Best savings accounts in Singapore with highest interest rates (March 2024)

So far, 2024 has been pretty hard on our bank accounts. Between the GST hike and an impending recession, it looks like our wallets are taking quite a hit this year, even with the GST vouchers and CDC vouchers to aid us.

It's times like these when saving your money is more important than ever. One easy way to do this is through a savings account. When you open a savings account with a bank, you deposit money into it and let that money earn interest. You'll enjoy higher interest rates on a savings account than you would on your normal account (called a checking account).

However, not all savings accounts are made equal. Different banks offer different interest rates and different minimum sums. So to help you out, we've compiled the best savings accounts in Singapore with the highest interest rates in 2024 for different personal and financial needs.

1. At a glance: Best savings accounts in Singapore with highest interest rates (Mar 2024)

Most savings accounts require you to jump through a whole bunch of hoops to enjoy their best rates. But let's be realistic here. Most of us aren't going to be taking a home loan, buying insurance from the bank, and investing with the bank — and certainly not all at the same time. What will you earn if you only credit your salary and spend using the bank's debit/credit card? Here's our realistic summary:

Note: The table above assumes you earn at least $3,000 a month, spend $500 a month, and have a regular banking relationship. If you earn more, spend more, or are a premier or private banking client, you may enjoy better rates. Read the individual sections on each savings account below to find out more.

1. Citi Wealth First Account

The Citi Wealth First Account has a simple mechanic for calculating its total interest rate: base interest (0.01%) + bonus interest (up to 7.50%).

Its base interest starts at 0.01% for everyone, whether you're a Citibanking, Citi Priority, Citigold, or Citigold Private Client customer. That's the lowest base interest rate out of all the savings accounts on this list.

Next, beef up that measly 0.01% up with bonus interest rates. You get different bonus rates depending on which of the following categories you fulfil:

• Spend (+1.5%): Spend at least $250/month on your Citibank Debit Mastercard.
• Invest (+1.5%): Purchase one or more new single lump sum investments totalling at least $50,000/month. Investments can include Unit Trust, Structured Notes and Bonds.
• Insure (+1.5%): Purchase one or more new single premium policies totalling at least $50,000/month.
• Borrow (+1.5%): Take up a new home loan of at least $500,000. 
• Save (+1.5%): Deposit more money into your account, increasing your account’s average daily balance by at least $3,000 from the previous month’s.

If you fulfil all of the transaction categories above, the maximum interest rate you can get with the Citi Wealth First Account is a generous 7.51 per cent. That's one of the highest rates among the savings accounts this month.

Plus, it applies to the first $50,000 to $150,000 in your account, and not just the first $25,000 after the $100,000 mark or something like that. That means 7.51 per cent p.a. is the effective interest rate!

Realistically speaking, most of us can only deposit our salaries in the account, i.e. "Save", and "Spend". If you only fulfil these two criteria, you'll earn 3.01 per cent p.a. interest on the Citi Weath First Account. That's $1,505 earned per year from your first $50,000.

The only advantage to starting a Citigold or Citigold Private Client banking relationship is that the bonus interest rates can apply to a larger sum of money. For Citibanking and Citi Priority customers, bonus interest rates are applied to only the first $50,000, according to the Citi Wealth First T&Cs (Clause 7). This increases to $100,000 for Citigold and $150,000 for Citigold Private Client.  

However, you'll need to maintain $250,000 in your account for Citigold, and $1,500,000 for Citigold Private Client. If you fall below these thresholds, the bonus 7.51 per cent will only apply to the first $50,000 just like for everyone else.

