ING Savings Maximiser drops interest rate following RBA’s October rate cut
How does the ING Savings Maximiser compare now that it has cut its rate down to 1.95% p.a?
How does the ING Savings Maximiser compare now that it has cut its rate down to 1.95% p.a?ING has announced it is today dropping the maximum bonus interest rate on its highly-popular Savings Maximiser Account down from 2.20% p.a. to 1.95% p.a. The move comes after the RBA last week dropped the official cash rate down to just 0.75%, Australia's lowest cash rate on record.
ING's new 1.95% p.a. headline rate is made up of a standard variable rate of 0.25% p.a. and a bonus rate of 1.70% p.a. To earn the bonus interest rate, customers need to deposit at least $1,000 a month and make at least 5 card purchases from their linked ING Orange Everyday transaction account each month. If these conditions aren't met one month, customers will earn the standard rate that month.
How much difference will this make?
The cut from 2.20% p.a. to 1.95% p.a. doesn't seem too significant on its own. However, just 4 months ago ING was offering a competitive 2.80% p.a. on its Savings Maximiser account. Over the same 4 months, the RBA has slashed the cash rate by a total of 75 basis points, and ING has cut its savings rate by 85 basis points.
With a rate of 2.80% p.a., if you deposited $1,000 a month for 5 years you'd have $64,322.67 saved including $4,322.67 worth of interest (assuming the account conditions were met to earn the bonus interest). In comparison, with a rate of 1.95% p.a., you'd earn $2,968.74 in interest. If you were to deposit more than $1,000 a month, the difference in interest earned will be even greater.
How does ING compare: Savings account options
ING isn't the only bank to slash its savings rate following the RBA's three rate cuts this year. In fact, we've seen pretty much all the banks drop their savings rates. However, there are still some accounts offering savers up to 2.50% p.a. ongoing, which is very competitive in today's low-rate environment.
The MyState Bonus Saver Account offers 2.50% p.a. each month that customers deposit at least $20 and make 5 or more Visa Debit card transactions from a linked MyState transaction account in the month. If you don't meet these conditions, you'll earn the standard variable rate of 0.80% p.a.
The ME Online Saver Account offers customers a maximum bonus rate of 2.20% p.a. each month. To earn this rate, you need to link the account to a ME Everyday Transaction account and make at least four tap and go purchases a month with your Debit Mastercard.
Two new digital banks, Up Bank and 86 400, are also both offering bonus interest up to 2.50% p.a. on their savings accounts.
The RAMS saver offers 2.25% p.a. when you deposit $200 a month and make no withdrawals from the account.
Before you decide to switch savings accounts, it's important to check what the conditions are to earn the bonus interest to make sure you can achieve this. If you can't meet the account conditions, you could end up earning even less interest as you'll earn the standard variable rate only.
Rates mentioned are correct at time of publication.
Latest headlines
- 4 migrants give their must-do tips for moving to Australia
- Taking out an Australian mortgage for the first time? Here are our top tips
- 5 must-know tips if you’re thinking about moving abroad
- 5 things you need to do if you’ve just moved to Australia
- Savings account or term deposit? Things to consider for 2023
