Quick answer
You can estimate your interest with the formulas the providers publish, and the results show how small the differences often are at modest balances. GCash's Help Center says GSave interest is the average daily end-of-day balance, times the monthly rate, times one minus a 20% withholding tax, credited monthly. Maya's articles describe daily interest as the end-of-day balance times the yearly rate divided by 365, credited daily. Using the base rates published on November 9, 2026, ₱10,000 would earn roughly ₱15 a month on GSave and roughly ₱20 a month on Maya Savings after tax. These are illustrations of method, not offers, and the live figures are the ones in your app.
The numbers used in these examples
The examples use the base rates each provider states on its own pages on November 9, 2026. GCash's Help Center gives 2.30% a year for GSave by CIMB, effective June 1, 2026. Maya's pages give 3% a year as the base rate on Maya Savings. We use base rates only, because boosted rates depend on conditions and caps that vary from person to person. We also assume a 20% withholding tax in both cases, because GCash's formula shows it explicitly. Maya's statement may present tax differently, so check how your app displays it.
All figures below are our own arithmetic, rounded to the nearest centavo, and they are not promises of any return.
Example one: GSave with ₱10,000
GCash's formula multiplies the average daily balance by the monthly rate and then by one minus the tax. The Help Center's own sample uses an average daily balance of ₱10,000 and a monthly rate of 2.30% divided by 12, which is about 0.001917.
- Average daily balance: ₱10,000.
- Monthly rate: 2.30% divided by 12, about 0.001917.
- Interest before tax: ₱10,000 times 0.001917, about ₱19.17.
- Tax at 20%: about ₱3.83.
- Interest after tax: about ₱15.33 for the month.
So a steady ₱10,000 balance earns about ₱15 a month after tax at that rate. Over twelve months, if nothing changed, that would be roughly ₱184, but rates and balances rarely stay fixed.
Example two: Maya Savings with ₱10,000
Maya describes daily interest as the end-of-day balance times the yearly rate times one over 365.
- End-of-day balance: ₱10,000.
- Yearly rate: 3%, or 0.03.
- Daily interest before tax: ₱10,000 times 0.03 divided by 365, about ₱0.82.
- Over 30 days before tax: about ₱24.66.
- After a 20% tax: about ₱19.73 for 30 days.
At these base rates, the gap between the two examples is about ₱4 or ₱5 a month on ₱10,000. The gap grows with the balance. On ₱100,000 the same arithmetic gives roughly ten times as much.
Monthly versus daily crediting
GSave credits interest monthly and calculates it from the average daily balance. Maya credits interest daily. The difference in timing affects when you see the money, and it can matter if you move funds in and out often. Over a year, compounding can add a very small amount for daily crediting if the interest stays in the account, but at modest balances the effect is tiny compared with the effect of the rate itself.
What changes the result
Four things move your actual interest far more than the crediting schedule.
- The base rate. It is the starting point for everything else.
- Your balance. Interest scales with the amount you keep, so the same rate on a small balance is small money.
- Boosted rates and conditions. A boost can raise the rate on part of your balance, but only while you meet the conditions.
- Changes over time. Rates change, and GCash's own page records a cut on June 1, 2026.
A quick way to check your own numbers
- Open the savings screen and write down the base rate and today's date.
- Estimate your average balance for the month, not the highest one.
- Apply the provider's formula as shown above.
- Subtract tax the way the app does.
- Compare your estimate with the interest on the app's statement after it posts.
If the numbers do not match, the usual causes are a changed rate, a balance that moved during the month, or a boost that ended.
What these examples do not show
They do not include any boosted rate, promotional period or minimum balance. They do not show what your account will actually earn, and they do not say one app is better. They show that, at these base rates and modest balances, the money involved is small, and the rate you see in your own app on the day you decide is the one that counts.
What this guide does not do
This is an independent explanation of published formulas. It is not financial advice. Rates, tax treatment and formulas can change, so rely on the provider's current official information.
Reading a rate in practice
When you compare rates, write down five things: the base rate, any boosted rate, the conditions for the boost, the balance cap and the date you read it. Then run the formulas above for your own balance. A small difference in rate matters little on a small balance, while conditions you will not meet matter a lot. If the app shows a rate in a help icon that differs from the savings screen, trust the official help page and check its date.
Questions readers often ask
Is interest taxed? The worked examples above apply a 20 percent tax so you can see the amount after tax. Check the current rule with official sources.
Can the rate change? Yes. Rates can be adjusted, so recheck before you commit a large balance.