Best High Interest Savings Accounts Australia 2026: Top Rates Compared

Best High Interest Savings Accounts in Australia — July 2026

Savings account rates in Australia are currently among the most competitive in over a decade, thanks to a sustained RBA hiking cycle. The top ongoing rate with no conditions sits at 5.10% p.a., while introductory and bonus rates push as high as 5.90% p.a.

This guide compares the top accounts available in July 2026, explains how bonus rates work, and gives you direct links to open each account today.

Note: Interest rates are variable and change frequently. Always verify the current rate on the bank's official website before opening an account.

Quick Comparison: Top 8 Accounts (July 2026)

Bank	Account	Max Rate	Ongoing Rate	Conditions	Balance Cap
Rabobank	High Interest Savings	5.90% (4-mth intro)	4.00%	None	$250,000
Ubank	Save	5.85% (4-mth welcome)	5.10%	Grow balance by $1/month	$1,000,000
Bankwest	Easy Saver	5.75% (4-mth intro)	5.00%	None (intro for new accounts)	Unlimited
Westpac	Life	5.75%	5.75%	20+ card purchases/month; age 18–40 only	$150,000
MyState Bank	Hello Saver	5.40% (4-mth intro)	5.00%	None (intro for new accounts)	Unlimited
Macquarie	Savings Account	5.35% (4-mth intro)	5.00%	None	$2,000,000
ING	Savings Maximiser	5.50%	5.50%	Deposit $1,000 + 5 card purchases + grow balance	$100,000
AMP Bank	GO Save	5.10%	5.10%	None	$500,000

Account-by-Account Guide

1. Rabobank High Interest Savings Account — 5.90% p.a. (intro)

Rabobank's HISA is the highest introductory rate available in Australia right now. The rate structure is:

Intro rate: 5.90% p.a. for the first 4 months (new customers only)
Ongoing rate: 4.00% p.a.
Balance cap: Up to $250,000 earns the intro rate
Conditions: None — no monthly deposit requirement, no withdrawal restrictions
Fees: None
FCS protected: Yes (up to $250,000)

Best for: Savers wanting the highest possible short-term return with no strings attached. Ideal for parking a lump sum for 4 months, then reassessing.

Trap to watch: The ongoing rate of 4.00% drops well below competitors when the honeymoon ends. Set a calendar reminder at month 3 to review and switch if needed.

Open a Rabobank High Interest Savings Account

2. Ubank Save — 5.85% p.a. (welcome rate), 5.10% ongoing

Ubank is a digital bank owned by NAB. Its Save account stands out because the ongoing rate is genuinely competitive (5.10%) and the condition to earn it is simple — just grow your combined Save balance by $1 or more per month.

Welcome rate: 5.85% p.a. for 4 months (new customers who haven't held a Ubank product in 24 months)
Ongoing rate: 5.10% p.a.
Balance cap: Up to $1,000,000 earns the bonus rate — the highest cap of any account on this list
Condition to earn bonus: Combined balance across all Save accounts must grow by at least $1 by 11:30pm on the last day of the month
Fees: None
FCS protected: Yes

Best for: Savers who want a high ongoing rate with a simple, easy-to-meet condition. The $1M balance cap means it works for large savers too.

Open a Ubank Save Account

3. Bankwest Easy Saver — 5.75% p.a. (intro), 5.00% ongoing

Bankwest (owned by CBA) offers one of the cleanest introductory rate structures: no conditions during the intro period, and a solid 5.00% ongoing rate with no conditions thereafter either.

Intro rate: 5.75% p.a. for 4 months (new accounts only)
Ongoing rate: 5.00% p.a.
Balance cap: Unlimited
Conditions: None during intro or ongoing period
Fees: None

Best for: Savers who want simplicity — no conditions to track during or after the intro period.

Open a Bankwest Easy Saver Account

4. Westpac Life — 5.75% p.a. (ongoing, age 18–40 only)

Westpac's Life account offers the highest ongoing rate for eligible customers, but comes with meaningful restrictions.

Rate: 5.75% p.a. (bonus rate)
Age requirement: 18–40 years old
Balance cap: Up to $150,000 earns the bonus rate; $30,000 for under-30s on some variants
Conditions to earn bonus rate: Deposit any amount each month + grow the balance + make 20 or more settled debit card purchases monthly
Base rate: 0.10% p.a. (if conditions are missed)
Fees: None on the Life account; requires a Westpac Choice everyday account

Best for: Younger Australians who already use Westpac as their main bank and naturally make 20+ card transactions per month.

Trap to watch: The 20 card transaction requirement is the highest condition of any account on this list. Miss it in any month and you drop from 5.75% to 0.10% — an enormous gap.

