UOB One Account – Still worthwhile with interest rate revision?

What is the UOB One account?

I've noticed that the UOB One savings account has consistently been a favourite high-yield savings account in the Beansprout community over the past year.

However, there have been many questions on whether it remains a good place to park our savings after interest rates on the UOB One savings account were revised from 1 May 2024. 

According to to UOB, the change in interest rates on the UOB One savings account was intended "to align with long-term interest rate environment expectations."

Hence, I decided to share an update on the UOB One account and look at how we can continue to make the most of the UOB One account. 

What is the interest rate on the UOB One account?

The UOB One account is the flagship savings account of UOB which allows you to earn a decent interest rate with minimal effort. 

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 shall start by illustrating 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$75,000 in your account, you earn an interest rate of 3.00% 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 4.50% p.a. on your next S$50,000 of monthly average balance, all the way up to 6.00% p.a. on your monthly average balance between S$125,000 and S$150,000.

What I'd like to highlight is that the interest rate shown 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 4.50% 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.

The effective interest rate is the average interest rate you would get by dividing the total interest earned by your average balances.

You might also be interested to know that salary credit transactions made via PayNow reflected as “PAYNOW SALA” will be considered eligible for bonus interest on UOB One Account. 

What is the interest rate earned on the UOB One account if I am unable to credit my salary?

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). 

If you are wondering how to make at least 3 GIRO payments, I have some ideas for you below:

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)

What are the eligibility requirements for the UOB One account?

To qualify for the UOB One account, you must fulfill the following requirements.

• You will need to be 18 years and above to open a UOB One account. 
• The minimum initial deposit for the UOB One account to S$1,000.
• You will also need to maintain a monthly average balance in your UOB One account of at least S$1,000, or a S$5 fall-below fee will be imposed. This fall-below fee is waived for the first 6 months for accounts opened online. 
• A S$30 early account closure fee will levied if you close your UOB One account within 6 months from opening. 

The full terms and conditions can be found here.

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! 

UOB One does not require you to deposit fresh funds to be eligible for the bonus interest rate. 

Also, do note that the interest rate earned on your UOB One account falls to 0.05% per annum for the portion of your monthly average balances above S$150,000.

To maximise your interest earned, you might want to consider the UOB Stash account or another high yield savings account for balances above S$150,000. 

Which cards are eligible for the UOB One spending? 

One thing you need to note is that the $500 card spend must be done on an eligible card.

The eligible UOB Credit Cards include the UOB One Card, UOB Lady's Card (all card types), UOB EVOL Card, Lazada-UOB Card.

The eligible UOB Debit Cards include the UOB One Debit Visa Card, UOB One Debit Mastercard, UOB Lady’s Debit Card and UOB Mighty FX Debit Card.

If you are looking for a fuss-free card, the UOB One debit card offers 10% cashback on dining, online shopping, groceries, transport.

You can find the list of eligible cards here. 

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

Many of you are probably wondering if the UOB One account is better than the OCBC 360 account  

This is especially so as OCBC has yet to revise interest rates on the OCBC 360 account.

As there are many tiers involved, we have done the math to find out which is the best savings account in Singapore.

Our calculation is based 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. You credit your monthly salary into the bank 
4. You spend the minimum amount with their credit cards

To help you decide between the UOB One account and the OCBC 360 account, use the calculator below to compare how much interest you would get with the UOB One account and the OCBC 360 with the new interest rates.

Final verdict on UOB One Account

Despite the revision in interest rates, we still like the UOB One account as it allows us to earn a decent interest rate on our deposits with minimal effort.

If we have S$150,000 of savings to put in the UOB One account, the effective interest rate we can earn of up to 4.0% per annum is one of the highest amongst savings accounts in Singapore. In fact, it is also higher than the T-bill and Singapore Savings Bond.

However, if we have less than S$100,000 of savings, then we can compare the UOB One account with other savings accounts to find out how we can maximise our interest earned. 

I also shared more tips on what we would do with the revision in interest rates on the UOB One account here. 

The other drawback of the UOB One account is that the interest rate falls to 0.05% per annum for the portion of our monthly average balances above S$150,000. 

To maximise our interest earned, we can also consider the UOB Stash account or another high yield savings account for balances above S$150,000. 

Join the Beansprout Telegram group to get the latest tips on making your savings work harder. 

How to open a UOB One Account

You can open a savings account online here, get approval within minutes and start transacting instantly.

To apply you will require the following:

• New to UOB customers, existing to UOB customers and joint applicants: Retrieve with Myinfo using Singpass login
• Existing to UOB customers: Personal Internet Banking login details 
• Existing to UOB customers applying for single-named account application: Credit/Debit card number and PIN