Shop around for bank savings rates. Here are the best

October 17, 2026 — 5:00am

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Remember when savings accounts were pretty straightforward? If they were online, the interest rate was usually higher? That’s not so any more.

While you can still get unconditional love from some, often the best rates come with catches. Play them wrong and, instead of a high headline rate, it can drop to pathetic.

But, as interest rates are officially up, let’s look at which accounts you can get a better return on your savings, if you know how to avoid the traps.

Where you can get unconditional love

Straightforward, old-school online savings accounts still exist, but their interest rates are far from exciting. The highest rate you can get on an old-school account, after four rate rises this year, is 5.5 per cent, according to Canstar’s analysis for this piece.

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Victoria DevineMoney columnist

Both AMP bank, on its Go Save account, and Teachers Mutual Bank, on its Starter Saver, feature this rate. You can access better interest if you’re aged 15 to 35 with Bank First’s Strong Start Saver, where the rate is 5.65 per cent. Targeting the child/youth market with enticing “anytime” rates is an emerging trend in an era where there is concerted clawback on paying unconditional savings rates. Another shift is the accounts that require you to do a bit of a performance for them to pay you.

Jump through hoops to........

© The Age