Australia’s finance market has never been more competitive, with plenty of great deals available in the lead-up to Christmas. If you shop around, you’ll find an array of products and prices, offered by more than 100 banks, credit unions, building societies, non-bank lenders and online providers.
Here are some of the best-value home loans, credit cards and savings accounts in Australia right now. (But you’ll need to hurry – most are available for one week only!)
Home loans
If you’re an owner-occupier and you’re open to using a challenger lender, you’ll be able to get a mortgage priced as low as 3.44 per cent.
For those who prefer to use popular lenders, there are owner-occupied rates under 3.60 per cent and investment rates under 4.00 per cent.
The key is to research the market, because there are far more options out there than most people realise.
Some of the lowest home loan rates for owner-occupiers: challenger lenders
| Lender | Product | Advertised rate | Comparison rate |
| Reduce Home Loans | Rate Lovers Variable Home Loan | 3.44% | 3.44% |
| Easy Street Financial Services | Standard Variable Home Loan | 3.49% | 3.52% |
| Well Home Loans | Well Balanced | 3.49% | 3.53% |
Some of the lowest home loan rates for owner-occupiers: popular banks
| Lender | Product | Advertised rate | Comparison rate |
| Bank of Queensland | Fixed Rate Home Loan (1 year) | 3.54% | 4.62% |
| UBank | UHomeLoan | 3.59% | 3.59% |
| HSBC | Home Value Loan | 3.59% | 3.61% |
Some of the lowest home loan rates for investors: popular banks
| Lender | Product | Advertised rate | Comparison rate |
| Bank of Melbourne | Advantage Package Fixed Rate Investment Loan (2 years) | 3.89% | 4.80% |
| HSBC | Fixed Rate Investment Loan (1 year) | 3.89% | 5.81% |
| ANZ | Breakfree Package Fixed Rate Investment Loan | 3.95% | 5.55% |
Credit cards
Some people believe that credit cards always charge annual fees.
In fact, there are more than 25 credit cards in Australia right now that don’t charge an annual fee and that have a maximum interest-free period of 44 days or more.
Another misconception is that credit card interest rates are always above 20 per cent.
In fact, there are more than 10 credit cards that charge a purchase rate of under 10 per cent.
Some of the cheapest credit cards
| Lender | Product | Annual fee | Ongoing purchase rate | Max. interest-free days |
| American Express | Low Rate Credit Card | $0 | 8.99% | 55 |
| Teachers Mutual Bank | Teachers Credit Card | $0 | 11.50% | 55 |
| UniBank | Visa Credit Card | $0 | 11.50% | 55 |
Savings accounts
Australia’s low-interest-rate environment is a double-edged sword – interest rates are low for home loans, but they’re also low for savings accounts.
Unless you’re a pensioner, child or student, it’s hard to find a savings account that pays more than 2.50 per cent.
So you need to shop around. But keep an eye out for two tricks when doing your research.
First, a lot of banks offer honeymoon interest rates that revert to lower levels after a few months.
Second, many accounts require you to meet certain conditions to qualify for the ‘maximum’ rate – otherwise, you get paid the (lower) ‘base’ rate.
Some of the highest-rate savings accounts
| Lender | Product | Base rate | Max. rate | Conditions |
| Move Bank | Bonus Saver | 1.70% | 2.90% | Deposit $200/month; make no withdrawals |
| UBank | USaver with Ultra | 1.81% | 2.87% | Deposit $200/month; keep balance under $200,000 |
| ME Bank | Online Savings Account | 1.30% | 2.85% | Make one weekly tap-and-go payment with Everyday Transaction |
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