Which Savings Account?

[Biggus Dickus]

Hi guys. Hoping to start a new savings account. Finally got a regular income coming in.

Which ones are good? I don't have a lot to put in at the start, maybe starting with 1k. Have done some minor research and hope to see what fellow sinkies are doing also. OCBC 360 is out for me, as my pay comes in the form of cheques, I don't have 4 bills to pay, and I don't spend so much.

Stanchart
Seems nice. 1.25% interest rate with no minimum deposit. But dunno this 1.25% is only up to May? Will probably give them a call to ask.

Maybank
Interest rate also not too bad. 1.2%. But will only enjoy that rate when you got 20k and above in savings. So not so attractive for me yet.

CIMB
0.8% on minimum $500, which is good!

Right now am learning towards CIMB and Stanchart. Probably head down to one of their branches to see if this interest rate is valid long term, or only until May. If long term will definitely choose them as they have higher. But if not, CIMB interest rates also decent. At least better than the shiat POSB is giving.

 

[Flex11]

You are actually on the right track, CIMB and standchart, based on your income & expenses.

This 2 accounts are easy to maintain.

Stand Chart esaver has frequent promotions to give you good interest on your incremental balance and has no minimum balance to maintain.

For a start, you can transfer money over to stand chart during their promotional period then transfer all back to CIMB when the promotion is over

***
Sit back and relax, knowing that your money is working hard for you. From now till 31 May 2015, enjoy up to 1.40% p.a interest on eligible balance of up to S$1 million with no lock-in period and no minimum deposit, when you bring in incremental fresh funds* (compared to March 2015’s average daily balance). With e$aver, you can now indulge in what truly matters.

 

[IamBeeP]

One main limitation with esaver is that no atm card. You need to withdraw from bank personally or fast transfer to another account.

 

[djchris]

You can just link it to a debit card. I think mine was tied to an Xtrasaver card or something in the past.

 

[Biggus Dickus]

One main limitation with esaver is that no atm card. You need to withdraw from bank personally or fast transfer to another account.

Actually, I have no problems about not having an atm card since this is just gonna be a savings account that I will not touch. Even if I do use some money from here, it will be to transfer to an investment account via ibanking, so no issues there.

Might even be better without an atm card.

 

[Biggus Dickus]

You are actually on the right track, CIMB and standchart, based on your income & expenses.

This 2 accounts are easy to maintain.

Stand Chart esaver has frequent promotions to give you good interest on your incremental balance and has no minimum balance to maintain.

For a start, you can transfer money over to stand chart during their promotional period then transfer all back to CIMB when the promotion is over

***
Sit back and relax, knowing that your money is working hard for you. From now till 31 May 2015, enjoy up to 1.40% p.a interest on eligible balance of up to S$1 million with no lock-in period and no minimum deposit, when you bring in incremental fresh funds* (compared to March 2015’s average daily balance). With e$aver, you can now indulge in what truly matters.

Yeah I guess the irritating thing about the stanchart one is that you have to constantly see what the current promotion is. Might be a bit of a hassle if the promo is on and off. Might just take the CIMB route instead.

 

[zoossh]

Hi guys. Hoping to start a new savings account. Finally got a regular income coming in.

Which ones are good? I don't have a lot to put in at the start, maybe starting with 1k. Have done some minor research and hope to see what fellow sinkies are doing also. OCBC 360 is out for me, as my pay comes in the form of cheques, I don't have 4 bills to pay, and I don't spend so much.

Stanchart
Seems nice. 1.25% interest rate with no minimum deposit. But dunno this 1.25% is only up to May? Will probably give them a call to ask.

Maybank
Interest rate also not too bad. 1.2%. But will only enjoy that rate when you got 20k and above in savings. So not so attractive for me yet.

CIMB
0.8% on minimum $500, which is good!

Right now am learning towards CIMB and Stanchart. Probably head down to one of their branches to see if this interest rate is valid long term, or only until May. If long term will definitely choose them as they have higher. But if not, CIMB interest rates also decent. At least better than the shiat POSB is giving.

i suppose u dun spend 500 per month on credit card. in that case, see if u had someone close in the family, open a joint account with him or her. every two months, do a transfer between the two accounts as they use "incremental" scheme to deny u of your interest of your pre-existing savings.

current promotion ends in end may.

account a: deposit till end may
account b: transfer in on 1st jun, till end of promotion date
account a: transfer in on 1st day of next promotion period.

if such transfer bothers you, then stick to cimb. note that if u had very little deposit, then the interest between 0.8 and 1.2% will not differs a lot.

