Best Bank Deposit Rates in Singapore as at January 2015

I am sure many of you like me, are very interested in comparing the deposit rates of the various major banks in Singapore. Of course, we are assuming here that you are simply going for the highest interest rates and no customer loyalty is considered as you may have your favourite bank and you decide to keep your funds with them either for sentimental reasons or out of sheer convenience.

Ideally, we should keep 6 months or more of living expenses as our emergency funds in liquid assets, that is, bank deposits. Which are the banks that can offer the highest deposit rates at different cash levels? Before you scoff at the measly interest that we can get from bank deposits nowadays, let me remind you that a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. Having a regular savings plan and by accumulating our wealth bit by bit, can we actually attain the goal of financial freedom in the end.

Best Deposit Rates as at January 2015

Assuming you have S$5,000 cash,
CIMB is probably the one bank that you may want to consider. Its CIMB StarSaver Account offers 0.8% p.a. interest on its current account and offers free cheque books. There is no fall below fee. You must be at least 18 years and above and put in a minimum initial deposit of S$5,000.

To enjoy the 0.8% p.a. on the entire account balance, simply top up the month-end balance by:

• maintaining an increasing balance with monthly deposits of a minimum amount OR
• placing a periodic lump sum deposits that will be automatically converted by CIMB Bank into equal portions for your account.

 

Interest Rate	Month-end incremental deposit
	CIMB StarSaver
	Checking and Savings Account
0.8% p.a.	S$500 or more
0.5% p.a.	Less than S$500

Please refer to my previous post on CIMB StarSaver here. For more details, please refer to the official website.


Assuming you have S$25,000 cash,

With the Standard Chartered Bonus$aver Account, you will receive 1.88% p.a.* on your savings up to a $25,000 balance when you charge $500 per month to your Bonus$aver World MasterCard Credit or Debit Card. That's $470 interest a year. Not too bad for consolidating your credit card spend and your savings with one bank.

Current promotion: Get a Samsung GALAXY Tab 3 or $100 CashBack when you sign-up online with a minimum deposit. Details found here.

Please refer to my previous post on Standard Chartered Bonus$aver Current Account here. For more details, please refer to the official website.
 

Assuming you have S$50,000 cash, 

You should open an OCBC 360 account which is still currently the best savings account that is very rewarding for us to consolidate our salary credit, GIRO transactions and credit card spendings  with one bank. That's $1,525 interest a year or a cool $127 a month or up to 3.05% p.a. on the first S$50,000 balance. It is very good for an account which allows you the flexibility of withdrawing funds as and when required.

So, how does it work? You can earn 0.05% per year base interest for account balances of up to S$200,000 or base interest of 0.15% per year on balances above S$200,000.

Bonus interest of extra 1% per year can be earned each when you do all or any of the following:
1. Credit your salary every month by GIRO of at least S$2,000
2. Pay any 3 bills every month either through internet banking or GIRO
3. Spend at least S$400 on your OCBC Credit Cards every month - only main cardholder only

These conditions are quite easy to achieve for the man in the street as compared to similar products like the DBS Multiplier Account.

Please refer to my previous post on OCBC 360 Account here. For more details, please refer to the official website.

With the DBS Multiplier Account, you can earn up to 2.08% p.a. on the first S$50,000 of your savings just through your regular banking with DBS of S$7,500 or more per month. That's $900 to $1,040 interest a year.

This product is aimed at rewarding customers for consolidating their banking needs with DBS. The higher interest will be awarded if any or all of these add up to at least S$7,500 per month:
1. Your Salary is credited to a DBS / POSB account
2. Your Credit Card spendings with DBS / POSB Credit Cards
3. Your Home Loan from DBS / POSB
4. Your Investment Dividends are credited to a DBS / POSB account

Judging from the monthly cashflow amounts, DBS is targeting at the above average earners, spenders, those with big mortgages and the investment saavy folks with deep pockets. However, the redeeming factors are DBS includes all monthly credit card spendings of supplementary cardholders as well. For the PSOB/DBS home loan instalment repayments, both CPF and cash components are taken into consideration.

Total monthly banking with DBS or POSB	Interest Rate (p.a.)1
< S$7,500	0.05%
S$7,500 to < S$10,000	1.08%^
S$10,000 to < S$12,500	1.28%
S$12,500 to < S$15,000	1.48%
S$15,000 to < S$20,000	1.68%
S$20,000 and above	2.08%
1Remaining balance over and above the first S$50,000 will be accorded the prevailing base interest rate for that month.
^Effective from 1 Oct 2014, the interest rate of this tier is revised from 0.98% p.a. to 1.08% p.a.

Please refer to my previous post on DBS Multiplier Account here. For more details, please refer to the official website.

Fixed Deposits
If you have funds that you can stash away for 12 months, you may consider placing a time deposit to get higher interest rates.

Assuming you have S$25,000 cash or more, 
placing a 12-month time deposit with CIMB will earning you an interest of 1.25% p.a. Please refer to my previous post on this here.

Assuming you have S$30,000 cash or more, 
placing a 10-month time deposit with HSBC will get you an interest of 1.25% p.a (HSBC Advance) or 1.35% p.a. (HSBC Premier). Please refer to my previous post on this here.

Update @ 27 Jan 2015
You can also place a 12-month fixed deposit with RHB Bank and get an interest of 1.38% p.a. plus a Mistral Naturai Air Fryer with a S$200,000 deposit. Please refer to my latest post on this here.

Assuming you have S$50,000 cash or more,  
placing a 12-month time deposit with Maybank will earn you an interest of 1.35% p.a. and a 24-month time deposit yields an interest of 1.55% p.a. Please refer to my previous post on this here.

Assuming you have S$150,000 cash or more,  
placing it with ANZ Bank for 12 months will earn you an interest of 1.38% p.a.
Please refer to my previous post on this here.

So, have you decided where to park your emergency funds based on the above? Let us know if you know of other bank promotions which we may have missed out.

Update @ 27 Jan 2015
Assuming you have S$1,000 cash or more, 
placing a 12-month "time deposit" with POSB will earning you an interest of 1.88% p.a (the highest in the market now) plus an $88 cash ang pow if you are the first 10,000 qualifying customers. Please refer to my latest post on this here.