How Often Do Savings Account Rates Change in Australia?

If you've ever checked your savings account rate only to find it's different from what you saw last month, you're not imagining things. Australian savings account rates can — and do — change frequently. How often, and why, depends on several forces that operate on different timescales.

The RBA Sets the Floor, Not the Rate

The Reserve Bank of Australia sets the cash rate, which is the overnight lending rate between banks. This is the primary lever that drives movements across all savings products in Australia.

When the RBA raises the cash rate, banks typically pass on at least part of that increase to savings accounts — though they're under no legal obligation to pass on the full amount, and the timing varies. When the RBA cuts the cash rate, banks usually reduce savings rates quickly, often within days.

The RBA now meets eight times per year (since reducing from eleven in 2024). Each meeting is a potential rate change event. Most major banks update their savings rates within one to five business days of an RBA decision.

Base Rates vs Bonus Rates — They Move Independently

This is the part most people miss. A savings account typically has two components: a base rate (what you earn with no conditions) and a bonus rate (what you earn when you meet the monthly requirements — usually a minimum deposit and/or no withdrawals).

Banks can change either component at any time, independently of each other. A bank might:

Pass on an RBA cut in full to the base rate, while holding the bonus rate steady
Raise the bonus rate to attract new customers, while keeping the base rate flat
Quietly lower the base rate mid-year to improve margins without touching the headline number

The headline rate advertised is usually the base + bonus combined. The base rate on many high-interest accounts is surprisingly low — often 0.5% to 1.5% — and the bonus rate does most of the work. When banks cut, the base rate is often the first to go.

Introductory Rates Expire on a Fixed Schedule

Some accounts offer an introductory (honeymoon) rate for new customers — a higher rate that applies for a fixed period, typically three to six months, then drops to the standard bonus rate.

This isn't a rate change in the usual sense: it was always going to happen, it's written into the product terms, and it happens regardless of what the RBA does. But it functions like a rate cut to the customer on the day it expires. If you opened a MOVE Bank or ING account for the intro rate and haven't reviewed it since, check the current rate — the honeymoon may have ended.

Competitive Pressure Between Banks

Banks also change savings rates in response to each other, not just the RBA. When one major challenger raises their rate to attract deposits, others sometimes follow within days.

This competitive dynamic is most visible in the online-only banks — ubank, MOVE Bank, ING, Macquarie — which compete more aggressively on deposit rates than the Big Four. The Big Four (ANZ, CBA, NAB, Westpac) typically lag the challengers on rate and often move less frequently.

How Often Is “Often”?

In a stable rate environment — no RBA changes, low competition — a savings account rate might stay the same for three to six months. In an active cycle (RBA cutting or raising multiple times a year), major accounts can change every four to eight weeks.

During the RBA's rate-rising cycle from 2022 to 2023, some banks updated savings rates more than a dozen times in twelve months. As the RBA shifts to cutting mode in 2025 and 2026, the same banks are cutting deposit rates at a similar pace.

What This Means for You

Checking your savings rate once a year is not enough. Banks are not required to notify you when they change your rate — they'll update the product disclosure statement and their website, but it's up to you to notice.

A practical approach: check your rate every time the RBA meets (eight times a year), and any time you see headlines about a bank raising or cutting savings rates. If your current rate has slipped more than 0.25% behind the best available rate on a balance of $20,000 or more, the paperwork to switch is usually worth it.

This is general information, not financial advice.