Fact checked
Formerly known as Credit Union Australia (CUA), the member-owned institution changed its name to Great Southern Bank in 2021. Now it’s the largest member-owned bank in Australia with over 40 branches, mainly located on the east coast. It has over 568,000 customers and offers a wide range of personal banking products, including transaction and savings accounts.
Savvy compares savings accounts from many different financial institutions to bring you up-to-the-minute account comparison information. If you’re looking to boost your savings, save fees and secure a great account, we can help give you the tools to choose the best one for your needs.
*Please note that Savvy does not represent Great Southern Bank for their savings accounts products. All product information and rates are correct as of May, 2022.
What savings account products does Great Southern Bank have?
Great Southern Bank has four different savings accounts for adults, a range of term deposits, plus a youth savings account. These are:
Goal Saver Account
This savings account is for 18 to 24-year-olds and is paired with an Everyday Edge transaction account. It offers a base interest rate of 0.05% p.a., but if you deposit $500 into your Everyday Edge account and make at least five card transactions on a linked credit or debit card, you’ll earn a total of 1.15% p.a. bonus interest rate on balances up to $50,000. There are no account-keeping fees and no loss of interest if you make withdrawals from your account.
Home Saver Account
This account is open to all ages and also offers a bonus interest rate if you pair it with an Everyday Edge account and a Visa debit card. With the same base rate of 0.05% p.a., you’ll score an additional 1.00% p.a. if you deposit at least $2,000 per month into your Everyday Edge account and make five purchases on your Visa debit card. This will result in a total interest rate of 1.05% p.a. for your Home Saver account, which also doesn’t restrict you from accessing your money.
eSaver Flexi Account
This online-only account offers a flat 0.45% p.a. interest rate with no conditions, no need to link it to another account and no fees. Access to open this type of account is via online banking, the Great Southern Bank mobile app and telebanking.
Youth e-Saver Account
This online savings account is open to kids and young people up to the age of 17. It offers a generous 2.40% p.a. interest rate for balances up to $5,000, with a rate of 1.00% p.a. for balances over that. A child under ten must have a parent or guardian open and operate the account and be a signatory to the account. However, once the child turns ten, it’s possible to remove the requirements to have an adult signatory and have the account solely in the child’s name.
Term deposits
Great Southern Bank offers a range of term deposits for amounts of $5,000 or more. They have no monthly fees and lock up your money for the length of the term you choose in return for a higher interest rate than achievable through a standard savings account. All the rates listed below are indicative of interest being paid annually or at the end of the deposit period. If you wish to have interest paid monthly, subtract 0.1% from the below rates (aside from a one-month term):
The bank has two unique features to encourage you to save, known as The Vault and The Boost. In addition, Great Southern Bank’s mobile banking app allows you to set up notifications for all accounts, so you can receive an SMS any time money comes into or goes out of your accounts. These notifications are highly customisable and are easily set up for any account you hold with the bank.
The Vault
This is a separate place where you can lock away or ‘hide’ your savings so you don’t see them day-to-day. You can create a motivational message to reduce the temptation to withdraw cash from your Vault, which will show up on your mobile banking screen if you choose to go to access your nest egg. The idea is that you choose an account or an amount to ‘hide’ in The Vault, and these funds are untouchable for everyday use. By not seeing your vault funds and locking them away, the temptation to spend is reduced. Of course, your funds aren’t really locked away and you can access them at any time (for example, in an emergency), but ‘hiding’ them so you don’t see them day-to-day can act as an incentive not to raid your savings.
The Boost
Another useful unique feature offered by Great Southern Bank is the Boost. This feature allows you to choose an amount to transfer from your everyday account to your savings account each time you use your Visa debit card. The amount you choose to boost your savings can be anywhere from one cent up to five dollars. This is touted as a way to gradually boost your savings throughout the month without you noticing or missing the saved amount. You can choose up to three accounts to boost each time you use your card. To work out how long it might take you to reach your savings goal, you can use Savvy’s savings goal calculator to calculate how all those extra payments may help you reach your goal faster.