Open a Westpac Life Account

5. Macquarie Savings Account — 5.35% p.a. (intro), 5.00% ongoing

Macquarie has built its savings account product around one simple proposition: no conditions, ever. You do not need to deposit a minimum amount, grow your balance, or make card transactions to earn the full rate.

Intro rate: 5.35% p.a. for the first 4 months (new customers)
Ongoing rate: 5.00% p.a.
Balance cap: Up to $2,000,000 — the highest of any account on this list
Conditions: None
Fees: None
Requires: A Macquarie Transaction Account (free to open)
FCS protected: Yes

Best for: Savers who have large balances ($250,000+), want zero hassle, and are happy to take a slightly lower rate in exchange for simplicity. Also ideal for anyone who travels frequently or has irregular cash flow that makes monthly conditions hard to meet.

Open a Macquarie Savings Account

6. ING Savings Maximiser — 5.50% p.a. (with conditions)

ING's Savings Maximiser is one of Australia's most popular savings accounts. The rate is competitive but the conditions are the most demanding of any account on this list.

Total rate: 5.50% p.a. (base + bonus)
Balance cap: Up to $100,000 earns the bonus rate
Conditions to earn bonus rate every month:
1. Deposit at least $1,000 from an external source (any ING account qualifies)
2. Make at least 5 settled ING card purchases
3. Grow your nominated Savings Maximiser balance (excluding interest)
If conditions are missed: Rate drops to the base rate (very low — around 0.55%)
Fees: None on the Savings Maximiser; requires an Orange Everyday account (no ongoing fee)
FCS protected: Yes

Best for: Australians who already bank with ING and naturally meet the conditions through normal spending. The $1,000 deposit requirement is easily met by having your salary paid into your ING account.

Open an ING Savings Maximiser

7. MyState Bank Hello Saver — 5.40% p.a. (intro), 5.00% ongoing

MyState Bank is a Tasmanian-based mutual bank with a competitive online savings product.

Intro rate: 5.40% p.a. for 4 months (new customers)
Ongoing rate: 5.00% p.a.
Conditions: None
Fees: None
FCS protected: Yes

Open a MyState Bank Hello Saver Account

8. AMP Bank GO Save — 5.10% p.a. (no conditions, ongoing)

AMP Bank's GO Save is the best no-conditions ongoing rate in Australia right now. No introductory period, no tricks — 5.10% p.a. on every dollar, every month, regardless of what you deposit or spend.

Ongoing rate: 5.10% p.a.
Balance cap: Up to $500,000
Conditions: None — no monthly deposit requirement, no transaction conditions
Fees: None
FCS protected: Yes

Best for: Savers who want a truly set-and-forget account with no risk of dropping to a base rate. Also a strong choice for irregular savers who can't reliably meet monthly conditions.

Open an AMP Bank GO Save Account

Understanding Base Rate vs Bonus Rate

Most high-interest savings accounts in Australia advertise a total rate made up of two components:

Base rate: What you earn regardless of whether conditions are met. Often very low — sometimes 0.01% to 1%.
Bonus rate: An additional rate paid on top when you meet monthly conditions.

The total (base + bonus) is what's advertised. But miss the conditions in any month, and you only earn the base rate.

Example: An account with 0.50% base rate and a 5.00% bonus rate advertises a total of 5.50%. If you miss the conditions for one month out of twelve, your effective annual rate is roughly 5.13% — not 5.50%.

The more months you miss, the bigger the gap between what's advertised and what you actually earn.

What Conditions Are Common?

Condition	Common threshold	Accounts that use it
Monthly deposit	$200–$1,000/month	ING, Judo Bank, many others
Grow your balance	$1+ or net positive	Ubank, Westpac Life, Suncorp
Card purchases	5–20 per month	ING (5), Westpac Life (20)
No withdrawals	0 or 1 per month	Suncorp, some credit unions
Age restriction	18–40 (Westpac Life)	Westpac Life
Linked account	Transaction account required	ING (Orange Everyday), Macquarie (Transaction)

Conditions reset each calendar month. Missing one month doesn't affect the next — you can earn the bonus rate the following month as long as you meet conditions again.

Tax on Savings Interest

Interest earned on savings accounts is taxable income in Australia. Your bank reports interest to the ATO, and it's included in your assessable income for the financial year.

At a 32.5% marginal rate plus the 2% Medicare Levy (34.5% total), a 5.00% savings rate nets you only 3.28% after tax. At the top marginal rate (47% including Medicare Levy), a 5.00% return becomes 2.65% after tax.

Gross rate	After tax at 34.5% (income ~$45K–$135K)	After tax at 47% (income $190K+)
5.90%	3.86%	3.13%
5.50%	3.60%	2.92%
5.10%	3.34%	2.70%
4.00%	2.62%	2.12%

Use our Term Deposit Calculator to model the exact interest you'd earn on a set balance over a fixed period.