 

[IamBeeP]

Actually, I have no problems about not having an atm card since this is just gonna be a savings account that I will not touch. Even if I do use some money from here, it will be to transfer to an investment account via ibanking, so no issues there.

Might even be better without an atm card.

That's what I am having now. Use esaver mainly for scb trading account. If I were to open another account with scb, need to 'park' at least $3k. So I rather not having the atm or debit card.

Just a tinker for u to ponder, scb has no minimum trading commission. Another way for your money to grow but errrrrr, if you're willing to take 'calculated' risk.

 

[mdax23]

i m only interested to know the esaver rate for jun 15. skali no promo drop back to 0.05% den its byebye.

 

[GenerationX]

is it too late to open the account now? I get 1.25% only until end may? then no sense to open liao is it?

 

[Perisher]

is it too late to open the account now? I get 1.25% only until end may? then no sense to open liao is it?

Been using this promo for 3 years and on going... they usually extend it. But as with every other promo, they can cancel it after a period of notice, or in this case, without much notice since it's already stated for certain period.

I would still encourage you to sign up and worry later. If not, 3 years later, I would be here not earning anyway.

 

[GenerationX]

Been using this promo for 3 years and on going... they usually extend it. But as with every other promo, they can cancel it after a period of notice, or in this case, without much notice since it's already stated for certain period.

I would still encourage you to sign up and worry later. If not, 3 years later, I would be here not earning anyway.

haha. ok. tmr I go the *bank* apply if got time.

 

[malagas01]

Maybank I -savvy offering up to 1.4 %

 

[GenerationX]

standchart no min bal but need incremental per mth , how much u start with and increase how much monthly?

 

[Perisher]

standchart no min bal but need incremental per mth , how much u start with and increase how much monthly?

Actually, it's not incremental per month, it's incremental as compared to the ADB of a particular month they choose each time they extend the promo only.

So let's say you have $0 in March, anything you bring in into your account in April and May will all be getting bonus interests, 100%. So what you need is to shift $$ around, just shift into other account and shift back a month later.

If you find this too troublesome, use CIMB, they auto do the step up interest which is the incremental per month thing.

I will be away in this period so won't be replying much. Hope others can come and share.

 

[zoossh]

i m only interested to know the esaver rate for jun 15. skali no promo drop back to 0.05% den its byebye.

nobody would know until 1st jun. just keep a bookmark on scb promotion page. anyway open account no need min sum, just open when u free, but do give some time as scb can be very slow in account opening (hrs in waiting, one account opening can take 30-60mins). and if your time is precious, then it helps to open both single/joint, and get your partner to go too with his/her ic.

 

[liquidy]

Actually, it's not incremental per month, it's incremental as compared to the ADB of a particular month they choose each time they extend the promo only.

So let's say you have $0 in March, anything you bring in into your account in April and May will all be getting bonus interests, 100%. So what you need is to shift $$ around, just shift into other account and shift back a month later.

If you find this too troublesome, use CIMB, they auto do the step up interest which is the incremental per month thing.

I will be away in this period so won't be replying much. Hope others can come and share.

do i still have to shift money around if i use the account solely for savings? IE, every month ill transfer $x into that account and will not be transferring any money out..

In the above scenario, I am effectively having incremental every month..

 

[GenerationX]

ok lei. today i go open, 15min ok liao.
after 31st may if no continue, normal is 0.1%. you may empty ur acc after that since no need keep min bal. this is being told to me when i ask abt wanting to close account if no more 1.25%

 

[Perisher]

do i still have to shift money around if i use the account solely for savings? IE, every month ill transfer $x into that account and will not be transferring any money out..

In the above scenario, I am effectively having incremental every month..

If you want to use solely for savings and don't want to deal with shifting, CIMB's 0.8% is the best.

OCBC and Esaver have to do shifting to get most of the benefits.

 

[wts2013]

aiyah, no need think too much, scb esaver promo usually either extend or renew. If extend, means your money to continue to earn the promo interest based on current balance as compared to Mar balance. If renew, means they start a new comparison mth, ie using May balance to calculate the money which can earn the highest interest. They usually announce on the first day of month, ie June 1 or 2, check website, newspaper or sms. Sometimes promo only given to PB customers. But now so competitive, not surprised if promo continues.

So take action only when they announce lor.

Why go for lower interest at cimb when scb esaver pays u more?