There are a number of banks which reward us for crediting our salary with them. While I used to default to Standard Chartered, my favorite bank, the interest rates of their Bonus$aver Account have been adjusted a number of times, from when I 1st signed up with them. And it’s starting to look less attractive to me. A simple person who spends on everyday basic stuff like food and groceries.
Hence it feels like it’s time to review what’s out there, after yet another round of adjustments. I’ve always been attracted by OCBC 360 Account so that’s on my list. And Trust recently restructured their interest rate to include salary crediting so that’s that as well.
I don’t invest nor insure with banks. No intention to do that anytime soon either. Hence those 2 categories are out for me. And I read in OCBC 360 Account’s product details that the additional interest rates are only for 12 months after purchase aka not forever (if I interpret correctly) so one will have to keep buying more and more? No thank you.
With that out of the way, there are a few key things to consider when choosing 1 bank over the other:
1. Max Cap: The maximum amount in the account that’ll enjoy the additional interest
2. Spending Requirement: What’s the minimum charge required to qualify for additional interest
3. Savings Amount: How much money are you planning to park at the account
Do note that most banks require your salary to be credited via GIRO to qualify. So it was interesting to see OCBC 360 Account accepts FAST & PayNow too, which is a nice touch.
TLDR: OCBC 360 Account triumphs until your savings amount exceeds S$203K. This is because Trust’s Max Cap is at S$500K, while OCBC’s Grow category requires an average daily balance (ADB) of S$200K. But then it’s easier to meet Trust’s Spend criteria…
Here’s my comparison table for your reference. Please note that the figures in the last 4 columns were determined using the banks’ online calculators:
