OCBC FRANK savings account review: Ideal for students?

What happened?

If you are a student looking to find the best savings account, you would probably have come across the OCBC FRANK savings account.

In fact, you would probably have seen the OCBC FRANK branch on campus at NUS, NTU and SMU.

The OCBC FRANK savings account is a fuss-free account for students looking to make their savings work harder. 

So if you have some savings from your internship and would like to get started on your financial journey, read on to find out if the OCBC FRANK savings account is the right savings account for you.

What is the OCBC FRANK savings account?

The OCBC FRANK savings account allows you to start saving with $0 initial deposit. 

There are also no fall below fees if you are below 26 years old. 

The OCBC FRANK savings account also comes with a FRANK debit card with 60 designs for you to choose from. 

What is the interest rate on the OCBC FRANK savings account?

The OCBC FRANK savings account offers an interest rate of up to 0.10% per annum for your first S$25,000 of deposits.

The interest rate then rises to 0.20% per annum for the portion of your deposits above S$25,000 and below $50,000.

You would then earn an interest rate of 0.05% per year for the portion of your deposits above S$50,000. 

We can also look at the effective interest rate (EIR) earned on the OCBC FRANK account across various tiers. 

To calculate the effective interest rate, we can add the total interest received across different tiers.

For deposits between $25,000 and S$50,000 you would earn an effective interest rate of up to 0.15% per annum with the OCBC FRANK account. 

As your balance surpasses $50,000, the EIR will gradually decline again. 

What are the requirements for the OCBC FRANK savings account?

You can open an OCBC FRANK account from the age of 16. 

There is no initial deposit required for the OCBC FRANK account.

If you're below 26 years old, you won't encounter any fall below fees. 

And as you hit 26 years old, you will need to maintain a monthly average daily balance of over S$1,000 to steer clear of the $2 service fee.

Are there any debit card promotions worth considering with the OCBC FRANK savings account?

The OCBC FRANK savings account comes with a debit card with more than 60 card designs to choose from.

Here’s how you can earn S$30 worth of cash rewards with the OCBC FRANK debit card. 

• Earn a S$10 cash reward when you apply for a FRANK debit card and account
• Earn a S$10 cash reward when you deposit fresh funds of at least S$300 into your new FRANK account within 30 days of account approval date
• Earn a S$10 cash reward when you make at least 10 qualifying spend transactions on your OCBC FRANK debit card within 30 days of account approval date

In addition, you can earn unlimited 1% cashback when you spend at least S$400 a month on a range of selected merchants, such as Grab and Lazada. 

You can read more on the participating merchants and terms here. 

There is no annual fee for the FRANK Debit Card. 

As soon as your OCBC Frank savings account has been opened, you can use your digital OCBC FRANK debit card right away even before that physical card shows up at your doorstep.

How does the OCBC FRANK savings account compare to other savings account?

The OCBC FRANK savings account is a no-frills account that allows you to earn a higher interest rate with few additional requirements. 

Let’s compare the OCBC FRANK to other of such savings accounts, such as the Standard Chartered JumpStart Account.

The Standard Chartered JumpStart Account offers a higher effective interest rate compared to the OCBC FRANK account for savings of up to S$50,000.

However, the minimum age requirement for the Standard Chartered JumpStart account is 18 years old, compared to the minimum age requirement for the OCBC FRANK account of 16 years old.

You may also consider the digital banks to earn a higher interest rate on your savings. 

MariBank is offering a promotional interest rate of 2.88% per annum until 31 March 2024.

GXS is offering a promotional interest rate of 2.68% per annum. Like the OCBC Frank savings account, the minimum age to open a GXS savings account is 16 year old. 

What would Beansprout do?

If you are a student looking for a no-frills savings account with no minimum deposit and no fall below fee, then the OCBC FRANK account may fit the bill. 

The 1% cashback on the OCBC FRANK debit card may be an attractive feature too, but the minimum monthly spending required to unlock the cashback is S$400. 

However, the interest rate on the OCBC FRANK savings account is lower than other no-frills savings accounts such as the Standard Chartered JumpStart account and the MariBank savings account.

If you are below 18 years old, the GXS savings account offers a higher interest rate compared to the OCBC FRANK savings account too.

Check out our guide to the best savings account in Singapore to find out which saving account offers the highest interest rate.