CIMB FastSaver Account: Promotional interest rate for fresh funds

What we think about the CIMB FastSaver Account

• The CIMB FastSaver Account offers a base interest of 1.50% p.a. on the first S$25,000 of deposits. The tiered interest rate rises to as high as 3.50% p.a. on balances of up to $75,000. Based on our calculations, we can earn an effective interest rate of up to 2.50% p.a. with the CIMB FastSaver Account.
• With the latest promotion on the CIMB FastSaver Account, we can earn an interest rate of up to 3.0% per annum by depositing S$10,000 of fresh funds. The effective interest rate goes up further to up to 3.17% per annum by depositing our salaries. 
• What we like about the CIMB FastSaver account is that it offers decent interest rate with very few requirements. We also do not have to worry about incurring any fall-below fees. 
• However, we were able to find other savings accounts that offer a higher interest rate compared to the CIMB FastSaver account, especially for deposits of above S$75,000. Also, we found it difficult to find a ATM or CIMB branch to carry out certain transactions.

What happened?

We have been getting requests to provide an update for the CIMB FastSaver Account for the latest promotion in March 2024.

After all, we noticed that the CIMB FastSaver Account was a popular savings account in the Beansprout community last year when they were offering a promotional interest rate of 3.50% per annum for 6 months. 

Back then, this was definitely one of the best savings accounts offering a decent interest rate with relatively little hoops to jump through.

Like many, we were disappointed when the promotion was not extended earlier this year. 

Hence, we were very interested to find out if the latest promotion is as good as the one earlier, and if it might be worth parking our money with the CIMB FastSaver Account.

What you need to know about the CIMB FastSaver Account

The CIMB FastSaver Account offers an interest rate of up to 3.50% p.a. with very few requirements.

For our first S$25,000 of deposits, we are able to earn a base interest rate of of 1.50% p.a.

The base interest rate of 1.50% p.a. can be earned without having to meet any minimum card spend, investment product, or salary crediting requirements.

The interest rate then rises to 2.50% on the next S$25,00 of deposits. 

The tiered interest rate goes up to as high as 3.50% p.a. on incremental balances of between $50,000 $75,000. 

For incremental balance above $75,000, the interest rate falls to 0.80% p.a.

We know this this sounds fairly complex, so let us help to break it down the effective interest rates (EIR) for you:

We recently noticed that the CIMB FastSaver Account is running a promotion from 1 March to 31 May 2024.

What caught our eye were the following:

• Bonus interest rate of 0.50% p.a. in addition to prevailing interest rate by topping up a minimum of S$10,000 in fresh funds
• Additional interest rate of 0.50% p.a. on the first S$25,000 when you credit your salary or schedule a recurring GIRO transfer of at least S$1,000

For most of us who may already have an existing savings account where we are doing out salary credit, it may be difficult to achieve the second requirement of salary credit. 

Hence, let us do a quick calculation on the interest rate we are able to receive on the CIMB FastSaver account with the bonus interest rate.

From our calculations shown below, the interest rate on the CIMB FastSaver Account becomes more attractive for deposits of S$75,000 as it gets to as high as to 3.0% p.a.

Do note that the fresh funds will be compared against your end-of-day balance on 29 February 2024. Also, the bonus interest will only be paid on 1 July 2024.

If you are wondering whether it might be worth crediting your salary with CIMB for this promotion, we did the calculation for what the effective interest rate would be with the additional interest rate of 0.50% pa. on the first S$25,000. 

The maximum effective interest rate would rise to up to 3.17% for S$75,000 of deposits.

You can find the terms and conditions of the bonus interest rate here.

You can find the terms and conditions of the additional interest rate here.

What we like about the CIMB FastSaver Account

The CIMB FastSaver account stands out for its simplicity - there are no complicated requirements to meet. 

We would not have to worry about minimum spend, salary crediting, or investing with the bank.

The CIMB FastSaver Account has no fall-below fees, making it an ideal emergency fund storage option, especially for young professionals who are just starting their careers. 

We can access your money anytime without any lock-up period or losing liquidity.

CIMB is one of the few banks in Singapore that is Shariah-compliant. 

What we do not like about the CIMB FastSaver Account

The interest rate for the CIMB FastSaver falls to 0.80% p.a. for incremental balances over $75,000. 

