Singapore, 30 April 2015 – OCBC Bank has enhanced its popular OCBC 360 Account with a higher interest rate of 3.25% p.a., two new bonus interest categories and better product features.

The first new bonus category – the Wealth Bonus – rewards customers with 1% p.a. bonus interest for purchasing eligible financial products such as endowment plans, unit trusts or structured deposits. The second new bonus category – the Save Bonus – rewards customers with another 1% p.a. bonus interest if they save and grow their account balance.

What’s more, customers who credit their salary to the OCBC 360 Account will now be rewarded with 1.2% bonus interest, compared to 1% previously. The maximum account balance that can earn bonus interest rates has gone up too – from S$50,000 to S$60,000.

With these enhancements, OCBC Bank customers are not only rewarded for doing more with the Bank, but are also rewarded for saving and starting their wealth planning journey – which are two fundamental financial planning principles. These enhancements will be effective from 1 May 2015.

Details of the two new bonus interest categories are as follows.

1. Wealth Bonus

Customers who purchase eligible financial products will be rewarded with bonus interest of 1% p.a. for 12 months. Examples of eligible products are:

• Endowment plans of at least S$8,000 annual premium, OR
• Unit Trusts or Structured Deposits of at least S$40,000

2. Save Bonus

Customers will be rewarded with bonus interest of 1% p.a. on the incremental balance between the current month and the previous month. There is no minimum incremental amount and the maximum amount is capped at S$1 million for each month.

Said Mr Ling Seng Chuan, Head of Deposits, OCBC Bank: “Most of us recognise the importance of financial planning. Yet, statistics in Singapore have shown time and again that Singaporeans do not save and invest enough for their retirement. With the new bonus categories, customers should no longer hesitate to act on the fundamental principles of financial planning – Save, Protect and Invest. By saving consistently every month, and by investing in appropriate financial products, customers earn more interest.”

“OCBC 360 Account was launched in April last year premised on ‘rewards for banking more’. Our customers get it and they like it. We registered doubledigit month-on-month growth in the past six months. The strong demand for this product came from the emerging affluent customers who sought higher interest rates on their main operating account.”

He added, “As the leading wealth management bank, we are confident that OCBC 360 Account will remain a superior product in the market because of our deep understanding of our customers’ needs.”

Before today, here’s how OCBC 360 Account works: On top of a base interest rate paid on the account balance, there are three separate ways to earn the 1% p.a. bonus interest – Salary Bonus, Payment Bonus and Credit Card Spend Bonus – that would apply to the first S$50,000 of the account balance. On 1 April 2015, customers were notified that for the latter two, the rates would be revised to 0.5% p.a.

Following the notification, local popular blog, MoneySmart, published an article with the conclusion that “…even with the announced changes, the OCBC 360 Account still remains one of the better savings account in the market today.”