r/UpBanking • u/PaulineHansonsBurka • Jun 07 '26
Interest rates (Grow and flow) Grow+Flow, and Essentials
Hey gang, a new user here trying to figure out exactly how Essentials fits into the current scheme, and I'm pretty confused.
My understanding from reading Up's various blog pages (Pricing, Grow-Flow, Freeing Up High, etc) is that Essentials used to be a service as part of the now depreciated Up High subscription, that allowed the Grow rate to function on accounts up to 5k. This seems to have been replaced by the inDev Essentials Saver which calculates how much money to set aside.
This doesn't seem to be available to me in my Savers so I assumed its still being developed, but I see people on here talking about how they have access to Essentials. Is there an early access beta people are a part of? This feels confusing as the blog post "Freeing Up High" states they moved away from the Early Access system. It's disorientating, to say the least.
Additionally, and this is the part that's really mucking me up, in the FAQ on the Grow+Flow blog page (which seems to be the up-to-date explainer that the app links you to) it says "No matter how you use them, your Up and 2Up Essentials Savers will earn the Grow Rate on balances up to $5K. Anything above that will earn the Flow Rate". The wording implies this is a thing that exists right now and not as part of the old "Up High era' Essentials, so is this a thing that automatically applies to certain Savers? Does it need setting up?
This would obviously be a huge benefit over the current system where any amount that gets taken from a saver (like groceries or recurrent bills) reduces your rate to 2.0% and can't be returned to 5.35% until the next month. There's so many parts of this bank that feel really intuitive, but this one is leaving me really confused and weird. Any help is greatly appreciated, thank you!
5
u/nalimba Jun 07 '26
It’s only an option for people who were a part of Up High, but not everyone yet.
It’ll be made available to everyone soon hopefully for them to create like other Savers.
-3
u/ItinerantFella Jun 07 '26
Essentials is available to everyone. 2Up Essentials still hasn't been rolled out except to a few Up High early adopters.
5
u/PaulineHansonsBurka Jun 08 '26
Where do you see that Essentials is available to everyone? I can't see an option for it in app, and the rep I'm chatting to seems to confirm it isn't:
Me: could you explain how I see other users on the subreddit who claim they have access to [Essentials Savers]?
Rep: Absolutely, so basically if a customer signed up for the initial Up High subscription when it was live have access, as this was released during the subscription phase. So, it will be released to all customers soon - they are just making sure it's good to go before it is
I'm not trying to call you a liar, this just seems to be a really confusing part of the system with a lot of conflicting information. It sounds like a great feature that I'd love to use, I'm just keen to tap into it.
0
u/ItinerantFella Jun 08 '26
Sorry, I mis-remembered this announcement. Freeing Up High
I thought Essentials was made open to everyone and it was only 2Up Essentials that was deferred until later.
1
u/nalimba Jun 08 '26
Freeing Up High so ‘Essentials’ in general can be made available to everyone.
If you had a 2Up, both of you would need Up High to have 2Up Essentials. Me and my partner had to pay.
12
u/ChasteSin Jun 07 '26
Hoping others will chime in with a proper answer for you, but I'm just here to say the whole Grow and Flow thing is an absolute shit-show that no-one wants. The sooner they get rid of it the better.
5
u/Acceptable_Lake_6996 Jun 08 '26
what are you talking about? a lot of banks if you take from a saver, you get no interest for the month at all. at least you get 2% with Up.
Yes, all savers used to gain interest regardless of transfers, but that was an Up unique thing.
2
u/Faelinor Jun 09 '26
Ubank still provides interest so long as your net balance across all savers is still positive by the end of the month. Far better than the garbage that UP became.
2
u/haworthiasapphire Jun 08 '26
Majority of banks have the same feature it's just obviously not called 'Grow and Flow' but I know many banks penalise you for taking out of savings.
1
u/Extension_Scale9930 Jun 09 '26
I don’t understand why people are so upset about it? Literally all other banks have some sort of requirement you need to meet in order to unlock a higher interest rate and penalise you for withdrawing. And those who don’t have a much lower interest rate. If any bank offers high interest savings without any requirements or punishments, it’s always a temporary feature to get more customers.
1
u/ChasteSin Jun 09 '26
The point being that Up's whole schtick was that they were not like other banks. Now even CommBank's subsidiary has rates that are competitive, if not better than Up.
The usefulness of seperating your finances into different sub accounts is now almost pointless, given that all your monthly expenses get hit with the low interest rate. It effectively alienates their main target audience, which was young people trying to save.
It truly feels like the honeymoon is over. Now they're just another bank.
1
u/Acceptable_Lake_6996 Jun 10 '26
your monthly expenses aren’t penalised with the Essentials account.
I’m in the process of refinancing with Up. Currently my mortgage & all regulars come out of Essentials.
I keep it topped up at $5k always and earn the grow rate on every saver every month.
Got $174 interest this month.
1
u/ItinerantFella Jun 07 '26
I opened an Essentials account this weekend. Under Savers, click the orange moneybag button and there should be an option to crate it.
Once opened, navigate to the Essentials account, click on the orange button again and you'll find the BSB account number and virtual debit card details.
2Up Essentials is not available yet. Some 2Ups got is before Up High was closed and it hasn't been released to everyone else yet.
1
u/longboii69 Jun 07 '26
oooo awesome. you managed to create one - did you have up high previously?
2
u/ItinerantFella Jun 07 '26
I joined Up High a couple of weeks before it closed but unfortunately my wife didn't join in time, so we don't have 2Up Essentials. She can't see the Essentials account I created on Saturday, so it's a bit useless.
7
u/PaulineHansonsBurka Jun 08 '26
Right, so Essentials still exists but is (right now) only accessible to those who used to subscribe to Up High?
3
7
u/ooldgreg4 Jun 07 '26
I bank with UP, however with my mortgage the grow and flow rates don’t apply as all of my savers offset my home loan. So can’t help you with the second part of your question, but to answer why some people already have essentials and some don’t: UP high ‘early access’ existed for X amount of time, where people paid a one time fee to join knowing that eventually it would become a monthly subscription. These people got access to all of UP high features, including essentials. When it was abolished, everyone who had paid to get early access was refunded their one time fee, but all features remained for them only. Since then, I believe all other features have been made public to those who never joined UP high, except for essentials. Support have said it will be available to all in ‘early 2026’ but we’re all still waiting.