UOB to slash interest rate on One Account

SINGAPORE: In Singapore news today, UOB, one of Singapore’s biggest banks, announced in a letter to its account holders that it would be cutting interest rates on its flagship UOB One account starting from May 1, 2024, to “align with long-term interest rate environment expectations.”

UOB is the first local bank to lower interest rates.

In the same letter, the bank announced introducing two new balance tiers for customers with account balances of over S$100,000.

Until April 30, UOB One account holders with balances of up to S$100,000 earn an interest rate of 3.85 per cent and 7.8 per cent.

However, from May 1 onward, customers will earn tiered rates that are considerably lower—between 3.0 and 4.5 per cent on their first S$100,000 account balance.

UOB added in its letter that the other criteria for qualifying for earning interest still stand. These include spending at least S$500 per month on eligible UOB cards and a salary credit of at least S$1,600 per month.

“With these changes, you can now earn up to S$6,000 total interest in a year for deposits of S$150,000 when you spend a minimum of S$500 on eligible UOB Cards and credit your salary (minimum S$1,600) via GIRO/PAYNOW each calendar month,” the letter from UOB reads.

UOB posted its revised rates in its Apr 1 letter.

The Straits Times reported on April 1 that OCBC and DBS, Singapore’s two other top banks, will not make changes to their respective flagship savings accounts for now.

For OCBC’s 360 Savings Account, customers may earn as much as 7.65 per cent per year; for DBS’ Multiplier Account, customers may earn 4.1 per cent interest annually.

In December 2022, amid a rising rate environment, UOB set the highest interest rates among the three top banks.

At the time, Ms Jacquelyn Tan, the bank’s head of group personal financial services, was quoted in CNA as saying:

“We hope that the updated rates for our UOB One Account will help our customers in reducing some of the inflationary impact on their hard-earned savings.

Together with our highly competitive fixed deposit offerings, we are committed to doing right by our customers by providing a safe haven for them to grow their finances during these turbulent times.” /TISG

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