UOB One Account: Interest rate of up to 2.50% p.a.

What is the UOB One account?

The UOB One Savings Account has long been one of the popular high-yield savings accounts among the Beansprout community. Over the past year, it stood out for offering one of the most competitive rates for everyday savers.

However, with the UOB One interest rate changes taking effect on 1 December 2025, many savers (myself included) are wondering whether the UOB One Account still offers good value for parking their money.

According to UOB, the adjustment was made to “align with long-term interest rate environment expectations.”

In this update, I’ll walk through the current rates as well as the new interest rates taking effect in 1 December 2025 and explore how we can still make the most of the UOB One Account in today’s lower-rate environment.

What is the current interest rate on the UOB One account?

The UOB One account is the flagship savings account of UOB which allows you to earn a decent interest rate with minimal effort. 

To qualify for bonus interest, all you need to do is:

• Spend at least S$500 each month on eligible UOB credit or debit cards; and
• Either credit your salary of at least S$1,600 through GIRO or PayNow, or make 3 GIRO debit transactions per month.

Unlike some other high-yield accounts, the UOB One account does not require you to purchase insurance or an investment scheme to unlock the highest tier.

If you are in the midst of adulting, you should have an easy time meeting the requirements to earn the higher interest rate on the UOB One account.

Do note, however, that UOB will be revising the One Account interest rates from 1 December 2025. The qualifying criteria will remain the same, but the bonus interest rates for each balance tier will be lowered.

To understand how the interest rate on the UOB One account works, let us look at the breakdown below.

We shall start by illustrating the interest rate earned on the UOB One account if you are able to credit your salary of at least S$1,600. 

For the first monthly average balance of S$75,000 in your account, you earn an interest rate of 1.50% p.a. if you are able to spend a minimum $500 on eligible UOB card and credit your salary.

The interest rate earned rises to 3.00% p.a. on your next S$50,000 of monthly average balance, all the way up to 4.50% p.a. on your next S$25,000 monthly average. Making your balance S$150,000.

We can also look at the effective interest rate earned on the UOB One account across various tiers. To calculate the effective interest rate, we can add the total interest received across different tiers.

The effective interest rate is the average interest rate you would get by dividing the total interest earned by your average balances.

You might also be interested to know that salary credit transactions made via PayNow reflected as “PAYNOW SALA” will be considered eligible for bonus interest on UOB One Account. 

These rates will remain valid until 30 November 2025.

From 1 December 2025, the UOB One Account interest rates will be revised downwards while the qualifying criteria remain unchanged.

What will the UOB One Account interest rates be from 1 December 2025?

With the upcoming revision taking effect on 1 December 2025, here’s a look at how the UOB One Account interest rates will change.

The qualifying criteria will remain the same. 

You will still need to spend at least S$500 each month on an eligible UOB card and either credit your salary or make 3 GIRO debit transactions to enjoy bonus interest.

Compared with the previous structure, only the top-tier salary credit rates are now lowered.

If you maintain S$150,000 in your UOB One Account and meet all the bonus criteria, your annual interest will fall from S$3,750 to about S$2,850 after the change takes effect.

Your maximum effective interest rate (EIR) will decline from about 2.50% to 1.90% p.a., reflecting the lower bonus tiers. 

Overall, you will continue earning higher returns than standard savings accounts, but the reduction means your total interest payout will now be lower for the same balance size.

What is the interest rate earned on the UOB One account if I am unable to credit my salary?

If you are unable to credit your salary via GIRO, you can always make 3 GIRO debit transactions in each calendar month to qualify for the bonus interest rate.

The good news is that the interest rates for this tier will remain the same even after 1 December 2025.

If you consistently meet the spend and 3 GIRO requirements, your effective interest rate will stay around 1.175% p.a. on S$150,000 balance, similar to before.

If you are wondering how to make at least 3 GIRO payments, I have some ideas for you below:

1. Credit card bills (Yes! I was also amazed to find out that this method counts – say yay to paying credit card bills on time and no to paying late fees)
2. Electricity bills
3. Mobile phone bills
4. Income tax (apply with IRAS)

What are the eligibility requirements for the UOB One account?

To qualify for the UOB One account, you must fulfill the following requirements.

