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New highest ongoing savings rate hits 5.30%, but it’s not for everyone

New highest ongoing savings rate hits 5.30%, but it’s not for everyone

10 May, 2023 - 3 min read

Bank of Queensland has today announced it will increase the maximum rate on its Future Saver by 0.15 percentage points to 5.30 per cent, effective Friday.

This will be the new highest ongoing savings rate, excluding kids accounts, despite the fact Bank of Queensland has only passed on part of the hike.

However, the rate is exclusive to customers aged 14 to 35 years with a Future Saver account on balances up to $50,000.

The group is also increasing the maximum rate on Virgin Money’s Boost Saver to 5.10 per cent, provided customers meet the monthly conditions including providing 32 days’ notice to access money.

BOQ and Virgin Money savings rate changes: effective 12 May

Account	Old max rate	New max rate	Change	Conditions for max rate
BOQ Future Saver (14-35)	5.15%	5.30%	+0.15%	Up to $50k. Deposit $1k+ into linked transaction account and make 5+ purchases per month. Waived when under 18yrs.
Virgin Boost Saver	4.85%	5.10%	+0.25%	Up to $50k. Deposit $1k+ into linked transaction account and make 5+ purchases per month. Waived when under 18yrs. Provide 32 days+ notice to access funds.

Source: RateCity.com.au. Notes: terms and conditions apply for max rate on both accounts.

This rate hike could see more savings rates climb over 5 per cent

RateCity.com.au database shows seven banks currently have ongoing rates of 5 per cent or more, including ING, MOVE Bank and Virgin Money for all adults, and BOQ and Westpac for young adults (excludes kids accounts).

Highest ongoing savings rates on RateCity.com.au (post May-RBA hike)

All adults	Max rate	Balance for max rate
ING Savings Maximiser	5.25%	$100,000
Virgin Money Boost Saver	5.10%	$250,000
MOVE Bank Growth Saver	5.00%*	$25,000
BOQ Smart Saver	4.85%	$250,000
AMP Bank Saver	4.80%*	$250,000
Young adults	Max rate	Balance for max rate
BOQ Future Saver (14-35)	5.30%	$50,000
Westpac Spend&Save (18-29)	5.00%	$30,000
Police Bank U30 Super Charge (18-29)	5.00%*	$10,000
Great Southern Bank Goal Saver (18-24)	4.85%*	$50,000

Source: RateCity.com.au. Monthly conditions apply for max rate. Excludes kids savings accounts.

*Note bank is yet to announce its May RBA hike.

However, not all banks are passing on full hikes to their savings customers. RateCity.com.au’s database shows:

43 banks’ highest savings rates for all adults are still below the current cash rate of 3.85%.
Just 28 banks have passed on the full 3.75%-point RBA hikes (or more) to at least one savings account.

RateCity.com.au research director, Sally Tindall, said: “More banks are breaking the 5 per cent barrier on at least one of their savings accounts, which is fantastic to see.”

“While it’s disappointing Bank of Queensland didn’t pass on the full 0.25 percentage points, anyone with this account will be pretty stoked they are on the highest rate available to them,” she said.

“It’s encouraging to see seven banks now offering savings rates starting with a ‘5’, it’s been a long time since we could say that.

“If you’ve got money in a bank account that’s earning a rate less than 5 per cent, vote with your feet and switch to a bank willing to reward with a higher rate,” she said.

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Product database updated 23 Dec, 2024

This article was reviewed by Research Director Sally Tindall before it was published as part of RateCity's Fact Check process.

Laine Gordon

Money Editor

Laine Gordon is the Money Editor at RateCity and an experienced journalist and research specialist. With a background in news and feature writing, covering finance, media and even food (a passion of hers) at Reed Elsevier publications, Laine brings almost two decades of experience to the team. Having covered major areas of interest to the general public from hip pocket issues to rising and falling interest rates and the impact to mortgages, credit and saving in Australia, she is passionate about researching and telling people’s stories to help others make better decisions about their own finances.