As a result, we would explore other bank accounts that offer higher interest rates if we have a high account balance.

In addition, it's worth noting that CIMB has only one branch in Raffles Place and limited ATMs. This is less important for us as we perform mainly digital transactions. However, it might be something to keep in mind if you need assistance from a physical bank teller.

What does the Beansprout community think about the CIMB FastSaver account?

The CIMB FastSaver account has been widely discussed in Beansprout's telegram community. 

Here are some comments that our community members have shared about the CIMB FastSaver Account:

"StarSaver has ATM withdrawal. FastSaver is all online transactions. 

StarSaver requires $1k minimum deposits. FastSaver requires $0"

- Beansprout community member on 19 September 2023

"CIMB FastSaver is more liquid than FD"

- Beansprout community member on 14 October 2023

"For CIMB FastSaver, seem straightforward. Just require fresh funds. That's it

- Beansprout community member on 14 October 2023

Let us know what you think about the CIMB FastSaver Account in the comments below!

Comparing the CIMB FastSaver Account to other fuss-free accounts such as Standard Chartered JumpStart and UOB Stash

Like many other Singaporeans, we want to compare and get the best deal for ourselves.

Let’s compare the CIMB FastSaver Account to other entry-level accounts, such as the UOB Stash Account and SC JumpStart Account.

The SCB JumpStart Account offers the highest effective interest rate for balances below $50,000. However, you will need to be between 19 to 26 years old to open the JumpStart Account.

The CIMB FastSaver Account offers a higher effective interest rate for balances of $50,000 to about $75,000.

The UOB Stash Account offers a higher effective interest rate for balances of $80,000 to about $100,000.

With the bonus interest rate of 0.50% p.a. for fresh funds of above S$10,000, our calculations show that the interest rate on the CIMB FastSaver account would be above the Standard Chartered JumpStart account for deposits of S$40,000, and above the UOB Stash for S$80,000 of deposits.

Comparing the CIMB FastSaver Account to other accounts with salary credit such as UOB One

Earlier, we shared that the we like the UOB One account as its offers the highest effective interest rate of up to 5.0% per annum for a monthly average balance of S$100,000, if you are able to credit your salary and spend at least S$500 per month on eligible cuts.

With the additional interest rate of 0.50% p.a. for those who are able to credit their salaries into the CIMB FastSaver account, the effective interest rate on the CIMB FastSaver account remains lower than the UOB One account based on our calculations.

We will be able to get an interest rate of 3.17% per annum with S$75,000 of deposits with the the CIMB FastSaver account, below the effective interest rate of 4.07% per annum for the UOB One account.

As the interest rate on incremental balances starts to fall for balances above $75,000 for the CIMB FastSaver account, the gap in interest rate widens even further for deposits of up to S$100,000.

How to sign up for the CIMB FastSaver Account

As a new customer, you can sign up for the CIMB FastSaver account here. 

To open a CIMB FastSaver account, you will need to be at least 16 years old and have a minimum initial deposit of $1,000. This whole process takes no longer than 10 minutes!

Step 1: Apply for CIMB FastSaver account here

Step 2: Transfer a minimum of $1,000 to activate your account via FAST

Step 3: Access your account by downloading ‘CIMB Clicks Singapore’ App to set up your digital token

As an existing customer, you can sign up for the CIMB FastSaver promo here. 

What would Beansprout do?

The CIMB FastSaver Account comes with very few requirements. We you do not have have to make any minimum spend, invest with the bank, or credit your salary to be eligible for the base interest rate. 

We like that the CIMB FastSaver Account allows us to earn a decent interest rate of up to 2.50% p.a. for deposits of up to $75,000 in a fuss-free way. 

With the latest promotion, we can earn an interest rate of up to 3.0% p.a. with fresh funds deposits of at least S$10,000.

However, we were able to find other savings accounts that offer a higher interest rate compared to the the CIMB FastSaver Account.

If we are looking for fuss-free accounts, we would also consider other savings accounts with no hoops such as the UOB Stash Account or MariBank Account.

If we are able to credit our salaries, we would consider the UOB One Account or OCBC 360 Account.

Find out which is the best savings account with the highest interest rate currently. 

Let us know what you think about the CIMB FastSaver Account in the comments below!