Methodology
How BankMate ranks and sources its data
Every number on this site can be traced to a source the provider itself publishes. This page sets out those sources, how often they refresh, how each list is ordered and what is deliberately left out.
Data sources by category
| Category | Source | Refresh |
|---|---|---|
| Savings accounts | Each bank's Consumer Data Right (CDR) product feed | Nightly |
| Credit cards | CDR product feeds, plus rewards-program variants and sign-up bonuses checked against the issuer's offer page | Nightly |
| Home loans | Each lender's CDR product feed | Nightly |
| Term deposits | Each bank's CDR product feed | Nightly |
| Personal loans | Each lender's CDR product feed | Nightly |
| Superannuation | APRA's Comprehensive Product Performance Package (CPPP) and MySuper heatmap data | Weekly check; APRA publishes quarterly |
| Share trading | Each broker's published pricing page, re-read on a schedule and verified in BankMate's admin tool | Scheduled scrape, reviewed before publishing |
| Crypto exchanges | Each exchange's published fee schedule, hand-curated and verified | Manual review |
| Electricity plans | The Australian Energy Regulator's Consumer Data Right feed: every generally available plan each retailer files for your postcode | Nightly |
| NBN plans | Each provider's plan pages, checked against the plan's Critical Information Summary | Re-read by hand; an offer drops off the day it ends |
| Gas plans | The Australian Energy Regulator's Consumer Data Right feed, the same one electricity plans come from | Nightly |
| Mobile plans | Each provider's plan pages, checked against the plan's Critical Information Summary | Re-read by hand; an offer drops off the day it ends |
| Health insurance | The Private Health Information Statements every insurer files with PrivateHealth.gov.au, published monthly on data.gov.au | Monthly |
| ETFs | The ASX's monthly Investment Products report | Monthly, when the ASX publishes |
What the Consumer Data Right gives us
Under Australia's Consumer Data Right, every bank must publish a machine-readable feed of its products with current rates, fees and eligibility conditions. BankMate reads those feeds directly rather than copying figures from marketing pages. Where a bank's feed is missing a field, an editor can pin a verified value so the nightly sync does not overwrite it; those fields are flagged internally and reviewed when the feed changes.
How each category is ranked
- Savings accounts
- Total rate (base plus bonus) assuming every monthly condition is met, then the interest that rate earns on your balance once you enter one. Announced upcoming rates replace the current rate on the day they take effect.
- Credit cards
- By the figure you choose to sort on: rewards earn rate, sign-up bonus, annual fee, purchase rate or balance-transfer period. Cards that carry several rewards programs appear once per program.
- Home loans
- Comparison rate (ASIC basis: $150,000 over 25 years including most fees), falling back to the advertised rate where a lender publishes none. Every variant of a loan is shown with its type, repayment basis and LVR band.
- Term deposits
- Interest rate per term, then interest at maturity on your deposit. Business, SMSF, broker and wholesale products are excluded.
- Personal loans
- Comparison rate, falling back to the advertised rate, with application, monthly and annual fees shown separately.
- Superannuation
- Net return over the longest published period, total fees on a $50,000 balance, and the APRA performance-test result. Options that failed or were not tested are hidden by default and can be shown with one switch.
- Share trading
- Modelled yearly cost for your trading pattern: brokerage at your trade size, FX spread on US trades at the ECB AUD/USD rate, and account or data fees. Leaderboards use a $5,000 reference trade so the ranking means the same thing for everyone.
- Crypto exchanges
- Modelled cost for how you buy: instant-buy fee, or maker and taker tiers at the 30-day volume your pattern implies, plus the deposit fee for how you pay. Instant-quote spreads are never sampled; where an exchange publishes no instant fee at all, an all-in estimate is shown and labelled as such.
- Electricity plans
- A year's bill for your home: the supply charge, usage priced by time window and season, controlled load and demand charges, GST, guaranteed discounts and solar feed-in worked out hour by hour. Plans sold only through partners, to members or to existing customers are not listed.
- NBN plans
- The price a month once any intro offer ends, and the first year with the intro months, setup and, if you need one, the provider's modem. Speed is the provider's typical evening (7pm to 11pm) figure on your connection.
- Gas plans
- A year's gas bill for your home: the daily supply charge and the price a megajoule, stepped and seasonal as filed, walked through the year at your use, with GST and guaranteed discounts. Plans sold only through partners, to members or to existing customers are not listed; a plan sold only with the retailer's electricity shows only if you'd move it too.
- Mobile plans
- The price a month once any intro offer ends, and the first year with it. A 28-day recharge counts 13 times a year and a plan paid a year up front is spread over 12 months. Port-in, bundle and members' offers are noted, never priced.
- Health insurance
- A year's cost for your household: the filed premium, less any age-based discount and the government rebate at your income and age, plus any Lifetime Health Cover loading, less what your extras would pay back on typical fees. Employer plans and funds open only to a group's members are not listed.
- ETFs
- Cost a year on your money: the management fee on your average balance, plus half the bid/ask spread on what you buy. Brokerage is your broker’s and is not counted. Past returns are shown, never used to pick the top three.
Matching, not advising
When you answer the short questionnaire, BankMate splits each list into products you appear to qualify for and products you don't, and says which condition you miss. The tests are the provider's own eligibility rules (age, balance, deposit or card-spend conditions) applied to what you told us. That is a factual filter, not a recommendation, and the full list is always one click away.
Dollar figures and rankings — interest on your balance, the cost of your trades, what a card earns on your spend — are worked out from the figures you enter. They aren't an assessment of whether a product suits you. BankMate isn't licensed to give financial product advice or credit assistance. Factual information and general comparison, not financial advice. BankMate doesn’t consider your objectives, financial situation or needs, and isn’t licensed to give advice. Read the provider’s PDS, target market determination or key facts sheet before deciding.
Commercial arrangements
Some “Go to site” links are referral links, and each says so beside its button. Ranking is never affected: lists are ordered by the published figure alone, and a product with a referral link sits exactly where it would without one — ties on the figure are not broken in its favour. BankMate records a sign-up offer only where it has a referral arrangement for it, so offers are shown with the product but never ranked or sorted on. BankMate does not sell placement, badges or “featured” spots.
Corrections
Every product carries a “report incorrect data” link. Reports go to a review queue where an editor checks the figure against the source and either corrects the record or pins it against the feed. Most corrections are live within a day. Read more about BankMate.