UOB One Account Review – Highest interest rate amongst local banks?

UOB recently raised the maximum bonus interest rate on the UOB One account from 3.6% to 7.8% p.a.

With this new announcement, will UOB One dethrone OCBC 360 as the best deposit account in Singapore?

Is UOB One better than OCBC 360 now?

Let’s find out using math!

What you need to know about UOB One Account

UOB One requires you to make minimal effort to earn the maximum interest rate possible. 

Unlike DBS and OCBC, UOB One account does not require you to purchase insurance or an investment scheme to unlock the highest tier (yay!).

All you have to do is to spend a minimum sum of $500 on eligible credit cards and credit your salary via GIRO.

Two simple steps and you are done!

This is so much easier and better than signing up for endowment plans or insurance. If you are in the midst of adulting, you should have an easy time meeting the requirements.

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 (albeit a little lesser). 

For those who are wondering how to make at least 3 GIRO payments, here are some ideas from the Telegram group:

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)

Now, let us take a look at the interest rate offered if you were to credit your salary via GIRO.

Source: UOB One account page

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! 

Unlike RHB where they have an extensive definition of ‘fresh funds’, UOB One does not require you to deposit fresh funds to be eligible for the bonus interest rate. 

Perhaps the only thing you need to find out is the type of UOB credit cards that are considered ‘eligible’. 

Did I also forget to mention that UOB One debit card has the highest cashback rate of 10% now? 

Which cards are eligible for the UOB One spending? 

One last thing you need to note is that the $500 card spend must be done on an eligible card (what did I say about reading fine prints again?) 

You can find the list of eligible cards here. 

I will not be talking about the best card you should be applying for here because there are enough resources out there. 

But if you would like me to cover it, you can always drop a request with the Beansprout Team and they will let me know. You can also find me on the awesome Beansprout telegram group.

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

The most confusing part is probably the many tiers but we can always use math to solve the problem (I hope I don’t disappoint my Primary School Math teacher).

Before you jump into the table and look at the last column, you should note that the table is built on a few assumptions – 

1. You do not buy insurance/investment products from the Bank 
2. You save and spend at least $500 respectively a month and 
3. The total eligible transactions per month is >$5000 but less than $15,000 
4. You credit your monthly salary into the bank 
5. You spend the minimum amount with their credit cards

When should we consider the OCBC 360 or DBS Multiplier rather than the UOB One?

Take note that you will qualify for the Investment category for DBS Multiplier if you invest with DBS Vickers, but you will not qualify for the same category in OCBC if you invest with OCBC securities.

If you invest with DBS Vickers, you might find it easier to unlock the additional interest rate for the next $50,000 tranche. 

In this case, you might be better off putting your money with DBS if you have more than $15,000 in eligible transactions each month. 

But UOB is still the clear winner for the people with at least $100,000.

 Again, there can be many strategies but I only listed down the most obvious and least effort one because my friends are only interested to do minimal work (which means that they just want to read my table and skip the rest of the content ☹. Yes, you!). 

If you've read this far (applause) and want to make your effort worthwhile, you can take the next step by finding out how to open an account here. 

Final verdict on UOB One Account

UOB is the best pick here because it is the simplest (or at least to me) for an average Singaporean to hit all the different categories.

With this advantage, it is not hard to imagine that you will be earning more interest with UOB. 

Pro tip: If you have more than $100,000 in cash, you can put $100,000 with UOB and the next $50,000 with DBS to maximize your earnings.

We're not going to bore you with the signup details, as you can find out more about the UOB One account here! 

UOB One seems to be a no-brainer for now, because you can earn the best interest rates on your deposits with minimal effort.