This is not shocking given that the US has continued to maintain a low interest rate environment.
Also, the news of OCBC 360 account lowering interest rate is not new, but what's new is that they are doing it the 2nd time this year. The following table shows that for the average person with savings less than $35k, your interest rate of 1.2-1.4% has been cut to a measley 0.6% (from Seedly).
Furthermore, the marvelous SCB JumpStart account has cut interest rates on the first 20k from 2% to 1% (w.e.f 1 Jul). This is a no-frills (dare I say best) savings account for 18-26 year olds!
And just when I thought with the new change, SCB JumpStart is more or less equivalent to CIMB FastSaver account, interest rates was revised (pic from Seedly) to 0.5% (w.e.f. 15 Jul)!
Oh no!
In my previous post, I shared about switching to DBS multiplier account given the achievable 1.8% interest rate for me. However, after more thought, I realised that BOC SmartSaver account can yield higher interest rate for me.
How it works:
Category
(fulfilled monthly) |
Interest Rate (p.a.)
|
|---|---|
Card Spend ($500 - S$1,499)
|
0.80%
|
Card Spend (above S$1,500)
|
1.60%
|
Salary Crediting ($2,000 to $5,999)
|
0.80%
|
Salary Crediting (above S$6,000)
|
1.20%
|
Bill Payment (3 bills of at least S$30 each)
|
0.35%
|
Extra Savings (At least ONE fulfilled condition, applied on balance above $60k, capped at $1mil)
|
0.60%
|
As it stands, I can easily hit 2.35% (excluding base interest) interest. But let's not get too excited. Given that many banks have already revised their interest rates, it's a matter of time before BOC does so as well.
Since when they might revise the interest rates is still unknown, I still decided to give them a shot and open the SmartSaver account. To my horror, their account opening is extremely manual, in the sense that I had to go down to their branch to open the account. I wasn't able to do it online. Moreoever, because I rejected a debit card for the account on my first visit, I had to go back to the physical branch for the 2nd time to get my debit card once I realised it was a mistake not to own it.
Apart from this, I was told that I had to go back again once I receive my credit card to link the credit card to my account so that the card spending can be counted. GOSH!!!!! I've called their hotline a couple of times now and every time I'm seeking to do something, I can expect "No ma'am, you have to go down to our branch to do it." 😐 Funnily, their hotline has a specific option for complaints and suggestions. HAHAA maybe it's for people like me who are so frustrated and need a listening ear.
I have also been warned by a friend who has a BOC account for years that their online ibanking interface is really... dated. I mean CIMB's interface is bad, but i've been assured BOC's is worse. But if many people can put up with it for better interest rates, I guess I'm fine too. Their mobile banking app seems okay though.
Another rant I have is that their minimum spending for good rebates on credit cards is really high. at $800 a month?!? and they have such specific caps. Unfortunately for me, I didn't find a very attractive credit card (family, zaobao, qoo10, sheng siong) and settled for a Qoo10 world card which allows for decent rebates from Qoo10 with a min $400 eligible spending and better rebates at $800 min spending. The only downside is that the rebate is in the form of Qmoney which is pretty much locked in Qoo10 platform.
It does seem like these days most of the credit cards require a very high minimum eligible spending of $800 for the rebates (otherwise 0.1-0.3% rebates). I remember it used to be $500, then $600, before $800. 😐 I love my no minimum spend required credit cards dearly. Just a pity that these HISAs that try to get you to spend don't offer such cards! But I guess that's the point right. They lure you in with HISAs with spending criteria and cross-sell the credit cards lol.
