Up Bank vs ING — Which Does the Barefoot Investor Approach Better?

Scott Pape's Barefoot Investor method runs on a few core principles: cut fees, automate your savings, and don't give your bank a cent more than you have to. Both Up Bank and ING fit that mould — but they don't fit it equally well. Here's the honest comparison.

The short version

If you've already read The Barefoot Investor, you know the drill: grab a fee-free account, set up your buckets, and let the system do the work. Both of these banks are leagues ahead of the big four for that purpose. But if you're choosing between them, here's the real question: which one actually runs the barefoot method with less friction?

Short answer: Up Bank, by a reasonably clear margin. But ING has one legitimate advantage worth knowing about.

What you're comparing

These are two very different banks that get lumped together because they're both fee-free and popular with the barefoot crowd.

• Up Bank is a neobank — a fully digital institution built from scratch. It's a subsidiary of Bendigo Bank, so your money is protected under the Financial Claims Scheme just like any APRA-licensed bank.
• ING is a grown-up online bank — part of the global ING Group, sixth largest holder of household deposits in Australia at around $54 billion as of late 2025. It has been in Australia for decades and operates entirely online.

Both are fee-free. Both are solid choices. But the differences matter when you're actually running the barefoot system day to day.

The rate comparison

This is where most people start, so let's get it out of the way.

All rates and conditions confirmed as of April 2026, following the RBA cash rate changes. ING rate increased to 5.24% on 27 March 2026.

Why Up wins the barefoot method

The Barefoot Investor doesn't really care about squeezing the last 0.4% out of a savings rate. The system works because it's simple. Open an account, set up your buckets, automate your direct credits, and let the account do its thing.

Up Bank does this part cleanly. One account handles your everyday spending and your savings. You get one login, one app, one balance that you can slice into sub-accounts called "Savers" — which map almost exactly to the barefoot bucket system.

The condition to earn the top rate — five card purchases and no withdrawals in a month — is also refreshingly straightforward. You spend on the card, you don't pull money out, you get the rate. No requirement to grow your balance. No $1,000 deposit threshold. No juggling two separate accounts.

And if you're using the barefoot method, you're almost certainly spending on your debit card most days anyway, so the five-purchase condition essentially takes care of itself.

The ING conditions are actually harder to meet

Here's the part that doesn't get enough attention: ING's top rate requires three separate conditions to be met every single month. Specifically:

1. At least $1,000 deposited from an external source
2. At least five settled card purchases
3. Your balance must actually grow — not just stay the same, but increase

That third condition is the one that catches people. If you're drawing down your savings for a bill, a holiday, or a big purchase — which is exactly what the Barefoot Investor's system encourages you to do with your splurge and play buckets — you might fall off the bonus rate without realising why.

You also need an ING Orange Everyday account open at the same time, which means two accounts, two sets of transactions to reconcile, and a second login. For a method built on simplicity, that's a meaningful step backwards.

The ING rate advantage is smaller than it looks

Yes, ING's 5.24% is technically higher than Up's 4.85%. But there are two catches worth quantifying.

First: ING only pays that rate on the first $100,000. Up pays 4.85% on up to $250,000. So on a $200,000 savings balance, ING pays 5.24% on $100,000 and effectively 0.01% on the other $100,000 — which drags the actual blended return down significantly.

Second: ING's rate is a bonus structure built on a 0.01% base. If you miss the conditions for even one month, you drop to 0.01% — a rate that wouldn't cover inflation. Up's Grow Rate applies as long as you hit five purchases; it doesn't punish you for drawing down your balance.

On $200,000: ING's effective blended rate (mixing the $100k at max and $100k at base) would be roughly 2.6% if conditions are met — or 0.01% if you miss them. Up's 4.85% applies cleanly to the full $200,000.

Where ING actually wins

ING has two genuine advantages worth acknowledging.

Overseas use: ING's Orange Everyday card offers 0% foreign currency conversion fees plus refunds of overseas ATM fees (up to $100 per month). Up matches this with 0% international fees and $0 overseas ATM withdrawals. Both are excellent for travel — this is essentially a draw.

The raw savings rate number: On a $100,000 balance where you can reliably meet all conditions, ING's 5.24% does beat Up's 4.85%. On a $100k balance, that's roughly $390 difference per year. Whether that's worth the extra complexity is a personal call.

If you're a high-income earner with a large emergency fund sitting in one account and you're disciplined enough to never touch it while still hitting the deposit and spending conditions — ING might squeak out a small win on rate. For everyone else running the barefoot system, Up's simplicity and single-account experience is worth more than the rate difference.

Barefoot Verdict: Up Bank is the better fit for the Barefoot Investor method. One account, simple conditions, an app designed around buckets and savings goals, and a rate that doesn't punish you for using your own money. ING is a strong option if you can reliably hit all three conditions and you're comfortable managing two accounts — but the barefoot method is built for simplicity, and Up delivers that more faithfully.

Quick FAQ

Is Up Bank safe? Is my money protected?

Yes. Up Bank is a subsidiary of Bendigo Bank, which is APRA-licensed. Your deposits are protected under the Financial Claims Scheme up to $250,000 — the same as every other Australian bank.

Does ING require a minimum balance?

No monthly balance requirement and no monthly fees on the Savings Maximiser or Orange Everyday. You can open with $0.

What's the easiest bank account to set up for the Barefoot Investor?

Up Bank. You can open an account in about five minutes with no credit check, and the in-app Savers feature lets you create separate buckets for each part of the barefoot system — no forms, no paperwork, just a tap.

What about ING's Savings Accelerator — does that change things?

The Savings Accelerator is a different ING product with different conditions. Its maximum balance for top rate is $500,000, but from 1 May 2026 it switches to a stepped interest rate structure — and above $2 million, the rate drops to 2.50% p.a. This doesn't affect the Savings Maximiser, which remains unchanged.

Can I use both?

Absolutely. Plenty of barefoot investors use Up as their everyday account and ING as a separate high-yield savings account for a chunk of their emergency fund. That's a legitimate strategy — just be honest about whether you're actually going to check two accounts and maintain both sets of conditions.