Compare savings accounts bywhat they'd pay you, interest a year, what the bonus asks, the base rate, the intro rate or the balance cap.what they'd pay you.interest a year.what the bonus asks.the base rate.the intro rate.the balance cap.

It changes as banks move their rates, and the highest advertised rates usually come with monthly conditions, a balance cap or an age limit. The savings leaderboard ranks the accounts BankMate lists from 60+ banks by total rate, each with what it asks, and the monthly Savings report shows the highest and average rate month by month. Rates are read from the banks' Open Banking feeds each night.

A savings rate is for a whole year. At 4.50% a year, $10,000 earns $450 in a year, or about $459 if the interest is paid monthly and left in to compound. That is before tax, and assumes the rate holds and any bonus conditions are met every month. With a balance entered, the compare page ranks each account on what it would pay on that balance, counting any cap above which its rate drops.

Most Australian savings accounts work out interest on each day's balance and pay the total once a month. Once paid, the interest is part of the balance and earns interest too, which is called compounding. On an account with bonus interest, the bonus for a month is paid only if that month's conditions were met.

Many accounts pay a low base rate plus a bonus rate, and the advertised rate is the two added together. The bonus is paid only in a month when the account's conditions are met, such as a minimum deposit, a number of card purchases, no withdrawals or a balance that grows. In a month they aren't met, the account pays the base rate alone.

It depends on the account. Some ask for a set deposit each month; others ask for card purchases, a balance that grows, few or no withdrawals, or several of these together. Some pay their full rate with nothing to do. Each account on BankMate lists its own conditions, and the compare page shows which ones your answers meet.

Accounts with no monthly conditions pay their rate whatever happens in the account each month. BankMate's "No monthly conditions" leaderboard ranks them by rate, leaving out accounts only for under-18s or a narrow age band. Each shows the balance it pays its rate up to, and some stop at a few thousand dollars.

A higher rate paid to new customers for the first few months, after which the account pays its ongoing rate. A 5.50% rate for four months followed by 4.00% works out to about 4.50% over the year. BankMate shows the intro rate and how long it lasts beside the ongoing rate, and the "New-customer rates" leaderboard ranks them.

Many accounts pay their top rate only up to a balance cap, such as $50,000, and less above it. On $100,000 in an account capped at $50,000, the second $50,000 earns the lower rate. BankMate's savings split calculator works out which accounts, and how much in each, would pay the most interest on a balance, and lists what each one asks every month.

Deposits with an authorised deposit-taking institution (ADI), which is a bank, credit union or building society licensed by APRA, online-only banks included, are covered by the Financial Claims Scheme up to $250,000 per person per ADI. All of a person's deposits with one ADI count towards that limit together, and brands that share one banking licence count as one ADI. APRA's register lists every ADI.