How the numbers are made

• Fixed rates only. A term deposit tier is a FIXED rate with a stated term; bonus, introductory and variable rates are not term deposit rates.
• Retail only. Products named as wholesale, business, SMSF, farm-management, notice-saver, or as visa, immigration or bank-guarantee deposits are out. A product whose stated eligibility is business-only, or staff-only, is out.
• Tailored products. Some banks flag a product “tailored” (pricing may be negotiated). We include one only when the bank also lists natural persons in its eligibility and publishes fixed tiers — CommBank’s Standard Term Deposit is the notable case — and mark every such rate “tailored” wherever it appears.
• Best tier per term. Where a bank publishes several tiers for one term, the highest rate stands, with its minimum deposit; ties keep the lower minimum. A tier that states no minimum of its own takes the product’s opening-balance (else minimum-balance) constraint, shown with a dotted underline.
• Missing is missing. A brand whose feed failed or was incomplete on the day is listed as excluded with the reason, never estimated or carried forward. Brands with more than 50 term deposit products are marked incomplete rather than partly read.

Best rate is a bank’s highest retail rate at any term. Market rank orders banks by best rate; equal rates share a rank and the next rank is skipped (1, 2, 2, 4). Rank at a term is the same rule among the banks publishing that term. Market median is the middle value of those rates (the mean of the two middle values when the count is even); “vs median” and “vs best” are the differences on the exact numbers, rounded only for display, so two different rates are never both “median”.

Last change is the most recent repricing we know of for that bank and term — what it was, what it is, and the first day our daily read showed the new rate — however long ago it was. In effect since is that same first-read day; where nothing has changed in our reads, a page says how long we have read the same rate, counting only the days we read it. Rate changes on the history pages are consecutive readings that differ; a day we read no rate is a gap, never “unchanged”.

Earnings are simple interest at maturity: amount × rate ÷ 100 × months ÷ 12, before tax.

Every figure on the site is rebuilt from a handful of JSON files, which are published alongside the pages and free to use with attribution to the publishing banks and cdr.gov.au:

• rates.json — today’s snapshot: every ranked bank, every term, ranks, leaders and the most recent repricings (up to 40).
• history.json — the complete record, every completed sweep day since 26 Aug 2026: for each bank and term, the best retail rate we read that day, or null.
• timeline.json — the published cash rate decisions and regulator items shown on the rate changes and bank pages.
• Per bank, under /banks/<bank>/: rates.json (its terms today), history.json (its daily record) and badge.svg (its current badges, embeddable). The banks index links each page.

The register is read at about 6:30 am Melbourne time; the site is rebuilt as soon as a read completes. Every page states the day it was read.

A badge is a claim with a receipt: every one shows the fact behind it and links to the page where it can be checked. All are recomputed from the daily record on every build — a month or year badge never changes once that period has completed, because the days it rests on never change. Badges cover the 3mo, 6mo, 9mo, 1yr, 2yr, 3yr, 5yr terms, and only when at least 25 banks publish the term that day; a month badge needs a completed calendar month with at least 15 sweep days, a year badge a completed year with at least 200, and the bank read on at least 80% of those days. Two badges look across every term by design: the market-best rate today, and the peer-group leaders. Every shared award says “joint” and how many share it. Positive facts only — cuts appear in the rate changes, never as a badge.

• #1 for <term> current — the highest published rate at that term today, among at least 25 banks publishing it.
• Market-best rate today current — the single highest rate published at ANY term today (the one badge not limited to the eligible terms).
• Top 5 at 12 months current — ranked 2nd to 5th at the 12-month term today.
• Above the median at every term current — every eligible term the bank publishes today is above that term’s market median, and it publishes at least two of them.
• Big 4 leader / Customer-owned leader current — the best rate in that reviewed peer group today (a group comparison, not limited to the eligible terms).
• Led <term> in <month> month — the most sweep days at #1 for that term in a completed calendar month with at least 15 sweep days; the count is shown.
• Raised rates in <month> month — at least one rise read in the month at an eligible term with a market, and no cut at any term.
• Most improved in <month> month — the largest net rise at any eligible term across the month, measured from the last reading before the month.
• <year> leader, <term> year — the most sweep days at #1 for that term across a completed calendar year with at least 200 sweep days.
• Highest <term> rate of <year> year — the highest rate any bank published at that term in a completed year; the date is when THAT bank first reached it.
• Above the median every day of <year> year — on every day it was read, its best eligible term was above that term’s market median.

Each bank page carries a short facts block — institution type, parent group, ASX code — from a reviewed file, with the date it was last checked. Rates never come from that file. Financial Claims Scheme facts were checked against APRA on 3 Oct 2026.