UOB One vs OCBC 360: Which is the best savings account in Singapore?

What happened? 

Many of you may have noticed the eye-popping interest rates offered by the UOB One and OCBC 360 accounts.

The UOB One account offers an interest rate of up to 7.8% per annum, while the OCBC 360 account offers an interest rate of up to 7.65% per annum.

This led to many questions about whether the UOB One account or the OCBC 360 account is the best savings account in Singapore. 

If you are also wondering if the UOB One or OCBC 360 account will allow your savings to work harder, read on to find out which savings account will offer you a higher interest rate. 

What you need to know about UOB One Savings Account

The UOB One account allows you to earn a tiered interest rate of up to 7.8% per annum with two simple steps. 

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

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.

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

We illustrate the interest rate earned on the UOB One account if you are able to credit your salary via GIRO. 

For the first monthly average balance of S$30,000 in your account, you earn an interest rate of 3.85% p.a. if you are able to spend a minimum $500 on eligible UOB card and credit your salary via GIRO.

The interest rate earned rises to 3.90% p.a. on your next S$30,000 of monthly average balance, all the way up to 7.80% p.a. on your monthly average balance between S$75,000 and S$100,000.

Note that the interest rate shown below is tiered and only earned on a portion of the monthly average balance rather than all your deposits. This means that if you have S$80,000 of deposits, the interest rate of 7.80% per annum will only be applied to your monthly average balance from S$75,000 to S$80,000 (ie S$5,000 of deposits). 

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.

Read our detail review of the UOB One account here.

What you need to know about the OCBC 360 savings account

The OCBC 360 savings account offers an interest rate of up to 4.65% per annum (p.a.) on the first S$100,000 of deposits when you credit your salary, save and spend.

You can earn an additional 3.00% a year when you insure and invest with your OCBC 360 account.

Like the UOB One account, the OCBC 360 account offers a tiered interest rate depending on the amount of deposit in the account and your ability to meet different categories. 

These categories include the following:

• Salary: Credit your salary of at least S$1,800 through Giro

• Save: Increase your average daily balance by at least S$500 monthly

• Spend: Charge at least S$500 to selected OCBC credit cards each month

• Insure: Purchase an eligible insurance product from OCBC

• Invest: Purchase an eligible investment product from OCBC

• Grow: Maintain an average daily balance of at least S$200,000

The interest rate you are able to earn on the OCBC 360 account will then depend on how many of these categories you are able to meet. 

We can look at the effective interest rate (EIR) earned on the OCBC 360 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.

• Salary + Save: Maximum EIR of 4.05% a year.
• Salary + Save + Spend: Maximum EIR of 4.65% a year.
• Salary + Save + Spend + Insure / Invest: Maximum EIR of 6.15% a year
• Salary + Save + Spend + Insure + Invest: Maximum EIR of 7.65% a year

Read our detail review of the OCBC 360 account here.

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

To decide if the UOB One or OCBC 360 is the best savings account in Singapore, we compare the effective interest rate we are getting across both savings accounts. 

The effective interest rate is the average interest rate we would earn across the entire deposit amount. 

We calculate the effective interest rate earned on the UOB One and OCBC 360 savings account for someone who: 

• Saves at least $500 a month
• Credits salary of at least S$1,800 every month
• Spends at least S$500 on eligible credit cards
• Does not buy insurance/investment products from the bank

From the comparison shown below, the UOB One account offers a higher effective interest rate compared to the OCBC 360 account regardless of the deposit amount if you are not looking to purchase an investment or insurance product. 

Assuming you have S$100,000, you will get about S$5,000 every year with the UOB One account. This is about S$350 more than if you were to put it with OCBC 360 and earn the interest rate of 4.65% per annum. 

When will the OCBC 360 account be better than the UOB One account?

You might be wondering - under what circumstances will the OCBC 360 account be better than the UOB One account?

Recall that the OCBC 360 account offers a higher interest rate if you invest and/or insure with them.

Hence, let us try to calculate the effective interest rate earned on the UOB One and OCBC 360 savings account for someone who: 

• Saves at least $500 a month
• Credits salary of at least S$1,800 every month
• Spends at least S$500 on eligible credit cards
• Buys insurance/investment products from the bank

From the comparison below, the OCBC 360 account offers a higher effective interest rate compared to the UOB One account if you are looking to purchase a investment or insurance product from OCBC.

What would Beansprout do?

Both the UOB One and OCBC 360 savings accounts offer competitive interest rates if you are looking to make your savings work harder. 

The UOB One savings account offers a higher interest rate than the OCBC 360 account if you are not looking to purchase an investment or insurance product.

However, if you are looking to purchase an investment or insurance product, the OCBC 360 account would then offer a higher interest rate. 

You can read our in-depth reviews to learn more about the UOB One account and the OCBC 360 account, depending on which is better suited to your needs.

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