that it has demonstrated growth like returns in recent history (~30 years), although long term performance is much more modest and tends to act more like a hedge against inflation at best. Some of the downsides is that it can behave very volatile, having short-term periods of reduced value (not typically the case with bonds). Another is that it is not a productive asset, it has no income, unlike bonds which will provide stable cashflow (and therefore a stable return).

            I've heard investor's views on why gold works as a defensive asset, and why it doesn't for others, each with their own sound reasons. As a generalisation, I find that investor's that value the downside protection and want to keep portfolios from generating severe short-term negative returns (they are often fund managers or financial advisors), they like to use gold. As well as those that just hold a bull case for gold, believing it's growth-like returns of the recent decades is going to continue. The investor's that don't use it usually shun it because of it's unproductive nature, not providing any cashflow, compounded by it's volatility in comparison to bonds (less stable or "guaranteed" in it's return), so retiree portfolios tend to hold less, as well as the early accumulators that want to get as much as possible into growth and productive assets.

            • @muwu: Good one. I bought nvdia in 2018 and I'm loving it

              • @Raj09: Diversify, my good man!

        • Oh and yea I almost forgot that I bought a house in 2019; seems pointless to buy one atm + the interest rate for savers is decent

          • @donman92: What seems pointless to buy?

            • @muwu: A house - for now since the prices seem overinflated since Covid ended.

              • @donman92: What value should they be now?

                What value will they be in 10 years?

        • -2

          I read all these related comments & replies with interest.

          May be perception-is-reality…those on the IN-side know what I'm referring to.
          eg if enough people believe in a concept & follows it, then it-becomes-reality.

          MICRO-level: it's fierce-competition & people compete to survive with some able to indulge SELF-interest.
          MACRO-level: it's ALL-engineered & supported mainly via confident/leaders…a game of hide & seek.
          Many-countries does the-same…the outcome is what we see all around us.
          Despite its facade (empty-on-the-inside), our livelihood & wealth depends on it…it's all-interconnected.

          If the truth is revealed, the whole-system WILL collapse, then we'll have anarchy…definately the worse-of-the-2-evil.

          Many people DON'T have a chance to look on the IN-side…may be ignorance-is-bliss.

          Curious-readers should explore the above. Your gain is to be able to explain why assets prices are relatively-high…& going even-higher. The truth is out-there.

      • Thats correct!

        But more like property that requires a large deposit

        Its the only reason you have savings of that magnitude

    • -6

      250k at 5.5% is $13750pa

      • +1

        The new rate is up to 5.5%:

        Tier 1 ($0 to $100,000) @ 5.5% = $5500pa
        Tier 2 ($100,000 to $250,000) @ 5% = $7500pa

        Total = $13000pa.

        • Except interest is calculated daily and paid monthly so annual interest will be more than this.

      • 100,000-250,000 is at 5.00%

    • +5

      Some more math.

      • For Balances up to $125k, the uBank tiered structure earns you more interest compared to AMP Saver.
      • At a Balance of $125k, uBank and AMP Saver would earn the same interest annually [breakeven point]: Annual Interest: $6,750.
      • For Balances > $125k, the AMP Saver earns you more than what uBank would.
    • +12

      Finally on par with ING?????
      Hardly dear OP!
      ING is way behind uBank.
      Always has been

      ING has too many hoops to jump as they are designed to make sure you do NOT qualify for thier high interest rate.
      And unlike uBank, ING's interest tops out at only $100K
      See here:

      ING's highest variable rate
      For customers who also have an Orange Everyday bank account and do these things each month:
      1. Deposit at least $1,000 from an external source to any personal ING account in their name (excluding Living Super and Orange One)
      2. Make 5 or more settled (not pending) eligible ING card purchases
      3. Grow their nominated Savings Maximiser balance (excluding interest earned for the current month).
      When the criteria is met in a calendar month, the benefits and additional variable rate will apply in the next calendar month. Available on one account for balances up to $100,000.

      And note with ubank they only require a $500 deposit.
      NOT an increase in your balance by $500.
      So you can withdraw as much as you like any month

      • +1

        I’d guess that ING might put up their rate slightly to counter but the hoops will still be present.

        • +1

          Don't forget ING still hasn't reached the year 2024 with app notifications when you receive salary, etc.

  • +2

    Rabobank have 5.75%. I assume the benefit of Up is that it's not an introductory rate for only a few months?
    https://www.rabobank.com.au/rates/personal-rates/

    • +1

      it's permanent, as long as you deposit $500 a month, previously $200.

      i switched to it from ING as my main bank.

      • it's permanent, as long as you deposit $500 a month

        Are you saying 5.75% is the rate paid every month i.e. not the 4-month honeymoon rate on their HISA account (assuming $500+ deposit from external source)?
        This is certainly not what is listed on the webpage linked above.

        • oh sorry im talking about ubank's. my bad.

      • -6

        I am happy to deposit $200 per month for 5% interest, but now increasing to $500 per month for the 5.5%, I don't think I will bother anymore.

        • +8

          you can just automate it to transfer to and from your other banks and it still activates it. Takes 2 minutes.

