Nearly half of NAB savers missing out on top returns
NAB has revealed 46% of its Reward Saver customers with a balance higher than $10 did not receive the top interest rate, while other major banks have been less transparent.
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- NAB has revealed almost half of its customers with more than $10 in a Reward Saver account do not earn the top interest rate.
- The other major banks haven't revealed equivalent numbers - context suggests it would be similar.
- Despite criticism, the banks say the more important metric is the % of customer balances that earn interest, currently around 85% on the CBA GoalSaver and NAB's Reward Saver.
- Banks also warn banning conditional rate products could reduce competition in the savings account market.
There's fresh scrutiny on bonus rate savings accounts as some of the big banks admit a hefty proportion of customers are missing out on the top returns.
Responding to questions from the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Economics, NAB revealed from May to October last year only 53-54% of customers with more than $10 in their Reward Saver account earned the full bonus rate.
Commonwealth Bank didn't give an equivalent figure, but said over 85% of the balances in GoalSaver accounts earned the top rate in Q4 last year, roughly the same as on the Reward Saver.
Westpac meanwhile revealed the average rate earned by customers is 3.69% p.a. on Westpac Life, compared to a top rate of 4.25% p.a., while ANZ didn't publicly release any such statistics.
Given there's currently more than $1.6 trillion in household deposits per APRA, if these figures are indicative of all Australian banks the amount of lost annual income could be in the hundreds of millions.
NAB CEO Andrew Irvine said last year that the rate of balances that receive the top rate, not the number of customers, should be the most relevant metric.
"If we had a product where 40% or 50% of [balances] were getting that bonus interest, we would have looked at that...it would have been fixed," he told the committee in November last year.
However, Macquarie Bank Head of Payments & Deposits Olivia McArdle says "a lot of Australians" are struggling to meet these bonus conditions.
"Its been pretty clear for a number of years that a lot of Australians are struggling to navigate the increasingly complex conditions attached to many savings accounts," she told Savings.com.au.
"Customers fed up with conditions should look around for alternatives. Savings shouldn't be hard work."
Aaron Violi, Shadow Assistant Minister for Communications, says there's a "clear issue" with the hurdles that banks are putting in place before customers can earn the top interest rate.
"I want to see over 90% of customers with high interest accounts receive the bonus interest they sign up for," Mr Violi said.
Olivia McArdle, Head of Deposits & Payments at Macquarie Bank
Are banks transparent enough?
All four big banks gave examples of how they remind customers of what needs to happen so they can earn the top rate.
Customers generally receive in-app notifications if they are making a withdrawal that may affect their bonus conditions - the GoalSaver, Westpac Life, Reward Saver, and ANZ Progress Saver require customers to either grow their balance each month or make no withdrawals.
NAB says it also emails customers the month after missing out on the bonus rate, reminding them of the bonus conditions.
An ACCC inquiry in 2023 recommended banks improve transparency on bonus interest rate products.
"It is important for consumers to be supported by clearer communication and information...so they can receive the full value out of the products they are using," ACCC Chair Gina Cass-Gottlieb said at the time.
Banning bonus rates could 'reduce competition'
The major banks maintain bonus rate products help incentivise customers to grow their savings, as well as improve flexibility for the banks to manage funding costs and risk.
In its response to the questions from the committee, Commonwealth Bank said a ban on conditional-interest products would have many implications for both banks and customers.
"Such a change would likely:
• reduce the range of savings products available for customers;
• potentially result in lower interest rate earnings for some customers;
• potentially reduce competition and innovation in the retail deposit
market; and
• require substantial redesign of existing products."Commonwealth Bank responses to questions arising from public hearing of 18 November 2025
What banks offer unconditional savings account rates?
While most of the major banks have bonus conditions on their top rate savings account products, there are still a few products with unconditional rates above 4%.
The AMP Bank Go Save currently returns 4.25% p.a. with no conditions, also the same ongoing rate available on the Macquarie Bank Savings Account.
"We've never had conditions on our savings accounts," Ms McArdle told Savings.com.au.
Those products currently offer the highest unconditional rates in the Savings.com.au database.
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| Bank | Savings Account | Base Interest Rate | Max Interest Rate | Total Interest Earned | Introductory Term | Minimum Amount | Maximum Amount | Linked Account Required | Minimum Monthly Deposit | Minimum Opening Deposit | Account Keeping Fee | ATM Access | Joint Application | Tags | Features | Link | Compare | Promoted Product | Disclosure |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
0.05% p.a. Bonus rate of 5.30% Rate varies on savings amount. | 5.35% p.a. | $1,097 | – | $0 | $249,999 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Promoted | Disclosure | ||||||||
2.25% p.a. Bonus rate of 3.15% Rate varies on savings amount. | 6.00% p.a. Intro rate for 4 months then 5.40% p.a. | $1,134 | 4 months | $0 | $499,999 | $0 | $0 | $0 | Promoted | Disclosure | |||||||||
4.00% p.a. | 5.90% p.a. Intro rate for 4 months then 4.00% p.a. | $936 | 4 months | $0 | $249,999 | $0 | $1 | $0 | Disclosure |
