A professional-grade Australian savings account comparison tool that analyses 40 savings accounts and 22 term deposit providers against your personal financial profile. All calculations run completely offline. No subscription. No ads.

RBA Cash Rate: 4.35% p.a. (held 16 Jun 2026 · next meeting 11 Aug 2026) · Embedded data verified: 16 May 2026

Step 1 — Install .NET 8 SDK (one-time, ~220MB, free) Download the Windows x64 Installer: https://dotnet.microsoft.com/download/dotnet/8.0

Step 2 — Run build.bat Double-click build.bat in the SavingsAnalyzer_Build folder, or run it from a Command Prompt. It runs steps [1]–[6], then auto-closes (no "press any key" prompt). The build log is written to %TEMP%\savings_analyzer_build.log. Output: build\AustralianSavingsAnalyzer.exe (~160MB self-contained, no install needed), with rates_override.json copied in beside it.

If build.bat appears to "loop" (re-runs every few seconds and never closes): the script itself exits cleanly, so an external tool is relaunching it — almost always a code editor with a build/watch task, or the project folder open in an IDE that rebuilds on change. Close the editor and run build.bat from a plain Command Prompt (Win+R → cmd). A built-in throttle also refuses to start if it was launched seconds earlier.

Step 3 (optional) — Build installer Install NSIS from https://nsis.sourceforge.io/Download, then run build.bat installer to produce the setup. The installer is opt-in and skipped by default.

The app contains an embedded database of 40 savings accounts and 22 term deposit providers sourced from Canstar, Finder, Savings.com.au, and official bank websites, verified 16 May 2026.

Account categories:

When you click Analyse:

1. Filters database by your age, government guarantee preference, and conditions tolerance
2. Calculates effective interest on your balance using verified formulas
3. Scores each account on interest earned, conditions met, balance caps, and usability
4. Returns top 3, ensuring no two from the same banking group

Financial formulas (all verified):

Fill in your profile and click Analyse & Get Recommendations.

Conditions Preference:

• Any — all accounts including honeymoon rates; best raw return but requires a diary reminder to switch
• Easy — excludes accounts with very demanding conditions
• None — only accounts where you earn the top rate with zero conditions (e.g. Judo Bank 5.35%)

Save Profile — saves current form values for later reload. Profiles also auto-save on every Analyse run.

Top 3 recommendation cards showing:

• Rate — large gold display with base rate underneath
• Honeymoon badge — orange warning if the rate is introductory only
• Metric rows — Est. Monthly interest, 12-Month Projection, Interest Earned
• Action Steps — exactly what to do to open the account and qualify for the top rate
• Revert reminder — shows the rate it drops to and when you need to switch
• Government guarantee — confirms ADI Financial Claims Scheme status

Export to Excel — button (top-right) exports a 4-sheet workbook:

1. Your top 3 analysis with all calculations for your specific scenario
2. Full savings accounts database (all 40 accounts)
3. Term deposit rate matrix (all 22 providers × all 8 term lengths)
4. All 40 accounts ranked by max rate with full conditions

Filterable table of all 40 savings accounts. Filter by text search, honeymoon only, no-hoops only, or government guaranteed only.

Rate matrix showing all 22 TD providers across all 8 term lengths (3, 6, 9, 12, 18, 24, 36, 60 months). Best 12-month rates highlighted in gold.

Saved profiles from previous analyses. Select a row and click Load & Re-Analyse to instantly reload all your details. Gold row selection makes it clear which profile is highlighted.

API Key — optional, for AI commentary (see below).

Fetch Live Rates — pulls current savings rates from savings.com.au and the current RBA cash rate from rba.gov.au at runtime, then opens a review window comparing savings rates against the built-in database (Bank · Live Rate · Type · DB Rate · Diff · page context), with the detected RBA rate shown in the header. Two actions:

• Save as Market Snapshot stores the top intro/ongoing rate so the header and Market Snapshot panel reflect live data on next launch.
• Apply to Analysis writes the matched savings rates and the RBA cash rate into rates_override.json and applies them immediately, so recommendations and the RBA display update without a rebuild.

Detected rates are auto-matched by proximity — eyeball them against the context column before applying; manual AccountData.vb / rates_override.json editing remains the authoritative fallback.

The current database rates are always visible on the Savings DB and Term Deposits tabs, so there's no separate "show rates" button.

Click the ☀/✱ button (top-right header) to toggle themes. Both themes fully supported with gold selection highlighting in grids.

The AI commentary is optional. All calculations and rankings run locally — AI only adds written commentary. You can pick from several providers, including free ones.

Choose in Settings → Provider:

Anthropic uses its native /v1/messages API; every other provider uses the OpenAI-compatible /chat/completions shape with a Bearer key. Provider, model, and base URL are saved in .config.json.

Personalised overview (by name), detailed "why it fits", monthly action steps, profile-specific cautions, a strategy tip, and a tax note. The AI does not change the numbers.

1. Pick a provider in Settings → Provider (the base URL and a default model auto-fill).
2. Create a key with that provider (Groq and Gemini have free tiers).
3. Paste the key → Save → Test to verify. Adjust the Model field if needed — vendor model names change over time.

Anthropic claude-sonnet-4-6: ~US$0.005–0.01 per analysis. Groq/Gemini free tiers: $0 within limits.

The app reads rates_override.json (beside the exe) at startup and overlays it on the embedded database — so you can refresh rates without recompiling.

• Keyed by account Id (see AccountData.vb); all fields optional. Rates are decimals: 0.0575 = 5.75%.
• An optional rba section sets the cash rate and meeting info: rate (decimal), asOf, nextMeeting, note, environmentDate. The cash rate can also be filled by the live fetch; the meeting schedule is maintained here by hand.
• Edit the file and relaunch; delete it to fall back to embedded rates. Status shows in About.
• Settings → Fetch Live Rates → Apply to Analysis writes matched savings rates and the RBA cash rate into this file for you.
• build.bat copies the project-root rates_override.json into build\ on each build, so the shipped build carries the latest rates.

Rates sourced from: Canstar, Finder, Savings.com.au, Money.com.au, rba.gov.au, official bank websites. Embedded verification date: 16 May 2026 · current rates ride in rates_override.json (24 June 2026).

Note: Australian bank and comparison sites block default HTTP clients (they reject requests with no browser User-Agent). The in-app live fetch sends browser headers to work around this, but parsed rates are auto-detected and should be reviewed before saving. Always verify with your bank before committing.

Government guarantee: Australia's FCS (APRA) protects deposits up to $250,000 per person per ADI. BOQ, ME Bank, Virgin Money Australia, and BOQ Specialist are all the same ADI for FCS purposes.

Educational and informational purposes only. Not financial advice. Consult a qualified professional before making investment decisions. Rates variable — verify with your bank.

Australian Savings Account Analyzer — Desktop Edition Educational use only · Not financial advice · Rates variable · Verify with your bank