        • I think you can withdraw that again, it doesnt say the balance must increase by 500 every month.. so in a way its the same..

        • +7

          you could just cycle that same $200 in and out 3 times and satisfy the requirement

        • +3

          You can withdraw the $500 from UBank, and then send it back to UBank when it arrives in your external account. This will activate the bonus interest.

        • -4

          Bro, agree.
          We've recently become a single income family with a mortgage and a huge nappy bill.

          Are we saving $500 month? Sure. But sometimes, bills just conjunct and you don't have any cash that month.

          Sure, you can keep $500 aside perpetually - but as your point is, they're making the hoop pretty high to jump through. Miss one month of interest payments and you would have been better off at the big 4 getting 4.9%

          • +2

            @gfjh567gh3: If you have more than 500 in your ubank account, you can withdraw it to another account and send it straight back. No need to have new funds to put into Ubank each month.

            If you have less than 500 in ubank then there's not much point worrying about the < $2.29 interest per month.

            • -3

              @turbochris: Yes, thank you.
              You'd also have to ensure that you aren't allowing your balance to go over the 100k threshold and falling into the lower rate

              My concern about interest wasn't the amount on the $500, but if you don't meet the bonus conditions you lose out on the 5.5% on the whole 100k balance, which cancels out my balance sitting in a goalsaver CBA account that only needs $1 transferred to it monthly to get 4.9%

              edit: one other thing to watch out for, sometimes your bonus interest doesn't apply until the month AFTER you have met criteria (unsure if this applies with ubank, but i've been stung before)

              Thanks to all the ozbargainers giving tips on getting around the loopholes, it's a very helpful forum!

              • +2

                @gfjh567gh3: What on earth. You're talking about maintaining the account below $100k, but previous comment is saying $500 cash to move around is too big of a hoop? Make it make sense. It's one of the easiest hoops around, unlike ING

                • @MeesusEff: No, my original comment about producing $500 a month in savings every month was agreeing with the original commenter.

                  Others chimed in that you can shuffle the money around, which I accepted and thanked for the suggestion.

                  I added that the need to maintain below 100k is an extra administrative hassle to consider. I used to juggle HISAs and credit cards, the margins are thin and one stuff up means you end up behind or at the same place financially if you'd just stuck with a lower rate, no conditions product.

                  • @gfjh567gh3: my bad, yeah the $100k is annoying. I opened AMP just a few days ago since Ubank didnt announce the rates , but i might keep it open to dump the overflow. Went from having 1 bank account to now having 5/6, definitely need a cutdown

                    • @MeesusEff: Was the AMP account opening easy and all done online quickly and without troubles?

                      • +1

                        @Mad Max: Sure was easy enough to fill the application. But they don't give you a login, so I have to wait for it in the mail :/ yet they've emailed me saying they've sent me a message to my account which I cannot access. Guess I'll have to keep checking the mail before the rain gets to it ><

                        • @MeesusEff: Thank you.
                          Not so efficient and quick then.
                          And considering you need to transfer $1000 in the account before the end of the month to be eligible for high interest next month, it may be a bit late for this month?

                          • +1

                            @Mad Max: Still got 12 days, but since ubank announced the 5.5% rates I don't really have to use AMP until it reaches the first ceiling. Might just leave it there. Transfers don't really bother me as I just move it in and out and transfer it back to the one with the highest rate. Like ANZ have to transfer $2k just to keep the stupid transactional acc open for deposits and withdrawals

                          • @Mad Max: Still haven't received any mail for my login, definitely not quick..

                            • @MeesusEff: It does not inspire much trust…

                              • @Mad Max: I still haven't gotten it LOL. Guess I'll be giving them a call tomorrow otherwise I won't make the cutoff… Eating my words from the above comment haha

                                • @MeesusEff: 5.4% is appealing, but…..
                                  Keep us posted please.

    • +9

      This post is about ubank, not up. but Up are great as an everyday, their international stuff is seemless and transparent.

      I recently had a fraud they picked up on and dealing with it was brilliant.

      They must have pretty good fraud detection because I was recently overseas in 3 seperate countries but someone skimmed the card and used it in a 4th country I wasn't in and they were like "lol nope".

      • LOL. Thanks. I'd better pay closer attention next time 🙈

      • +3

        im going to just use wise overseas because you can keep your card frozen and just unfreeze when needed

        • You can do the same with Up

        • +10

          As an ozbargainer you should know that travel cards offer the worst possible exchange rates and also usually have fees for deposit or use or even both.

          • -6

            @gadgetguy: Used one last year from Commbank. The card itself was free and so were all the deposits. The exchange rate was better than any brick and mortar store overseas.

            Not sure where you're getting your information from.

            • +4

              @Viospeed:

              The exchange rate was better than any brick and mortar store overseas.

              But not better than using a local ATM with a card with international exchange rates (ie ubank being one example)

            • +3

              @Viospeed: Example, from the Commbank Travel Card page, the current conversion rate for AUD->USD "Get foreign cash" is 0.6347. The same rate applies to load currency to the card.

              The current MasterCard rate is 0.66 (rates checked as of this post).

              To unload unused USD back to AUD you get a rate of 0.6891.