Citi Wealth First Account 

• Minimum balance: $15,000
• Fall below fee: $15
• Bonus interest cap: $50,000-$150,000

2. Standard Chartered Bonus Saver account interest rates

Transactions	Interest rate
None (base interest)	0.05%
Salary credit (min. $3,000)	+ 2.50%
Credit card spending (min. $500 or $2,000)	+ 1.30% (min. $500) OR 2.05% (min. $2,000)
3x GIRO bill payments (min. $50)	+ 0.33%
Invest in eligible unit trust (min. $30,000)	+ 1.50% for 12 months
Buy eligible insurance (min. $12,000)	+ 1.50% for 12 months

The Standard Chartered Bonus Saver savings account currently offers the highest maximum interest rate on a savings account: 7.88 % p.a.. It isn’t easy to get there — you'd need to fulfil these five requirements: credit your salary, spend on your credit card, pay three bills, invest, and buy insurance. But on the plus side, the 7.88% p.a. is applied to the entire sum of $100,000, whereas accounts like the UOB One savings account are only going to give the highest interest rate to smaller sum.

Moreover, the Standard Chartered Bonus Saver savings account occupies a niche: It gives you pretty high bonus interest just for spending tons of money.

Pay three bills online or via GIRO and you’ll get an additional 0.33% interest. Spend at least $2,000 on your SCB Bonus$aver credit or debit card and you’ll already get 2.05% p.a. bonus interest on your savings.

Not bad if your card’s main function is to pay for your kid’s tuition fees, dental checkups, condo MCST fees and what-not.

On top of that, crediting your salary will get you an additional 2.50% interest. However, you have to be earning at least $3,000 per month to qualify for the bonus interest.

If you only credit your salary and spend $500 a month on your Standard Chartered credit card, you’ll enjoy an interest rate of 3.80% p.a.. My top pick from Standard Chartered is the Standard Chartered Simply Cash Credit Card — I’m a fan of unlimited cashback cards with $0 minimum spend.

While 3.80% p.a. is a far cry from the advertised maximum interest of 7.88% Standard Chartered offers, it’s still higher than most fixed deposit rates and your money is a lot more liquid!

Standard Chartered Bonus Saver

• Minimum balance: $3,000
• Fall below fee: $5
• Bonus interest cap: $100,000

3. UOB One savings account interest rates

Account balance	S$500 spend per month on eligible UOB Card	S$500 spend per month on eligible UOB Card + 3 GIRO/PayNow debit transactions	S$500 spend per month on eligible UOB Card + credit salary via GIRO/PayNow
First $30,000	0.65%	2.50%	3.85%
Next $30,000	0.65%	3.00%	3.90%
Next $15,000	0.65%	4.00%	4.85%
Next $25,000	0.05%		7.80%
Above $100,000	0.05%

The winning quality of the UOB One account is that its criteria to snag the highest interest rate is easy peasy. You only need to fulfil these two requirements:

• Credit your salary to the UOB One account via GIRO/PayNow
• Spend at least S$500 spend per month on an eligible UOB Card

The eligible cards you can hit the $500 spend on are:

• UOB One Card
• UOB Lady’s Card
• UOB EVOL Card
• UOB One Debit Visa Card
• UOB One Debit Mastercard
• UOB Lady’s Debit Card
• UOB Mighty FX Debit Card

Among these cards the UOB One Card works best with the UOB One savings account. Find out why in our full review of the UOB One account.

If you prefer a card with $0 minimum spend, the UOB Lady's Card is right up your alley. And yes, men can apply too!

Don’t have a fixed monthly salary? You can still get up to 4% p.a. with the UOB one account if you pay 3 bills by GIRO. This is great for those without a regular pay check, such as freelancers, retirees or homemakers. If you go for this option, the interest rate rises with every additional $30,000 or $15,000 in your UOB One account, up to $75,000.

UOB One Account effective interest rates (EIR)

Everyone is enticed by the 7.8 per cent p.a. carrot that UOB dangles, but note that this is only applied on the $25,000 after your first $75,000-unlike the Standard Chartered Bonus Saver, which applies 7.88 per cent p.a. on the full first $100,000 you bank with them.

Here's the effective interest rate (the true interest rate on the full amount you deposit in your UOB One Account) you'll earn with different account balances and fulfilling different criteria:

Simply for crediting your salary and spending $500/month on your credit card, the UOB One Account’s 5% interest rate p.a. is the highest out there. Comparatively, Standard Chartered will give you 3.85% p.a. to fulfil the same criteria, or 4.6% p.a. if your credit card spending is at least $2,000/month.