The requirements to open an account with Great Southern Bank are:
All savings accounts can be opened online, at a branch or over the phone. The easiest way is to open an account online, which will take less than ten minutes. Make sure you have your identity documents handy before you start the online application process. If all of this is verified, you’ll be notified and will be able to open your account shortly thereafter.
Smart mobile banking app
The bank’s award-winning mobile banking app allows easy access to your money and a slick user interface which makes banking simple and intuitive.
Useful additional features
The bank’s innovative mobile app features such as The Boost and The Vault can assist you to boost your savings and resist the temptation to raid your spare cash.
Competitive interest rates and no fees
As the bank is the largest in Australia owned by its customers, all business decisions are customer-focused, so the bank can offer highly competitive interest rates without fees.
Limited options for young people
Being a small institution, Great Southern Bank has a limited range of products; for example, if you’re aged under 18, there’s only one savings account to choose from.
To qualify for the higher bonus interest rate offered on several savings accounts, it’s necessary to have a linked transaction account with Great Southern Bank, which you may not want.
High minimum deposits
The Goal and Home Saver Accounts require minimum monthly deposits of $500 and $2,000, respectively, to receive bonus interest, which is higher than many institutions.
Formerly known as Credit Union Australia (CUA), the member-owned institution changed its name to Great Southern Bank in 2021. Now it’s the largest member-owned bank ...
MyState Bank started life as the Tasmanian-based Connect Credit Union. In 2009, it merged with Tasmanian Perpetual and listed on the ASX, before buying The ...
Macquarie Bank is one of the world’s leading financial services companies, now operating across 33 markets. Starting as a subsidiary of a UK investment house ...
The Newcastle Permanent Building Society was established in NSW in 1939. It is a building society that returns all of its profits back to the ...
One of Australia’s ‘big four’, the National Australia Bank (NAB) was founded more than 40 years ago following the merger of the National Bank of ...
Bankwest started more than 125 years ago after the Western Australian government decided to form a new agriculture bank lending specifically to the state’s farmers. ...
One of the world’s leading financial service providers, HSBC has more than 40 million customers scattered across all corners of the globe. The universal bank ...
Founded as a bank for rural Queenslanders, Suncorp Bank has undergone several name changes and mergers over its 120-year history and is now one of ...
Quantum Savvy Pty Ltd (ABN 78 660 493 194) trades as Savvy and operates as an Authorised Credit Representative 541339 of Australian Credit Licence 414426 (AFAS Group Pty Ltd, ABN 12 134 138 686). We are one of Australia’s leading financial comparison sites and have been helping Australians make savvy decisions when it comes to their money for over a decade.
We’re partnered with lenders, insurers and other financial institutions who compensate us for business initiated through our website. We earn a commission each time a customer chooses or buys a product advertised on our site, which you can find out more about here, as well as in our credit guide for asset finance. It’s also crucial to read the terms and conditions, Product Disclosure Statement (PDS) or credit guide of our partners before signing up for your chosen product. However, the compensation we receive doesn’t impact the content written and published on our website, as our writing team exercises full editorial independence.
For more information about us and how we conduct our business, you can read our privacy policy and terms of use.
© Copyright 2024 Quantum Savvy Pty Ltd T/as Savvy. All Rights Reserved.
© Copyright 2024 Quantum Savvy Pty Ltd T/as Savvy. All Rights Reserved.
Quantum Savvy Pty Ltd (ABN 78 660 493 194) trades as Savvy and operates as an Authorised Credit Representative 541339 of Australian Credit Licence 414426 (AFAS Group Pty Ltd, ABN 12 134 138 686). We are one of Australia’s leading financial comparison sites and have been helping Australians make savvy decisions when it comes to their money for over a decade.
We’re partnered with lenders, insurers and other financial institutions who compensate us for business initiated through our website. We earn a commission each time a customer chooses or buys a product advertised on our site, which you can find out more about here, as well as in our credit guide for asset finance. It’s also crucial to read the terms and conditions, Product Disclosure Statement (PDS) or credit guide of our partners before signing up for your chosen product. However, the compensation we receive doesn’t impact the content written and published on our website, as our writing team exercises full editorial independence.
For more information about us and how we conduct our business, you can read our privacy policy and terms of use.