              There is an ATM withdrawal fee of $3.50.

              With Ubank (or Macquarie) you'd get the Mastercard (or VISA - they re almost identical usually) conversion rate and no ATM fee from the bank.

            • +1

              @Viospeed:

              . The exchange rate was better than any brick and mortar store overseas.

              There are plenty of credit cards on the market with zero international fees. These have both a better rate, and the added benefit of holding the bank's money instead of yours. When the card is inevitably compromised, it's zero hassle compared to a debit card (which could have emptied your bank account…).

              If you're using travel cards or debit cards then you're doing it wrong.

              • +1

                @Nom:

                it's zero hassle compared to a debit card (which could have emptied your bank account…).

                Have $1k only in your spending account and only swap over as much as you need, when you need it. Simples.

                As well, like I said, Fraud detection.

        • As a frequent traveller, upbank's international experience is second to none. Just came back from Japan. Got excellent rates and no fees for ATMs.

          • @Asti: I am using hsbc atm, is upbank's exchange rate much better than hsbc?

            • +1

              @tetsuk: @tetsuk
              I don't know HSBCs rates, but if you've been overseas and used HSBC there you can check the following:

              1. OSG fees. Getting charged a percentage of your transaction. Sometimes a few percent. UP bank has no OSG fees.

              2. Bid Ask spread. This is usually how banks claim their markup. When you transact, the banks will exchange your money at a rate that's worse than the actual exchange rate. Up bank uses the WISE exchange rate which is the middle of the bid ask spread (i.e. the fair rate, the one you see reported in Google or the news)

              • @Asti: Probably worth checking Visa and Mastercard rates - used by many banks. Currently both are significatly better for GBP and USD than Wise.

              • @Asti: thanks I will open one and compare the rates

      • Just came back from OS after using UP. The exchange rates were amazing and app was perfect.

        10/10.

    • Not exactly correct with Rabo.

      The 5.75% is only an introductory rate on thier High Interest savings account for 4 months only.
      Rabo's ongoing rate is 4.40%

      Rabos premium saver offers an ongoing rate of 5.45% up to $250,000 with a minimum deposit / balance increase of $200/mth
      So the trick with Rabo is to start with the High Interest account then switch to thier premium saver after 4 months.

      But if you have less than $100K, uBank's 5.5% is still better as an ongoing offer - without the requirement to increase your balance every month

  • +1

    Finally they release the rates….. and off to another Bank I go.

    • How much cash you got

      • More in the 5.0% band than in 5.5%.

        I'm sure there's a break point where it's worth swapping to MEBank @5.55%

        • +2

          With MeBank, I notice that you need to deposit $2k monthly and increase the amount from previous months. We can withdraw $1999.99 once we deposit though. But we lost a bit of interest in between the transfer

          • @yht: Yeah that hoop fits pretty well into how we are saving for a house so it's non-existant for us.

            It is annoying that it's a single account, we use 5 different savings accounts to keep track of stuff.

          • @yht: It might be easier to just transfer the 2k in and out of the transaction account, no?

        • +3

          The ME Home product only pays that on the first 100k then it drops to 3% so real point would be like $101k

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

          • @6079 Smith: damn your right. UBank ING seems like the best since we already have ING accounts.

        • Tried to open an account with them 2 weeks ago. Couldn't verify my id online so went to Australia post to do it. Been waiting 10 days since and even called them and suffered the 45min wait time without success. Amateurs. Guess I'll be going elsewhere l.

          • @Spectatie: In the same boat, kinda. Second-ID mandatorily requires Driving License. Is there any other way? I called them up, they said Driving License is mandatory, although their website says only one ID required.

            • @djoz: @djoz the form you take to Australia post mentioned passport as well

        • The rates are literally better now for balances of $250k or under than they were before…

    • +1

      Which bank to next?

    • +6

      Yup, in the delay to tell us the rates and terms. Many of long since left…

      • +1

        Not hard to go back

      • -1

        So you jumped the gun instead of waiting.

    • I'm assuming you're making a cash deposit? Lemme go put that ski mask to use.

    • +8

      The rates are higher at every single amount than the current rates. Average of 5.2% at 250k and 5.5% at 100k compared to 5.1% now.

  • +14

    Colour me surprised.

    Decent increase for those in Tier 1.

    Still a very slight increase from the current rate of 5.1% even with max balance of 250k
    - Old rates: $12750/year with 250k at 5.1%
    - New rates: $13000/year with 250k across the two tiers

    Will be harder to compare to other accounts over time though.

  • +2

    Probably a FAQ: Can you split >100k balances between multiple accounts/subaccounts to achieve 5.5% across all? Or left to disperse savings across multiple different banks?

    • +7

      Nope. "Your combined savings balance (of all your Save accounts)".

      • +1

        Ofc, overlooked this written right in front me. Thank you

  • Any better offers other than uBank and ING?

    • +5

      AMP is 5.4% up to 250k.

      It's where I went after Ubank stubbornly refused to budge from 5.1% month after month.

      • +5

        Same… but i will be moving back some cash now.. FYI the UBANK app is sooooo much better than AMP app.

Login or Join to leave a comment