The UOB One Account is still the best choice if all you want to do is credit your salary and spend on a credit card, but don’t be fooled into thinking you’re getting 7.8% p.a..

UOB One savings account

• Minimum balance: $1,000
• Fall below fee: $5 (Waived for first six months for accounts opened online)
• Bonus interest cap: $100,000

4. OCBC 360 savings account interest rates

The OCBC 360 savings account starts at a base interest of 0.05% p.a., and gives you varying bonus rates for crediting your salary, spending on your credit card (minimum of $500/month), growing your balance, insuring and investing. If you fulfil several of these requirements, this is what your maximum Effective Interest Rate (EIR) will be on your first $100,000:

• Salary + Save: 4.05% p.a.
• Salary + Save + Spend: 4.65% p.a.
• Salary + Save + Spend + Insure / Invest: 6.15% p.a.
• Salary + Save + Spend + Insure + Invest: 7.65% p.a.

The OCBC 360 is more complicated than the UOB One, but also more flexible in that there is no one mandatory requirement. This account makes sense if you're earning just enough to meet the $1,800 minimum, and don't want to jump through any further hoops. You’ll earn a bonus 2% for not doing much else than crediting your salary to the OCBC 360 account.

You get a bonus 1.2% every month that your account balance increases by $500 or more, so that might encourage you to save more even if you don’t hit the other criteria.

Do note that the $500 monthly spend category applies only to selected OCBC credit cards:

• OCBC 365 Credit Card
• OCBC INFINITY Cashback Card
• OCBC NXT Credit Card
• OCBC 90°N (available in both Visa and Mastercard versions)
• OCBC Rewards Card

My top pick is the OCBC 365 Credit Card for its high cashback rates:

• 5% cashback on everyday dining (including local, overseas and online food delivery)
• 6% cashback on fuel spend at all petrol service stations locally and overseas
• 3% cashback on groceries, land transport, online travel, recurring telco and electricity bills

OCBC 360

• Minimum balance: $1,000
• Fall below fee: $2. Waived for first year.
• Bonus interest cap: $100,000

5. Bank of China SmartSaver account interest rates

Transactions	Interest rate
None (base interest)	0.1%
Insurance plan spending	+2.40% p.a. for 12 consecutive months
Salary credit	+ 1.90% (min. $2,000) OR 2.50% (min. $6,000)
Credit card spending	+ 0.50% (min. $500) OR 0.80% (min. $1,500)
3x bill payments of at least S$30 each (GIRO or internet/mobile banking)	+0.9% p.a.

The Bank of China SmartSaver account is a decently good choice for high earners. They offer probably the highest interest rates in Singapore for those who take home a monthly salary of at least $6,000. You get a cool 2.6 per cent p.a. just for opening the account and crediting your salary to it.

If raking up a bill of at least $1,500 on your Bank of China credit card is no problem for you, you'll get an additional 0.8 per cent bonus interest. Consider the Bank of China Sheng Siong Card for up to six per cent cash rebate at Sheng Siong and 1.5 per cent unlimited — yes, no cap! — cash rebate on your overseas spend, including online purchases.

The Bank of China SmartSaver account also awards a wealth bonus of 2.4% per annum for 12 consecutive months. However, to qualify, you’ll have to put down a pretty hefty sum on their insurance products. We’re talking a minimum of $12,000 in annual premiums with a 10-year premium term.

If you max out the bonus interest in all categories, you can enjoy a rate of up to 6.7 per cent p.a. on your first $100,000 saved with the Bank of China. On the other hand, let's say you only credit your salary (which is below $6,000) and spend ($500 a month). You'll earn an interest rate of 2.5 per cent on your first $100,000.

