Standard Chartered Bonus$aver Current Account Promotion

Standard Chartered Bank is very aggressive in its acquisition of new depositors and is holding frequent roadshows at Plaza Singapura and other shopping malls in Singapore to promote its Bonus$aver account by giving away sign gifts to new customers. The current promotion runs from 1 June to 31 Aug 2014.

Depending on whether you sign up online or at a branch, you can walk away with a Fitbit Flex / American Tourister Luggage with minimum deposit of $3,000 or a Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 / American Tourister Luggage and $100 CashBack with minimum deposit of $50,000.

You just need to spend a minimum of S$500 per month on your Bonus$aver card and you will be rewarded with 1.88% p.a. on the first S$25,000 of your account balance or S$470 per year.

Not bad for a current account. First cheque book is free and subsequent ones are chargeable at S$15 each. Another point to note is that a minimum daily balance of S$3,000 is required. Otherwise, a fall below fee of S$5 will be charged.

Please refer to website for more details.

CIMB StarSaver Account

CIMB is probably paying one of the highest interest rates of 0.8% p.a. on current account balances. The only conditions are a minimum initial deposit of S$5,000 and that you need to put in an incremental balance of at least S$500 every month for the 0.8% to apply on your entire balance. For amounts less than S$500, you still get to enjoy 0.5% p.a. If you decided to put in a lump sum, say $20,000, CIMB will automatically convert it into equal portions for you and allow you to enjoy the 0.8% p.a. from the first dollar.

There is no need to fulfil multiple conditions to enjoy the higher savings rate and with the FAST (Fast and Secure Transfer), funds can be transferred from other participating banks within seconds.

Some features that I find attractive are:
1. Free cheque book
2. Convenience of Internet banking
3. No fall below fee
4. No lock-in period

Please refer to the website for more details.