Best of the best bank accounts: everyday transaction and savings

Which bank accounts give you the most interest and the lowest fees? Many people want both a bank account to handle their regular everyday transactions and somewhere to start saving any extra funds gathered. One of the best ways to do this is open a regular low-fee transaction account in addition to a high-interest online savings account. Money Buddy takes you through some of the best of both types of account. (Please note that all account fees and minimum account balance details correct at time of article publishing).

Top five personal transaction accounts

A personal transaction account is your regular account that you’ll use for everyday banking, direct depositing money and withdrawing via automated teller machine (ATM), EFTPOS (debit card), and at the branch. You probably won’t get much interest from a regular transaction account, but the thing to watch out for is fees – especially fees for extra transactions or special transactions, such as branch deposits or withdrawals. There are many institutions offering personal transaction accounts, each varying their account features, so it’s worth looking at as many as possible, but here are a few examples:

Bank of Queensland: Reverse Charges Account

Bank of Queensland’s Reverse Charges Account is a full-service transaction account with unlimited free Bank of Queensland withdrawals, including cheque book and BPAY transactions.

NAB: Smart Direct

NAB’s Smart Direct is a range of bank accounts with varying features. The NAB eBanking account offers unlimited electronic transactions (NAB ATMs, EFTPOS, phone and internet banking), with fees applying for cheque and branch access, whereas the NAB Classic Banking account provides an unlimited service for branch transactions as well as electronic transactions (with a slightly higher monthly fee).

ANZ Bank: Access Advantage

ANZ’s Access Advantage has a small monthly fee of AU$5 for unlimited transactions, whether from ANZ branches, ATMs, cheques, EFTPOS or phone and internet banking.

BankWest: Lite Transaction Account

BankWest’s Lite Transaction Account has a low flat monthly fee and unlimited electronic transactions. You can chose a slightly higher monthly fee for unlimited electronic and branch transactions.

Commonwealth Bank: Streamline Account

Like Bankwest, the Commonwealth Bank has two options – Streamline e-Access which provides unlimited free electronic transactions, or Streamline Unlimited with branch withdrawals included.

Top five online savings accounts

Online savings accounts give you internet and (usually) phone access to your money and generally much higher interest rates than regular transaction accounts. You’ll still need to link your online savings account to a personal transaction account to access your funds, via ATM, EFTPOS, online banking, and so on. The best online savings accounts have zero fees, no minimum balance and high interest rates.

Westpac Max-i Direct

Westpac’s Max-i Direct savings account covers all of the relevant criteria, with no fee, no minimum balance, and a reasonable interest rate for savings between AU$0 and AU$20,000 (higher rates apply for larger balances). Westpac conveniently allows instant online banking transfer of funds between the Max-i Direct account and a related Westpac regular transaction account for easy management.

BankWest Telenet Saver

BankWest’s Telenet Saver has one of the highest interest rates of any online savings account plus no fees and no minimum deposit. There’s also a special improved introductory interest rate for the first 12 months for new customers.

St George: Direct Saver

The Direct Saver account is an online savings account with no fees, a high interest rate, no minimum opening balance and access to your money 24/7.

Members Equity Bank: ME Online Savings Account

Members Equity Bank’s online savings account offers a high interest rate, no fees and no minimum opening balance.

ING Direct: Savings Maximiser

One of the originals savings accounts, ING Direct’s Savings Maximiser promises “no bank fees, ever”, a high interest rate, and no minimum deposit or balance.

NAB: iSaver

NAB’s iSaver is a high interest online savings account with no account keeping or transaction fees.

The above lists offer only a few examples of regular everyday transaction accounts and savings accounts. There will be other institutions offering both types of account, and other specific accounts, possibly with features greater suited to your banking needs. If you can avoid fees where possible, having convenient and straightforward transfer of money between an everyday account and a savings account is wise money management indeed.

Please note: All information correct at time of publishing. Please check our product tables or direct with institution for current rates.