Pros
- Low maintenance
- Salary crediting requirement can be easily replaced
- Low initial deposit and average balance requirement
- Up to 2.14% p.a. effective interest
Cons
- Not the highest interest in the market
- Bonus rates depend on total balance
- No reward for incremental growth of savings
- No bonus interest for users who purchase multiple UOB products
Most savings accounts have lots of hoops to jump through for bonus interest: buying insurance, investing, taking out a loan, or crediting your salary to name a few.
Not so for the UOB One Account.
Instead, this savings account is straightforward with its requirements. Pair this with a UOB card and a minimum spend of S$500 and you’re already halfway there.
The newly revised rates make it even better. It used to be that the max interest you could earn was 2.5%. Now, it’s up to 3.6%.
So let’s take a look at this savings account today, including:
- Eligibility, fees, and charges
- Account interest rates and how to maximise them
- What card to pair it with
- How does the UOB One Account compare to other savings accounts?
- Whom this savings account is best for
Eligibility, Fees, and Charges
| Eligibility | 18 years and above |
| Minimum Initial Deposit | S$1,000 |
| Fall-Below Fees | S$5 (Waived for first 6 months) |
| Monthly Balance Requirements | Monthly average balance should not fall below S$1,000 |
| Early Account Closure Fees | S$30 for accounts closed within 6 months from opening |
| Current Account Opening Promotions (Ends 31 October 2022) |
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In line with its design as a low-maintenance account, the requirements here are low. The UOB One Account requires a minimum initial deposit of S$1,000, which is the same amount you’ll have to maintain to avoid the fall-below fee.
Most other savings accounts – like the DBS Multiplier, OCBC 360, or Standard Chartered Bonus$aver – require at least a S$3,000 minimum average monthly balance.
How to Maximise Interest on Your Savings
Like the DBS Multiplier, you’ll earn more interest when you keep more cash in the account. You’ll need to have savings of at least S$75,000 to earn that maximum 3.6% annual interest, although this rate is capped at S$100,000. (Anything past that amount only earns 0.05% interest.)
For the best interest, you’ll need to:
- Spend at least S$500 monthly on an eligible UOB debit or credit card
- Credit at least S$1,600 salary OR make 3 GIRO debit transactions per month
It’s worth pointing out that you’ll get less bonus interest if you opt to make 3 GIRO transactions per month instead of crediting your salary. That’s a letdown for freelancers or the self-employed who don’t have a consistent monthly income.
| Account Balance | Spend at least S$500 on eligible UOB cards | Spend min. S$500 + make 3 GIRO debit transactions | Spend min. S$500 + credit salary |
|---|---|---|---|
| First S$15,000 | 0.25% | 0.75% | 1.40% |
| Next S$15,000 | 0.25% | 0.80% | 1.40% |
| Next S$15,000 | 0.25% | 0.85% | 1.50% |
| Next S$15,000 | 0.25% | 0.90% | 1.50% |
| Next S$15,000 | 0.25% | 2.50% | 2.50% |
| Next S$25,000 | 0.05% | 0.05% | 3.60% |
| Above S$100,000 | 0.05% | 0.05% | 0.05% |
The highest effective interest rate you’ll earn on that entire S$100,000 balance is 2.14%. Still, that’s not bad considering how little effort it requires compared to other savings account offerings.
Which Card Should You Pair with the UOB One?
It doesn’t matter which interest tier you’re on: the minimum requirement is to spend S$500 on an eligible UOB credit or debit card. The list includes:
- UOB One Credit/Debit Card
- UOB Lady’s Credit/Debit Card
- UOB EVOL Card
- UOB Mighty FX Debit Card
Counterintuitively, the UOB One Card may not be the best card to pair with the savings account. Let’s look into all the options though…
The UOB One Card: Best for Consistent S$500 Budgets
We’ll focus on the UOB One Credit Card here since it offers better rebates than the debit card.
The UOB One Card has a tiered cashback system with full benefits unlocked only when you spend S$2,000 a month.
If you spend just S$500 a month, here’s what you’ll get instead:
- A quarterly cashback cap of S$50
- 8.33% cashback on Dairy Farm International merchants (Cold Storage, Giant, Guardian, 7-Eleven, Marketplace, Jasons, Jasons Deli)
- 8.33% cashback on Grab transactions (excluding GrabPay top-ups)
- 8.33% cashback on public transport, Shopee, and UOB Travel
The cashback cap puts your effective cashback rate at 3.33% on a S$500 monthly spend, even if you only spend on merchants with the highest rebates.
