UOB One vs DBS Multiplier

Jes 0 Comments

This is a long overdue post. A lot of bloggers have already commented on the high interest rates of banks this past few months. I find that I still have to drill on the essentials so that more of you understand how big a deal this is. If you do not like monitoring your savings, now it's time to do so. If you account is under a different savings account and not UOB One or DBS Multiplier, you will also have to set up a new one. 

UOB One Account

Tiered 7.8%, so it's not for the full $100,000


UOB One boasts of the highest interest rate and Fixed Deposit account currently, up to 7.8%. This is in tiered status, which amount to 5% interests in total. That's only for people with $100,000 in the bank but this $100,000 will actually give $500 interest every month. That's a staggeringly high amount for doing nothing, or next to nothing. 

2 criteria to get the high interests:

Criteria 1) Spend $500 on a UOB credit or debit card. 

I spend more than $1,000 a month for my household so this is manageable. Pair it with the UOB One Credit Card and you will get a further $50 (spending $500 every month) or $100 (spend $1000 every month) every quarter.

Criteria 2a) Credit minimum $1,600 for your salary. 

That's around $2,001 gross salary because you need to deduct CDA/Mendaki amount and only 80% will be credited into the bank after CPF. This is also the minimum amount to apply for most credit cards. Before you complain you earn lesser than that, which my employees like to tell me, you can also skip this and go for the next criteria.

Criteria 2b) Make 3 Giro transactions every month. 

Giro means you pay the bills automatically every month. Bills such as utilities, mobile phone, internet, credit cards, HDB parking, school fees.  The interest is lower if you opt for this and do without salary credit. Still better than the usual 0.05% interest rate. 


The different tiers means you only get the relevant interest rates for that particular amount only


I don't have $100,000 but because the interest rates get higher the more I have, I asked my husband to deposit his funds with me instead of having 2 separate lower interest. Hooray, more free money!  

Pros: 

Low entry barrier 

Easy to meet the criteria

Cons:

No idea when interest rates will be lowered

Troublesome to keep track of $500 spending 


DBS Multiplier

I have a POSB kids savings account since young and it's always there because it has no minimum balance required. Unlike OCBC 360 account which is a current account and requires a minimum of $3000. On a side note, I cancelled my OCBC 365 credit card many years ago because it wants me to pay for subscription fees. If balance falls below $3000, you will be deducted $2. 

To apply for the DBS Multiplier account, I got into my POSB/DBS Digibank app, click "More" at the right button, click "Deposit Accounts" and you can see DBS Multiplier Account there. Sign in with SingPass and you will get the account in a few minutes. Shockingly fuss free compared to pre-covid where I have to go to the bank to do it. Even the GIRO applications can be done online without mailing back the forms, technology rocks! 


2 criteria to get the high interests:

Criteria 1) Credit your salary. 

No minimum value needed but a higher amount would count as higher eligible transactions to give higher interest rates.

Criteria 2a) Paylah or DBS credit card spending. 

I just applied a POSB Everyday card because Sheng Siong is near me. That's 5% rebates which is a lot for daily groceries. I mentioned that I spend around $1000 but that fluctuates so $500 would go to UOB One while the rest would go to POSB Everyday.  Confusing? Not really, just pay with the Everyday card when I go Sheng Siong. The rest is non consequential. 

Criteria 2b) DBS home loan, insurance or investments. 

It's suitable if you have outstanding DBS home loan. I blogged previously that I changed to DBS home loan from HDB loan at the lowest rate of 1.5% for 5 years. I will let you know if I regretted it in 2 years' time. If you and your spouse is paying half of the home loan, the total amount will be eligible. For example, you pay $800 and your spouse pay $800. The full amount of $1,600 is counted towards the eligible transactions. 

If you are doing investments with DBS then that's helpful. For me, I switched the dividends deposit to DBS and it qualifies as the eligible transaction. If you are someone with lots of dividends monthly, then this account is actually quite suitable for you. Or if you are investing regularly with DBS Vickers, this would be good. 


Interest depends on your eligible monthly transactions

I keep DBS account as my secondary account as I always have some GIRO transactions linked to it so there is always a small amount of money there. Plus, DBS Paylah is very aggressive with their promotions, especially the $3 discount every Friday for all hawker meals. 

Pros: 

Useful if you are already in the DBS ecosphere

Good as secondary account, no minimum amount needed in the account or minimum spending

Cons:

Eligible transactions fluctuate every month especially on the amount of dividends that are credited or transactions made.

The tiers are more confusing but it's indicated on your digibank app. Example shown below.



I have got 1.8% out of $3,500 deposit, which is $5 interest

Conclusion

DBS Multiplier is a bit more confusing and gives lower interests than UOB One so you don't have to consider it. Pump as much money as you can into UOB One now. If you have extra money lying around under your bed and is currently a DBS home loan customer, it's good as a secondary account. 

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P.S: Not a sponsored post. 

Jes

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