Savings Account vs Term Deposit vs Offset Account

High-interest savings account — Best for money you may need access to within the next year. Fully flexible and pays competitive rates, but bonus conditions add ongoing admin.

Term deposit — Lock in a fixed rate for a set term (3 months to 5 years). No conditions, no fluctuations — but your money is inaccessible without penalty until the term ends. Best when you won't need the funds and want rate certainty.

Offset account — If you have a variable home loan, an offset account almost always wins. Every dollar in offset reduces the loan balance used to calculate interest. On a 6.5% mortgage, holding $30,000 in offset saves $1,950/year in interest — a guaranteed after-tax return equivalent to 6.5%, with no conditions and no tax to pay (it's a cost reduction, not income).

Rule of thumb: Mortgage holders should use offset first. Savings accounts are for money beyond your offset capacity, or for people without a home loan.

How the RBA Cash Rate Affects Your Savings

The RBA cash rate is the benchmark that underpins savings account rates. When the RBA raises the cash rate, bank funding costs rise and savings rates typically follow — though banks tend to lift savings rates more slowly than mortgage rates.

As of July 2026, the RBA cash rate has stabilised after a sustained hiking cycle. Savings rates are at historically attractive levels. If the RBA begins cutting rates, expect savings rates to fall quickly — banks lower deposit rates faster than they reduce mortgage rates.

If you expect rate cuts, consider locking in a term deposit now to protect your return. Use the Term Deposit Calculator to compare fixed-term returns vs an at-call savings account.

Tips to Maximise Your Savings Rate

Automate the deposit condition. Set up an automatic transfer on payday so the monthly deposit condition is met without thinking about it. Most banks count transfers from external accounts, so your pay going into one account and an auto-transfer to savings covers most conditions.

Keep transaction accounts separate. Don't use your savings account for spending. Withdrawals can break the "grow your balance" condition and trigger the base rate for the entire month.

Treat honeymoon rates as a short-term strategy. Introductory rates are excellent for 4 months. Set a calendar alert at month 3 to review whether you should switch to a better ongoing rate elsewhere.

Hold multiple accounts. The $250,000 FCS guarantee is per institution per account holder. For balances above $250,000, spread across two or more ADIs to maximise protection. Macquarie and AMP Bank both allow large balances without losing the competitive rate.

Don't ignore your super. Your super balance earns a long-term average return significantly higher than a savings account. If you're holding large amounts of cash "just in case," review whether some of it should be invested for long-term wealth.

Are Your Deposits Safe?

All banks, credit unions, and building societies that hold an APRA licence (authorised deposit-taking institutions, or ADIs) are covered by the Australian Government's Financial Claims Scheme (FCS). The FCS guarantees deposits up to $250,000 per account holder per ADI if the institution fails.

Every account on this list is held at an APRA-licensed ADI. If you hold more than $250,000 in savings, spread it across multiple institutions to maximise protection.

FAQ

Can I open more than one savings account?

Yes. You can open accounts at as many banks as you like. Many Australians hold 2–3 accounts to take advantage of introductory rates at different banks, or to stay within the $250,000 FCS limit per institution.

What happens if I miss the bonus conditions one month?

You earn only the base rate for that month — sometimes as low as 0.01%. Conditions reset each calendar month, so you can return to the full bonus rate the following month. Missing one month in a year has a small impact on your total return; missing several months significantly reduces what you actually earn.

Can I open a savings account online?

Yes. Every account on this list can be opened entirely online, usually in under 10 minutes with a valid ID (passport or driver's licence) and your tax file number (TFN).

Do I need to provide my TFN?

You're not legally required to provide your TFN, but if you don't, your bank must withhold tax on interest at the top marginal rate (47%). Providing your TFN means the correct tax is withheld at your actual marginal rate.

What's the difference between a savings account and a term deposit?

A savings account is at-call — you can deposit and withdraw at any time. A term deposit locks your money away for a fixed period (e.g. 3 months to 5 years) at a fixed rate. Term deposits suit money you know you won't need. Use our Term Deposit Calculator to compare.

Should I use a savings account or pay extra on my mortgage?

If your mortgage rate is higher than your after-tax savings return, additional mortgage repayments (or an offset account) win financially. At a 6.5% mortgage rate vs a 3.34% after-tax savings return (5.10% at 34.5% tax), the maths heavily favours your mortgage.

What is the RBA cash rate currently?

As of July 2026, the RBA cash rate has stabilised following a period of hikes. Check the RBA website for the latest rate decision.

This article is for general information only and does not constitute financial, tax or legal advice. Individual circumstances vary. Consult a registered tax agent or licensed financial adviser before making decisions based on this information.