Bank of China SmartSaver 

• Minimum balance: $200 (Maintain at least $1,500 to enjoy bonus interests)
• Fall below fee: $3
• Bonus interest cap: $100,000

6. Maybank Save Up Programme interest rates

The Maybank Save Up Programme lets you choose from nine different Maybank products/services to get bonus interest:

• GIRO payment (min. $300) OR salary credit (min. $2,000)
• Credit card spending (min. $500) on Maybank Platinum Visa Card and/or Horizon Visa Signature Card
• Invest in structured deposit (min. $30,000)
• Invest in unit trust (min. $25,000)
• Buy insurance (min. $5,000 annually)
• Home loan (min. $200,000)
• Renovation loan (min. $10,000)
• Car loan (min. $35,000)
• Education loan (min. $10,000)

The Maybank Save Up Programme starts with a higher base interest rate than most other savings accounts. However, the bonus interest rates aren’t competitive unless you fulfil three transactions. 

Assuming you hit three transactions and start with a bonus interest rate of 0.25%, you’ll get 4.3% on your first $50,000 and 5.5% p.a. on the next $25,000. For comparison, the OCBC 360 account will give you 4.65% p.a. for hitting the three categories of crediting your salary, saving, and spending on your credit card.

Speaking of credit card spending, do note that Maybank only considers credit card spending on the Maybank Platinum Visa Card and Horizon Visa Signature Card. Spending on other Maybank credit cards doesn’t count. On the plus side, these cards give you good cash rebates both locally and overseas.

Maybank Save Up Programme

• Minimum balance: $1,000
• Fall below fee: $2. Waived for individuals below age 25.
• Bonus interest cap: $50,000

7. DBS Multiplier savings account interest rates

The rates in the table above apply to you if you credit your salary/dividends/SGFinDex to any DBS or POSB account (yes, it doesn't need to be your DBS Multiplier account!). You need to have at least $500 worth of transactions from one or more of the following categories:

• Credit card or PayLah spending (no minimum) 
• Home loan (cash + CPF components counted)
• Selected insurance policies (life insurance, critical illness, endowment plans and selected single premium policies)
• Selected investments (regular savings plan, unit trust, online equities trade, digiPortfolio or bonds, and structured products)

The more categories you hit, the higher bonus interest rates you get.

One thing I really like about the DBS Multiplier is that there is no minimum amount required for the credit card or DBS PayLah! spend. You can also choose either, although I would recommend the credit card route for extra cashback or miles. You can earn up to 10 miles per dollar with the DBS Altitude Visa Signature Card on your travel spend at Expedia and Kaligo, and 2.2 miles per dollar on other overseas spend.

The DBS Vantage Visa Infinite Card comes with an even bigger welcome miles bonus, although it isn't the most accessible credit card due to its high minimum income requirement.

What if you don't have any DBS credit card, insurance, or investments? Unfortunately, the bonus interest rates aren't as high, at 1.5 per cent p.a. on the first $50,000. And while you don't need to credit your salary to a DBS/POSB account, DBS will still require you to at least use PayLah!.

The good news is that there isn't a minimum amount for PayLah! spend. Just use it to pay for anything, even if it's a $1+ cup of kopi at your local coffeeshop. Easy!

The DBS Multiplier account makes it easy to earn bonus interest with its zero minimum spend transaction categories and the flexibility to credit your salary into any DBS account, not necessarily the DBS Multiplier.

However, DBS Multiplier account interest rates start pretty low. If you don’t credit your salary to a DBS/POSB account, your interest rates max out at 0.40% p.a.. 

In fact, DBS Multiplier interest rates are nowhere near even the 1% p.a. mark unless Option 1 applies to you, i.e. you have other DBS/POSB transactions. Comparatively, CIMB FastSaver’s interest rates start at 1.50% p.a. for just opening the account and depositing a minimum of $1,000.

DBS Multiplier

• Minimum balance: $3,000
• Fall below fee: $5. Waived for first-time customers & those up to age 29.
• Bonus interest cap: $100,000

8. CIMB FastSaver savings account interest rates

The CIMB FastSaver account is the easiest savings account to earn money with this month. They're running a promotion that lets new-to-bank customers earn up to 3.50 per cent p.a. (EIR= 2.67 per cent p.a.) with a minimum deposit of $1,000. Simply maintain or increase your month-end balance, and start accruing interest!

Taking into account effects of compounding, here are the effective interest rates (EIR):

The EIR is 2.5 per cent p.a. on your first $75,000. Again, there are no conditions to hit a certain credit card spend or requirements buy insurance to enjoy this rate.

