The Economy’s Cooked, So Here’s Best Savings Accounts for Aussie Students

This article does not constitute personal financial advice. Before acting on any information in this article, you should consider your money goals and financial situation to ensure it’s appropriate to you.

If you’ve been paying attention to the news recently, you might have heard something about the “cash rate”.

Despite economic terms being gibberish to a lot of people (myself included), the recent changes in the cash rate are pretty important.

Basically, the cash rate is the rate of interest the Reserve Bank (Australia’s central bank) charges to other banks to borrow money.

When the cash rate is changed, it has a knock-on effect to all other interest rates, including mortgages and deposit rates.

And today, the cash rate was raised to its highest level in 11 years.

The rate’s now 4.1 per cent, and it’s the 12^th rate rise in the past year.

A high cash rate essentially means if you’ve got a better chance of collecting more money on interest in a savings account.

Our mates at Equity Mates recently broke down the top five savings accounts in Australia right now, and here’s their breakdown.

So, here’s our top five savings accounts for students as of June 2023, and we’ve included the criteria you need to meet to maximise your money.

Virgin Money Boost Saver – 5.10%.

Starting us off is the Virgin Money Boost Saver, which is offering a 5.1 per cent maximum interest rates. A few years ago, it was extremely rare to see any account with interest above 5 per cent so we’re starting off well here.

To access an interest rate of 4.8 per cent you need to meet the criteria below every month:

Deposit at least $1000 or more from another financial institution (i.e. your salary).
Make at least five purchases on your Virgin Money Go Account.

If you’re aged 14 to 17, don’t worry about the above – you don’t need to meet any of the monthly criteria.

But if you’re after the 5.1 per cent you’ll need to activate the Lock Saver Feature, which stops you from withdrawing from your savings at any time.

Rabobank High Interest Savings – 5.15%.

Coming up next on the list it’s Rabobank’s High Interest Savings Account, which will net you a cool 5.15 per cent interest rate.

The standard rate for this account is down at 4 per cent, but Rabobank is offering a maximum rate of 5.15 per cent for the first four months of your account.

If you’re looking to save quickly, this is the one to go for.

Great Southern Bank Youth eSaver – 5.25%.

This one’s for the young folk.

The Great Southern Bank Youth eSaver is a savings account restricted to Aussies aged 0-17.

If you’re under 18 and looking to save for your adult life, this is the one to go for.

For accounts with less than $5000, you’ll get a massive yearly rate of 5.25 per cent.

The only catch? You’ll need to be an Australian citizen, and under 10s can only get an account with the authorisation of a parent or guardian.

ING Savings Maximiser – 5.25%.

This is one of the most popular savings accounts in Australia, and for good reason.

ING’s Savings Maximiser offers an enormous 5.25 per cent maximum rate per annum.

Like the Virgin Money account above, you’ll need to meet two criteria points every month to access the max rate.

Deposit $1000 from an external source into any personal ING account with your name.
Make five or more settled ING purchases.

BOQ Future Saver – 5.30%.

At the top of the banking mountain, it’s Bank of Queensland.

With their Future Saver account, you can qualify for a whopping 5.3 per cent interest rate on any account with $50,000 or less.

If you’re 14-17, you won’t need to meet any of the below criteria to reach the max rate, but over-18s, you’ll need to meet a couple of terms first.

Deposit at least $1000 a month from an external source.
Make at least five eligible transactions a month.