Money Hacks Ep 42: How to get bonus interest in bank-and-earn accounts

8:42 mins

Synopsis: In this podcast series every Monday, The Straits Times and The Business Times break down actionable financial tips.

This episode is aimed at those who have just started working, or are drawing a regular salary, and want to know how they - and also young married millennial couples - can use bank-and-earn products better, so they can earn more interest with the money that goes regularly into their accounts each month. Helping us to make better sense of it all is Ms Priscilla Joseph, vice-president of consumer banking for DBS Bank.

Our questions:

1. What are bank-and-earn accounts and why are those offered by the major banks (such as UOB One, DBS Multiplier and OCBC 360) better than basic savings accounts?
2. Each bank has its own specific product calculators online for you to type in your salary, or minimum credit card spend. What are the key basic criteria you should concentrate on, in order not to overstretch yourself?
3. Do these bank-and-earn accounts serve you best if you have a regular monthly salary? What if you are married and are self-employed or a freelancer in the gig economy?

4. We work through the example of a new-to-the-workforce graduate with a credited median salary of $2,800 (excluding CPF), and a credit card spend per month of $200, which is manageable in paying back monthly outstanding amounts, to avoid credit debt. With two categories above ticked off, the eligible interest rate is 1.85% p.a. for the DBS Multiplier account, for example.

5. Many accounts give you bonus interest if you increase your bank account balance relative to the previous month. That can be hard to do if you constantly have bills to pay each month or, worse still, some bigger bills that come quarterly, or annually. What is a money hack to manage this? Tune in.

Produced by: Ernest Luis and Christopher Lim

Edited by: Adam Azlee

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