Friday, December 9, 2016

High Interest Savings Account

I have been switching bank accounts for the higher interest rates. I am still using UOB One, and Bank of China (BOC) SmartSaver, CIMB Fast Saver to earn interests. I had also created a Hong Leong Finance Fixed Savings account because it pays 1.7% for a 6-month fixed saving, but it's only for 6 months, so I see it more as a Fixed Deposit. My OCBC 360 account is still lying around because I still have some GIRO payments tied to it and I pay 3 bills to get 0.5% on the min balance of $3000.

Assuming you have a salary credit of >= $2000, spend $500 on credit card, and pay 3 bills and

A. have <= $60k, the best account is Bank of China 2.35% on the first $60k balance.

B. have ~ $110k, the best account is Bank of China 2.35% on the first $60k balance, and then balance in CIMB Fast Saver 1%.

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Assuming you have a salary credit of >$2000, spend $1000 on credit card, and pay 3 bills and

C. have ~ $110k, the best account is  Bank of China 2.35% on the first $60k balance, and then balance in
UOB One 2.43% for exactly $50k. You need to make GIRO arrangements for the 3 bills to qualify for the UOB One conditions. BOC doesn't require you to set up GIRO, so you just pay the same 3 bills, $30/bill just to clock the bill payments. The extra money just adds credit to those bills.

D. have ~ $160k, option C + CIMB Fast Saver 1%

E. have >=$260k, option D + Singapore Savings Bond (SSB) 0.91% for 1st year that increases over 10 years for SSB-JAN17 (effective rate 2.18%) up to $100k.

F. if you still have money, house your balance in CIMB Star Saver 0.8%.

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For options A to F, if salary credit of >= $6000, Bank of China 2.75%.

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If you can't meet all the requirements, here are the best accounts for each category:

  • salary credit of >$2000 only, the best account is OCBC 360 1.2% on first $60k
  • spend $500 on credit card, the best account is UOB One 1.6% on exactly $50k
  • pay 3 bills, the best account is CIMB Fast Saver 1% on first $50k
You can tell that it pays to read and do some homework.

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