Standard Chartered ‘Invest or Insure’ Campaign

Be richly rewarded when you invest or insure with Standard Chartered from now to 30 June 2015.
Insure and earn 8% p.a. interest on a 3-month SGD Time Deposit (up to a maximum deposit of S$20,000) with Standard Chartered Priority Banking.

Eligibility	Earn
Take up a Prudential insurance plan with a minimum monthly premium of S$800	8% p.a interest on a 3-month SGD Time Deposit

Eligibility	Rewards
Every S$150,000 fresh funds invested in eligible products	S$250 worth of Takashimaya shopping vouchers (up to S$1,000)

Welcome Gift for New Priority Customers                 
Plus receive additional S$200 worth of shopping vouchers, exclusive rewards and Priority Banking Visa Infinite privileges when you start a Priority Banking relationship with us today.


Please refer to the website for more details.

ANZ Time Deposit Promotion

Enjoy attractive interest of 1.50% p.a. upfront with ANZ Time Deposit.

Placement Amount	11-Month ANZ Instant Interest Time Deposit Interest Rate
SGD150,000 and above	1.50% p.a.
Below SGD150,000	0.90% p.a.

Promotion is valid until 31 March 2015.


Please refer to the website for more details.

HSBC 6-Month and 12-Month Time Deposit Promotion

Enjoy up to 1.35% p.a.* on a 6-month SGD time deposit and attractive rewards* worth up to S$450 and more.

Time Deposit Option	New and Existing	New and Existing
(SGD)	HSBC Premier Customers	HSBC Advance Customers
6-month	1.35% p.a.	1.30% p.a.

The minimum and maximum fresh funds placement amounts for the SGD TMD Promotion are S$30,000 and S$1,500,000 respectively. For placement amount greater than S$1,500,000, please contact either HSBC or your Relationship Manager.

Minimum placement amount in fresh funds	Rewards+
S$200,000	S$50 Dairy Farm shopping vouchers
S$500,000	S$150 Dairy Farm shopping vouchers
S$1,000,000	S$450 Dairy Farm shopping vouchers

Time Deposit Option	New and Existing	New and Existing
(SGD)	HSBC Premier Customers	HSBC Advance Customers
12-month	1.40% p.a.	1.35% p.a.

Minimum placement amount in fresh funds	Rewards+
S$200,000	S$80 Dairy Farm shopping vouchers
S$500,000	S$250 Dairy Farm shopping vouchers
S$1,000,000	S$650 Dairy Farm shopping vouchers

+ Only HSBC Premier customers residing in Singapore who place minimum fresh funds of S$200,000 in a new 6-month or 12-month SGD TMD during the Promotional Period are eligible to receive Dairy Farm shopping vouchers.


Promotion is valid till 31 March 2015.


Please refer to the website for more details.

Bank of China (BOC) Time Deposits PLUS Promotion

Enjoy high interest rates for fresh funds with Bank of China on SGD and RMB Time Deposits with tenors of 6 to 15 months.


For SGD Time Deposits

Tenor	Promotional Rates for SGD (p.a.)
	First Cycle	Second Cycle
3 + 3 months	1.64%	1.68%
3 + 6 months	1.64%	1.70%
3 + 9 months	1.64%	1.74%
6 + 9 months	1.68%	1.76%

For RMB Time Deposits

Tenor	Promotional Rates for RMB (p.a.)
	First Cycle	Second Cycle
3 + 3 months	3.70%	3.85%
3 + 6 months	3.70%	4.00%
3 + 9 months	3.70%	4.10%
6 + 9 months	3.78%	4.25%

Promotion is valid till 31 March 2015.


Please refer to the website for more details.

Bank of China (BOC) Time Deposit Promotion

Enjoy high interest rates on time deposits only for new or existing Prestigious Wealth Management Unit (“PWMU”) clients with fresh funds no less than SGD1,000,000 in Singapore dollars currency.

Currencies	SGD	USD	RMB
Promotional rates*-%p.a.	1.60%	1.25%	3.78%
Tenor	12-month	6-month	6-month
Min Deposit Amount (SGD)	1,000,000	250,000	10,000

Welcome Gift
New PWMU clients can enjoy attractive rates and receive S$500 Takashimaya Shopping Vouchers at the same time.


Promotion is valid till 31 March 2015.


Please refer to the website for more details.

Maybank Foreign Currency Time Deposit Promotion

Enjoy attractive foreign currency interest rates below when you place a time deposit of at least 10,000 units of the respective currencies with Maybank.

Currency	3-Month rates (% p.a.)	6-Month rates (% p.a.)
AUD	2.70%	2.90%
NZD	3.80%	4.30%
USD	0.80%	0.85%

Promotion is available till 31 March 2015.

Please refer to the website for more details.

Standard Chartered 6-Month and 12-Month SGD Time Deposit CNY Promotion

Usher in the Year of the Goat with auspicious gifts of gold from Standard Chartered Bank. These are  the highest interest rates offered by Singapore banks for a 6 Months SGD Time Deposit.

