Get 1.8% - 2.13% p.a. realistically on the first S$100,000.
Salary crediting is a precious commodity. Many of the banks reward you if you do credit your salary into your high-yield savings account with them, but with so many options and only one salary credit choice, which one should you choose?
For those of you who earn more than $3,000 and spend at least $500 each month on a credit card, you have two options to choose from: OCBC 360 or Standard Chartered Bonus$aver.
Notes:
For the reasons above, I've zoomed into OCBC vs. SCB for someone who can do a salary credit + credit card spend + bill payment, and in this comparison, the Standard Chartered Bonus$aver wins hands down.
Since several of you have asked me about this account recently, I'll zoom into the SCB offering today.
Here's the criteria fulfilment:
If you've $75,000 of funds to park aside, you could be getting more than $1,600 every year through this account. Here's how the interest breaks down (feel free to play with your own variations here):
![]()
![]()
However, if you're a disciplined saver and you're confident of increasing your monthly savings by at least $500 every month, then OCBC 360 would serve you better.
![]()
Remember to play around with the calculators on both banks websites before you commit to opening an account with them.
Sign up gifts:
From what I can see, Standard Chartered is currently offering three different gifts - free wireless headphones or a travel luggage - depending on how much funds ($10k - $50k min.) and whether you open an account with them online or at one of their branches.
Personally, I'd always pick cold, hard cash over physical gifts anytime, and if you feel the same, then SingSaver's promotion looks more attractive as you can get S$100 when you open a SCB Bonus$aver savings account through them.
You can apply here, and read the terms and conditions here. I can't really find any catch except that you need to remember to submit the rewards form to SingSaver, but that's about it.
As for the relevant credit card(s) to pair with the account, you might want to take a look at the Standard Chartered Unlimited Cashback Card, which is my top pick among the bank's 5 credit card offerings and gives you 1.5% unlimited cashback.
Otherwise, if you find that OCBC's 360 account gives you more interest in your circumstances, then a good credit card from them would be their OCBC 365 Card - just note the (higher) minimum spending of $800 monthly for the bonus cashback.
Between the two accounts, which do you prefer?
With love,
Budget Babe
Disclosure: Affiliate links have been included in the above article. If you choose to sign up via my affiliate link, I'll earn a small referral sum at no additional cost to you.
Salary crediting is a precious commodity. Many of the banks reward you if you do credit your salary into your high-yield savings account with them, but with so many options and only one salary credit choice, which one should you choose?
For those of you who earn more than $3,000 and spend at least $500 each month on a credit card, you have two options to choose from: OCBC 360 or Standard Chartered Bonus$aver.
Notes:
- DBS Multiplier is my favourite, but you could technically still fulfil the salary credit requirement without using your own, simply by teaming up with your spouse and opening a joint account to leverage on one person's salary credit. Read more about my review of the account and other hacks on how to maximise your DBS Multiplier interest here.
- UOB One is another fantastic option, but you could still qualify for the bonus interest by spending $500 on their credit card (the UOB One Card is a pretty good cashback card) + 3 GIRO transactions. This frees up your salary credit for another account.
- Bank of China SmartSaver offers a generous headline rate as well, but it works better for high income-earners (more than $6,000 a month) and high spenders (>$1,500 credit card spend each month). One of their biggest downsides, though, is that their online banking interface is extremely cumbersome, and they've much fewer bank branches across Singapore. If you don't mind the hassle of navigating a poor user-friendly site in exchange for higher interest, then this account might just be best for you.
Since several of you have asked me about this account recently, I'll zoom into the SCB offering today.
Here's the criteria fulfilment:
- Salary credit of min. $3,000
- Spend at least $500 monthly on any SCB credit card
- 3 bill payment of min. $50 each
Insure or invest with SCBI won't do this, and you might want to think twice too
If you've $75,000 of funds to park aside, you could be getting more than $1,600 every year through this account. Here's how the interest breaks down (feel free to play with your own variations here):
I personally would not even consider the other bonus tiers for SCB Bonus$aver for the following reasons:
- Insure: SCB requires you to pay at least $12,000 every year on a Prudential regular life insurance policy bought through the bank. For some context, a $500k whole life policy with critical illness cover would only cost you slightly over $3,000 in premiums every year.
- Invest: You'll need to invest at least $30,000 in an eligible unit trust sold by the bank to fulfil this criteria, and SCB specifically excludes ETFs and regular savings plans which I've mentioned are good investment instruments to look at for beginners (unlike the DBS Multiplier, which rewards you for these!)
Never commit to something long-term for the sake of your short-term (bonus) interest. You're only more likely to regret that later on.
So this would equate to salary credit + credit card spend + 3 bill payments on the SCB account to enjoy higher and sustainable interest. In contrast, performing the same actions on the OCBC 360 account would give you about $140 less every year. However, if you earn less than $3,000 of salary then OCBC would be a better choice between the two, due to its lower ($2,000) salary credit requirement.
However, if you're a disciplined saver and you're confident of increasing your monthly savings by at least $500 every month, then OCBC 360 would serve you better.
Remember to play around with the calculators on both banks websites before you commit to opening an account with them.
Sign up gifts:
From what I can see, Standard Chartered is currently offering three different gifts - free wireless headphones or a travel luggage - depending on how much funds ($10k - $50k min.) and whether you open an account with them online or at one of their branches.
Personally, I'd always pick cold, hard cash over physical gifts anytime, and if you feel the same, then SingSaver's promotion looks more attractive as you can get S$100 when you open a SCB Bonus$aver savings account through them.
You can apply here, and read the terms and conditions here. I can't really find any catch except that you need to remember to submit the rewards form to SingSaver, but that's about it.
As for the relevant credit card(s) to pair with the account, you might want to take a look at the Standard Chartered Unlimited Cashback Card, which is my top pick among the bank's 5 credit card offerings and gives you 1.5% unlimited cashback.
Otherwise, if you find that OCBC's 360 account gives you more interest in your circumstances, then a good credit card from them would be their OCBC 365 Card - just note the (higher) minimum spending of $800 monthly for the bonus cashback.
Between the two accounts, which do you prefer?
With love,
Budget Babe
Disclosure: Affiliate links have been included in the above article. If you choose to sign up via my affiliate link, I'll earn a small referral sum at no additional cost to you.