OCBC makes fourth round of rate revisions on 360 account

OCBC will again cut rates on its flagship savings account, marking its fourth round of revisions since May last year.

From Feb 1, balances up to S$25,000 in the OCBC 360 account will earn 0.3 per cent in salary credit bonus interest, down from the prevailing 0.4 per cent established last October.

Balances between S$25,000 and S$50,000 will earn 0.6 per cent interest - down from 0.8 per cent - while balances between S$50,000 and S$75,000 will continue to earn an unchanged 1.2 per cent interest.

"If and when the interest rate situation improves, you may be assured that we will adjust our product offerings accordingly," said OCBC in a statement on its website.

Its banking peers DBS and Standard Chartered also recently lowered rates on their respective savings accounts to reflect the prolonged low-interest rate environment.

As at Jan 1, the interest rate for StanChart's popular Jumpstart savings account has been slashed to 0.4 per cent per annum for the first S$20,000 - down from 1 per cent previously - and will remain at 0.1 per cent for balances above S$20,000. The bank previously halved rates in July 2020.

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DBS also on Jan 1 made its the third cut to the Multiplier account since May 2020. The Multiplier account offers customers tiered interest rates that are stepped up if they have more transactions with the bank, and transact in larger amounts. The determined rate is then applied on the account balance.

For example, when customers credit an income stream - defined as a salary, dividends, or both - into the account and make just one more DBS transaction in an eligible category to total between S$2,000 and S$2,500 per month in transaction value, interest earned on the first S$25,000 has been reduced to 0.4 per cent, from 0.7 per cent previously.

Other financial institutions have followed suit.

Last November, insurtech Singlife lowered interest payouts on the Singlife account to up to 2 per cent for the first S$10,000. They were previously at up to 2.5 per cent. The crediting rate of up to 1 per cent for the next S$90,000 remains.

In September, Robo-adviser StashAway reduced the projected interest rate for its cash management portfolio StashAway Simple from 1.9 per cent to 1.4 per cent.