SGD Time Deposit
Offers	Qualifying Transactions
1.40% p.a. interest for 6-month†	Deposit a minimum of S$25,000
1.35% p.a. interest for 12-month#
1.40% p.a. interest for 6-month†	Deposit a minimum of S$128,000
1.35% p.a. interest for 12-month#
+
A choice of two 24K Gold-Plated Year of the Goat Medallion Coins OR a Coin Set

+ The 6 Months SGD Time Deposit Promotion runs from 7 to 28 February 2015.
# The 12 Months SGD Time Deposit Promotion runs from 23 to 28 February 2015.

Please refer to the website for more details.

Sing Investments Lunar New Year & 50th Anniversary Fixed Deposit Promotion

Sing Investments is now offering attractive interest rates on its 1-year and 2-year fixed deposits and giving out abalone and razor clams to sweeten the deal this Lunar New Year.

  

Placement Amount	Fixed Deposit Interest Rate
	1-Year	2-Year
S$28,000 to $67,999	1.28% p.a. + Gift Set A *	1.38% p.a. + Gift Set C *
S$68,000 and above	1.38% p.a. + Gift Set B *	1.48% p.a. + Gift Set D *

* Notes :

Gift Set A : 1 Can NZ Abalone + 1 Can Razor Clams

Gift Set B : 1 Can Australia Abalone + 1 Can Razor Clams

Gift Set A : 2 Cans NZ Abalone

Gift Set A : 2 Cans Australia Abalone

 

Please refer to the website for more details.

Bank of China (BOC) RMB Time Deposit Promotion

Enjoy promotional interest rates and receive free gifts with RMB Time Deposits with Bank of China. Limited to fresh funds of RMB 3,000 and above only.

Deposit Amount	Promotional Interest Rates - % p.a.
(RMB)	3-Month	6-Month	9-Month
3,000 and above	3.00%	3.20%	3.30%

Deposit Amount	Promotional Interest Rates for	Free Gift
(RMB)	12-Month Tenor - % p.a.
3,000 to 49,999	3.50%	A Limited Edition Plush Panda
50,000 to 1,999,999		A Travel Adaptor
2,000,000 and above		S$50 Takashimaya Shopping Voucher

Promotion runs from 20 January 2015 for a limited time period only.

Please refer to the website for more details.

Point to note is that Bank of China is offering higher interest rates for RMB time deposits than Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) Bank in this promotion.

Bank of China (BOC) Lunar New Year SGD Time Deposit Promotion

Usher in the Lunar New Year with high promotional rates plus attractive shopping vouchers with Bank of China's SGD Time Deposits of S$50,000 and above.

Deposit Amount (SGD)	Tenor	Promotional Rates	Promotional Gifts
		(p.a.)
$50,000 to $199,999	9-month	1.38%	-
	12-month	1.38%	S$50 Shopping Voucher
	36-month	1.43%	S$400 Shopping Voucher
$200,000 and above	9-month	1.39%	-
	12-month	1.39%	S$300 Shopping Voucher
	36-month	1.45%	S$1,600 Shopping Voucher

Promotion period is from 26 January 2015 for a limited time period only.

Please refer to the website for more details.

Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) RMB and SGD Time Deposit Promotion

ICBC Singapore is celebrating its new Paya Lebar branch opening by offering attractive rates for its RMB and SGD time deposits. ICBC has 5 branches in Singapore now.

RMB Amount	3-Month	6-Month	12-Month
Below RMB 5 Million	2.80%	2.90%	3.40%
RMB 5 Million (inclusive) and above	3.00%	3.20%	3.50%

SGD Amount	12-Month
SGD 500-5,000	1.20%
SGD 5,000-200,000	1.35%
SGD 200,000 (inclusive) and above	1.40%

For those of us who have less to put away for 12 months, ICBC offers a pretty decent rate of 1.2% p.a. for amounts starting from S$500 while most other banks are looking at amounts upwards of $25,000.

Please refer to the website for more details.

Citigold and AIA Insurance Products and Time Deposit Promotion

At Citigold, meet both your financial goals and insurance needs that help protect your retirement plans. From now till 31 March 2015, take up an AIA insurance plan with Citigold and earn 5% p.a. on your SGD Time Deposit with new funds.

Placement Amount	3 Months Tenure (p.a.)
Minimum S$40,000	5.00%

Please refer to the website for more details.

RHB Bank Lunar New Year Fixed Deposit Promotion

Simply open a Fixed Deposit account with a minimum deposit of S$30,000 and enjoy a 1.38% p.a. interest rate on a 6-month tenure. Receive a free Mistral Naturai Air Fryer* with a minimum deposit of S$200,000. This promotion ends 28 Feb 2015.

* Mistral Naturai Air Fryer redemption is limited to first 100 customers only

Please refer to the website for more details.

POSB Savings Account 1.88% p.a. Promotion

Enjoy 1.88% p.a.* for 12 months with POSB when you top up your savings account between S$1,000 and S$1,000,000. First 10,000 customers will get a S$88 Hong Bao each! This is one of the best deals in town for a 12-month "time deposit" as funds will be earmarked for 12 months and not be available for withdrawal during the same period.

To qualify:

1. Register by 28 February 2015.
2. Complete a one-time top-up by 28 February 2015.
3. Maintain top up amount for 12 months.

Please refer to the website for more details.

The last time POSB introduced a similar promotion in Dec 2014, it was giving 1.5% p.a. for funds earmarked for 6 months. Seems like the interest rates are climbing much faster than expected and depositors could expect better rates in the near future.

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.