And given the card’s cashback mechanism, you pretty much have to spend exactly S$500 every month to get optimum cashback. The more you spend past that, the lower your effective cashback rate. (We cover this at length in our review of the UOB One Card.)
Note: The UOB One Card currently has a promotion for new applicants between 1 Oct and 31 Dec 2022, which raises the 8.33% cashback rate to 15% even if you spend only S$500 a month. Your quarterly cashback is still capped at S$50 though, so it’s not quite as attractive as it sounds.
The UOB EVOL Card: Best for Mobile App and Online Shoppers
If going cash-free is your thing, the UOB EVOL card is a great option to consider. It offers 8% cashback on mobile contactless, online, and in-app transactions (such as via your Grabb app).
This card requires a minimum spending of S$600 before you qualify for the 8% cashback. You’ll earn a paltry 0.3% cashback if you’re only planning to hit the S$500 spending requirement for the savings account.
There’s also a S$60 cashback cap per statement month on the total cashback you can earn, split between 3 categories — mobile contactless spending, online spending, and other spending. Still, that’s better than the S$50 quarterly cashback cap with the UOB One Card.
The UOB Lady’s Card: Best for Flexibility and/or Air Miles
Women may prefer the UOB Lady’s Card instead, which rewards you in points you can exchange for additional discounts or miles.
At 4 miles per dollar spent, this is one of the better options for racking up mileage. Otherwise, you can opt for vouchers you can use at select merchants like IKEA and NTUC – these roughly translate to a 2 – 3% rebate.
Read also: 7 Best Miles Credit Cards for Singapore
The best part about this card is that you can change your preferred spending category every quarter. The seven available categories are:
- Beauty & Wellness
- Fashion
- Dining
- Family (including groceries)
- Travel
- Transport (including petrol)
- Entertainment (nightlife, movies)
There’s no minimum spend required to start earning benefits. Your bonus reward points are capped at S$1,000 monthly spend with the UOB Lady’s Classic or Platinum Card though.
How Does UOB One Compare With Others?
Is the UOB One account the best savings account in the market?
Let’s compare it with the OCBC 360 and DBS Multiplier, two other accounts featured in our list of high-interest savings accounts in Singapore:
| UOB One | OCBC 360 | DBS Multiplier | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Maximum annual interest rate | 3.60% | 4.40% | 3.50% |
| Maximum effective interest rate | 2.14% | 4.05% | 3.00% |
| Minimum account balance | S$1,000 | S$3,000 | S$3,000 |
| Salary credit requirement | Min. S$1,600 | Min. S$1,800 | Must credit your salary |
| Credit card spending requirement | Min. S$500 | Min. S$500 | No minimum spending |
| Requirements for highest bonus interest | Min. S$500 UOB card spending + salary credit | Fulfill all 5 categories (Salary, Save, Spend, Insure, Invest) | Credit income and transact in at least 3 categories |
The UOB One Account Has the Lowest Requirements
Despite having the lowest effective interest, the UOB One Account has the least requirements to hit the highest interest tier. This makes it very accessible, especially for young adults or those with limited sources of income.
The ‘Invest’ requirement for the OCBC 360, for example, means putting at least S$20,000 into investments. Meanwhile, the DBS Multiplier requires you to have S$30,000 in monthly transactions (across categories like insurance, investments, salary credit, and so on). Those requirements may be hard for many to meet.
OCBC 360 is Better for Consistent Savers
The OCBC 360 account is better for salaried workers looking for motivation to save. You get up to 0.6% bonus interest just by increasing your monthly balance by S$500 each month. Other positive financial habits such as buying insurance and investing will grant you more bonus interest.
OCBC 360 is also one of the few high-interest savings accounts that continues to give you decent interest for high balances – specifically, 0.6% bonus interest for balances over S$200,000. Most accounts stop providing good interest at the S$100,000 mark.
DBS Multiplier is Best for Those with Varied Income Sources
In comparison, the DBS Multiplier account is better for workers with alternative sources of income (e.g. rental income or dividends). There’s no minimum for the salary crediting requirement, and dividend income also counts as part of the S$30,000 in eligible transactions you’ll need for maximum bonus interest.
High spenders are also better off with the DBS Multiplier. Credit card spend, salary deposits, and taking a home loan through DBS will already make up a significant chunk of the eligible transaction requirement.
Whom This Account is Best For
In summary, you should apply for this card if you’re looking for:
- A fuss-free savings account with low spending requirements
- Higher interest with requirements that don’t involve insurance, loans, or investments
- A high-interest savings account to hold your first S$100,000