Did you actually earn your bonus savings interest this month?

Check the rule and the credit separately

A bonus rate is not confirmed just because the account displayed it during the month. First test every current condition—such as balance growth, deposits, withdrawals, age or linked-account requirements—using the bank's own wording. Then inspect the interest actually credited and compare it with a rough estimate based on the balance held through the month.

Moneysmart says many savings accounts offer bonus interest only when conditions are met and tells savers to compare payment conditions, fees, balance limits, linked accounts, withdrawals and regular deposits. This guide is educational and has no commission relationship with either official source below.

Source: Moneysmart — Savings accounts

Write a one-line qualification test before month-end

Copy the exact rule into a note and translate it into fields you can verify: opening balance, required deposits or transactions, withdrawals, closing balance, excluded interest and the bank's definition of the month. Do not substitute a remembered rule from another account; bonus structures differ and can change.

Also record the balance cap and what happens above it. Moneysmart specifically lists maximum balances and payment conditions among the features to compare. A saver can meet a transaction rule yet still receive a different rate on part of the balance, so qualification and rate tier are separate checks.

Source: Moneysmart — Savings accounts

Use a current issuer rule as a worked example

When checked on 24 September 2026, People First Bank said Dream Fund bonus interest requires the closing balance on the last day of the month to be greater than the opening balance, excluding interest credited that day. The bank also said interest is calculated on the closing daily credit balance. Those details make a last-day balance check necessary but do not make it a complete interest calculation.

For balances from A$0 to A$100,000, the page displayed a 0.01% p.a. base rate and 5.15% p.a. total variable rate when the bonus applies. These are issuer-specific, date-sensitive figures—not a market ranking or recommendation. The bank says rates can change without notice, so the current product page and terms control.

Source: People First Bank — Dream Fund

Estimate the size of a missed bonus

Assume, only for illustration, that A$20,000 stayed in the account for a 30-day month and the balance-growth condition was met. A simple estimate at 5.15% p.a. is A$20,000 × 5.15% × 30 ÷ 365 = A$84.66. At the displayed 0.01% base rate, the same approximation is A$0.16, a difference of about A$84.50.

The bank calculates interest daily, so an actual account with changing balances will not match a flat-balance shortcut. The estimate also ignores leap-year conventions, rounding, the exact credit period and any product-term detail outside the page. Use it to spot a material mismatch, then ask the bank to explain the statement calculation.

Source: People First Bank — Dream Fund

Test the last-day scenario that reverses the result

Suppose the month opened at A$20,000 and a late transfer left A$19,999 at the close, excluding interest. Under the cited Dream Fund rule, the balance did not grow, even if it was higher for most of the month. The advertised bonus could therefore fail while a casual glance at the average balance suggests nothing went wrong.

The opposite caution matters too: meeting the closing-balance condition does not prove that a rough flat-balance interest estimate is exact. Daily balances determine the calculation described by the bank. Keep the qualification test and the interest reconciliation as two distinct rows in your checklist.

Source: People First Bank — Dream Fund

Close the month with a six-field audit

Record the product name, current base and bonus rates, balance tier, exact condition, evidence that each condition was met, and interest credited. Save the product-page check date. If the credit looks inconsistent, contact the bank through its official channel with the opening balance, closing balance and relevant daily transactions rather than relying on the headline rate alone.

Your next step is to copy your account's current bonus rule into a month-end note and fill the six fields before making any discretionary withdrawal. Recheck the People First Bank figures by 30 September 2026 because variable rates and product terms can change; review the broader Moneysmart guidance by 24 October 2026.

Source: Moneysmart — Savings accounts · People First Bank — Dream Fund

Changes to this guide

24 September 2026: First publication after regulator and issuer verification, three arithmetic recalculations, last-day counter-scenario review and cross-network originality screening.