May 12, 2026, Sydney—08:02 AEST
Commonwealth Bank of Australia is set to lift rates on certain savings products starting Friday, following last week’s Reserve Bank of Australia hike. This comes just days after the bank handed the entire quarter-point increase to variable home loan customers.
The clock’s ticking for CBA. Australia’s biggest lender is adjusting both ends of its rates: mortgage holders will be hit with steeper repayments, and a slice of savers catch a modest bump in yields. The Reserve Bank of Australia hiked its cash rate by 25 basis points—moving the benchmark to 4.35%—after an 8-1 board split on May 5.
CBA is bumping up its NetBank Saver introductory rate for new customers by 0.25 percentage point to 5.20% per year, effective May 15. GoalSaver with bonus interest moves to 5.00%, while Youthsaver with bonus interest climbs to 5.05%. The 12-month term deposit is still sitting at 5.20% for eligible balances from A$5,000 up to A$5 million.
The bank previously announced a 0.25 percentage point increase to variable home-loan rates starting May 15. Angus Sullivan, CBA’s group executive for retail banking, said the priority remains “supporting customers to stay on top of their finances” as cost-of-living pressures linger. CommBank
CBA’s decision lines up with what the rest of the sector is doing. According to ABC, all of the big four — CBA, National Australia Bank, Westpac, and ANZ — have passed the RBA’s 0.25 percentage-point hike on to their customers, with those adjustments set to kick in around May 15.
Deposit moves aren’t consistent across the board. CBA has bumped up select headline rates the full 0.25 percentage point, yet for NetBank Saver’s standard variable rate—available to existing customers—it’s only a 0.15 point increase, now at 2.10%. Top rates still require meeting introductory or bonus terms, a pattern that’s long marked Australia’s savings accounts.
Commonwealth Bank of Australia made another move on its tech push this week, launching a Technology Hub in San Francisco, aimed at giving its Australian engineers better access to artificial-intelligence labs. According to the bank, this new site expands on its Seattle operations and connects with ongoing collaborations involving OpenAI, AWS, Anthropic and Microsoft. Already, over 70% of CBA’s engineering teams rely on AI tools.
Chief Executive Matt Comyn described the hub as evidence of CBA’s push to stay “at the frontier of technology” by teaming up with partners worldwide. According to tech outlet iTnews, the San Francisco location marks CBA’s second tech hub in the U.S., designed to accelerate AI integration throughout the bank. iTnews
There’s a risk the rate cycle drags on. Households could feel more pain from higher mortgage rates, and if deposit competition picks up, lenders may see their funding costs climb as savings rates rise. Belinda Allen, who leads Australian economics at CBA, said the bank still expects the RBA to keep rates steady through 2026. Still, she noted, “a further rate hike cannot be ruled out, depending on the data.” CommBank
When it comes to CBA, rates remain the main focus—not AI. Customers will feel the impact of savings and mortgage tweaks starting May 15. Investors, on the other hand, are tracking if Australia’s largest lender can hold its margins in a climate of stubborn inflation and tighter funding.