Admittedly, 3.50 per cent p.a. interest is not a lot. But we have to give the CIMB FastSaver account credit where it's due-it's the least headache-inducing of all the savings accounts to have.

Their mechanic is as simple as it gets: deposit money, earn interest. The only requirement is to maintain at least $1,000 in your account for you to earn the advertised interest rates. You can do the least with CIMB FastSaver's account and still reap the benefits of its rather generous interest rates. 

This account is also perfect for most young adults starting out their career, because of the very low "minimum" balance of $1,000 and no fall below fee.

CIMB FastSaver 

• Minimum balance: $1,000

• Fall below fee: None!

• Bonus interest cap: $75,000

9. POSB SAYE savings account interest rates

What if you want to open a savings account, but don't want to do anything but credit money into it? The best zero-effort contender is the POSB SAYE (Save As You Earn) account.

You need to set up a standing order to credit a fixed amount every month (anything from $50 to $3,000) into your SAYE account, then resist the urge to touch it for two years. As a reward for your restraint, you earn 3.5 per cent p.a..

Note that it's a whole lot less liquid than any other savings account, so for the love of God, please don't put your emergency stash in here.

10. HSBC Everyday Global Account

The HSBC Everyday Global Account is a multi-currency account that also doubles up as a savings account…masquerading as an interest/cashback-earning hybrid. Let me explain.

Unlike the other savings accounts on this list, the HSBC Everyday Global Account doesn't stack bonus interest the more you spend/save/borrow/invest/insure.

Instead, the account works hand in hand with the HSBC Everyday+ Rewards Programme to earn you one per cent bonus interest and one per cent cashback per year when you qualify for the programme.

To qualify for the HSBC Everyday+ Rewards Programme, you need to:

1. Deposit at least $2,000 (for Personal Banking customers) or $5,000 (for Premier customers) into the account
2. Make five eligible transactions, with no minimum amount. These can be any combination of the following types:
   1. Transactions made with a HSBC personal credit card
   2. Transactions made with a HSBC Everyday Global Debit Card
   3. GIRO bill payments
   4. Fund transfers

Qualifying for the Everyday+ Rewards Programme gets you:

• 1 per cent cashback on your HSBC credit card/HSBC Everyday Global Debit Card transactions and GIRO bill payments (capped at $300/month for Personal Banking customers, $500/month for HSBC Premier customers)
• 1 per cent bonus interest on the money you top up into your account each month (capped at $300/month)

HSBC doesn't limit you to a select few credit cards, so take your pick of the HSBC credit cards available. My personal pick is the HSBC Revolution Credit Card.

Few other cards will give you 10X Reward points (equivalent to four miles or 2.5 per cent cashback) on your online purchases and contactless payments! And that's excluding the one per cent cashback you'll get from the HSBC Everyday+ Rewards Programme.

On top of the interest and cashback, HSBC will give you one-time cash bonuses of up to $150 (for Personal banking customers) or $300 (for Premier banking customers) when you deposit at least $100,000 (Personal banking) / $200,000 (Premier Banking) and meets the eligibility criteria above for the first six months.

HSBC Everyday Global Account Bonus Interest Promotion

From now till March 31, 2024, HSBC is offering a total of up to 4.60 per cent p.a. interest on your the money you top up into your account. To register, SMS the following to 74722 by March 31, 2024:

EGA<Space>first 9-digit of your Everyday Global Account number (e.g. EGA 123456789)

Register successfully before the promotions ends to enjoy bonus interest for both March and April 2024.

Together with the 1% p.a. interest you’ll get from qualifying from the HSBC Everyday+ Rewards Programme, that’s 4.60% interest:

• Up to 3.55% p.a. Everyday Global Account Bonus Interest
• 0.05% p.a. Everyday Global Account’s prevailing interest rate
• Additional 1.00% p.a. when you qualify for the HSBC Everyday+ Rewards Programme

ALSO READ: 12 best cashback credit cards in Singapore (2024)

This article was first published in MoneySmart.