• You will need to be 18 years and above to open a UOB One account.
• The minimum initial deposit for the UOB One account to S$1,000.
• You will also need to maintain a monthly average balance in your UOB One account of at least S$1,000, or a S$5 fall-below fee will be imposed. This fall-below fee is waived for the first 6 months for accounts opened online.
• A S$30 early account closure fee will levied if you close your UOB One account within 6 months from opening. 

The full terms and conditions can be found here.

Is there any catch to the UOB One account? 

Fortunately, there doesn’t seem to be any catch to the UOB One account. What you see is really what you get! 

UOB One does not require you to deposit fresh funds to be eligible for the bonus interest rate. 

Also, do note that the interest rate earned on your UOB One account falls to 0.05% per annum for the portion of your monthly average balances above S$150,000.

To maximise your interest earned, you might want to consider the UOB Stash account or another high yield savings account for balances above S$150,000. 

Are there any promotions for the UOB One Account? 

Learn more about the Season of Gold Savings Promotion here. 

Which cards are eligible for the UOB One spending? 

One thing you need to note is that the S$500 card spend must be done on an eligible card.

The eligible UOB Credit Cards include the UOB One Card, UOB Lady's Card (all card types), UOB EVOL Card, Lazada-UOB Card.

The eligible UOB Debit Cards include the UOB One Debit Visa Card, UOB One Debit Mastercard, UOB Lady’s Debit Card and UOB Mighty FX Debit Card.

If you are looking for a fuss-free card, the UOB One Credit Card offers 10% cashback on dining, online shopping, groceries, transport.

You can find the list of eligible cards here. 

UOB One vs OCBC 360 vs DBS Multiplier – Which is the best savings account in Singapore?

With interest rates beginning to ease recently, many are reviewing their savings strategies.

One question that often comes up is: Is the UOB One account still the most rewarding savings account in Singapore?

While DBS simplified its Multiplier Account in August 2023 and OCBC continues to offer attractive rates with its 360 Account, the UOB One Account has long appealed to savers for its simple structure and ease of qualifying for bonus interest.

With the upcoming interest rate revision on 1 December 2025, however, UOB One’s advantage is narrowing. 

Its effective rates will move closer to what other banks are offering, and may no longer stand out as clearly as before.

To help you make sense of it all, we’ve done the math based on these assumptions:

• You credit your monthly salary into the account
• You save and spend at least S$500 each month
• You meet the minimum credit card spending requirement
• You do not buy insurance or investment products from the bank

Here’s how the interest rates compare across different account balances as of 4 November 2025, so you can decide which bank offers the best return for your savings.

To help you decide between the UOB One account and the OCBC 360 account, use the calculator below to compare how much interest you would get with the UOB One account and the OCBC 360 with the new interest rates.

How to open a UOB One Account

You can open a savings account online here, get approval within minutes and start transacting instantly.

To apply you will require the following:

• New to UOB customers, existing to UOB customers and joint applicants: Retrieve with Myinfo using Singpass login
• Existing to UOB customers: Personal Internet Banking login details
• Existing to UOB customers applying for single-named account application: Credit/Debit card number and PIN

Learn more about the UOB One Account here.

Final verdict on UOB One Account

Despite the upcoming revision in interest rates, the UOB One Account still allows us to earn a relatively decent return on our savings with minimal effort.

Currently, before 1 December 2025, the account offers a maximum effective interest rate of up to 2.50% p.a. if we meet the full criteria of S$500 monthly card spend and salary credit.

From 1 December 2025, the effective interest rate will be reduced to about 1.90% p.a. under the same conditions. 

While this is lower than before, it remains competitive among major savings accounts in Singapore and is still higher than the latest 6-month T-bill yield of 1.41% as of 23 October 2025.

If we have up to S$150,000 in savings, the UOB One Account continues to offer a convenient way to earn steady interest without needing to buy insurance or investment products.

If we have less than S$150,000 of savings, then we can compare the UOB One account with other savings accounts to find out how we can maximise our interest earned. 

The other drawback of the UOB One account is that the interest rate falls to 0.05% per annum for the portion of our monthly average balances above S$150,000. 

To maximise our interest earned, we can also consider the UOB Stash account or another high yield savings account for balances above S$150,000. 

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