StanChart brings maximum interest rate on savings account to record 8.05%
[SINGAPORE] While local banks are dropping their interest rates on savings accounts, Standard Chartered Bank (StanChart) has raised its rates to an all-time high.
Its revised interest rates, which took effect on Jun 1, is a two percentage point increase to 8.05 per cent, from 6.05 per cent previously. This is the highest rate available in the industry for comparable savings accounts.
Conversely, local banks such as UOB and OCBC trimmed the interest rates on their respective savings accounts last month to align with 'long-term interest rate environment expectations'.
Bonus$aver, StanChart's flagship deposit account, features a tiered interest rate structure, rewarding clients who deepen their engagement with the bank through activities such as salary crediting, card spend, insurance and investment.
A new enhancement to the investment category will allow equity trades of at least S$20,000 through its online trading service, SC Online Trading, to qualify for interest alongside unit trust purchases.
Account holders will still have to fulfil several criteria to earn the bonus interest rates – including crediting a minimum monthly salary of S$3,000 and spending a minimum of S$1,000 on eligible credit and debit cards.
BT in your inbox
Start and end each day with the latest news stories and analyses delivered straight to your inbox.
Sign Up
Sign Up
With the new rates, account holders who meet the criteria are now able to earn a bonus interest rate of 1.5 per cent each year, up from 1 per cent, for card spend and salary credit.
They will also have to be insured and investing with the bank, where they can enjoy interest rates of up to 2.5 per cent.
While its base interest rate of 0.05 per cent remains unchanged, interest rates across all other engagement pillars were raised to provide 'additional value to clients'.
With all conditions met, clients are able to earn the maximum interest rate of 8.05 per cent on the first average daily balance of S$100,000.
'By integrating banking with wealth solutions, we're offering clients a smarter way to grow their savings while deepening their relationship with the bank,' said Usman Khalid, global and Singapore head for deposits, mortgages and payments at StanChart.
The inclusion comes with the bank's effort to recognise the growing interest in stock trading. The lender said that new client acquisition jumped 50 per cent in 2024. Its online trading platform also saw a rise of more than 65 per cent in trading volumes last year.
For the first time, the bank is also offering shares tied with new clients opening a deposit account from now till Jun 30.
Besides opening the account, they would also have to apply for a Bonus$aver World Mastercard credit card with a deposit of minimally S$50,000 in fresh funds.
These new clients will then receive 50 units of SPDR Straits Times Index ETF, which is the first locally created exchange-traded fund.
'The Bonusaver headline rate matches the overall relationship value clients have with Standard Chartered, covering daily banking as well as wealth solutions,' said Khalid.
'While we continuously monitor macro trends, this holistic approach allows us to sustainably offer such a proposition, rewarding clients who choose us as their primary banking partner.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Business Times
4 days ago
- Business Times
Standard Chartered cuts jobs in Singapore; moves them to India: Finance jobs portal
[SINGAPORE] Dozens of staff at Standard Chartered have reportedly been laid off in Singapore in a fresh round of job cuts by the London-based bank. The move affected about 80 Singapore-based employees – understood to be from the bank's technology and operations teams – with their jobs being offshored to India, according to finance jobs portal efinancialcareers. In a website article published on Jun 12, the global financial services company noted that 'sources at the bank in Singapore said the 80 jobs currently being offshored to India are likely only the start'. 'Singapore remains a critical centre for their global businesses and technology and operations teams,' a StanChart spokesman said when contacted by ST, without providing details such as whether the job cuts are part of the bank's plan to save costs in a bid to return capital to shareholders. 'We continually look to enhance our operations to serve our clients better. As a global firm, we maintain a dynamic blend of world-class local talent in our key markets, including Singapore, and leverage the multi-disciplinary expertise housed in our global business service hubs,' he added. The bank, which makes most of its money in Asia and the Middle East, is in the midst of a corporate cost-saving programme called 'Fit for Growth' as it aims to return US$1.5 billion more to shareholders. It reported fourth-quarter earnings that beat estimates in February 2025. BT in your inbox Start and end each day with the latest news stories and analyses delivered straight to your inbox. Sign Up Sign Up The bank had previously cut about 100 jobs across its Singapore, London and Hong Kong hubs in November 2024. This was part of the Asia-focused lender's plan to cut costs by more than US$1 billion through 2024. StanChart's head office in Singapore is at Marina Bay Financial Centre, with a network of 11 branches and over 30 ATMs islandwide. A check on StanChart's job openings on its website showed that the bank is still hiring for over 60 Singapore-based roles in areas ranging from operations to marketing and business development. Tech positions, such as infrastructure engineers and those related to digital products, are still open. The job cuts follow other global banks that have made reductions to their workforce, including DBS, which had communicated its intention to reduce its contract and temporary staff by around 4,000 over the next three years as artificial intelligence increasingly takes on roles carried out by humans. Meanwhile, HSBC had also announced a restructuring process in October 2024 that was expected to lead to job cuts, mainly involving those in senior roles to reduce duplication. HSBC Singapore was not able to comment on the number and type of senior management roles it has here, then. The financial sector's contribution to Singapore's gross domestic product has grown from 12.5 per cent in 2018 to 13.8 per cent in 2024, with a workforce of close to 200,000 here. THE STRAITS TIMES
Business Times
4 days ago
- Business Times
Stocks to watch: DBS, UOB, Sats, Far East Orchard, GuocoLand, Elite UK Reit
THE following companies saw new developments that may affect trading of their securities on Thursday (Jun 19): DBS : The lender inked a memorandum of understanding with the the Australian Trade and Investment Commission on Wednesday to deepen investment links between Australia and South-east Asia. The two will collaborate to help Australian companies expand into markets in the region, including Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia and Vietnam. The counter ended on Wednesday 0.5 per cent or S$0.23 lower at S$44.23. UOB : The bank and its wholly-owned subsidiary UOB China have become direct participants in China's Cross-border Interbank Payment System, a wholesale payment system authorised by the People's Bank of China that facilitates the settlement of trading and investments in renminbi. This will enable UOB to provide cross-border renminbi clearing, settlement and payment services to businesses and financial institutions within and outside China, the bank said. Its shares closed on Wednesday 0.3 per cent or S$0.12 lower at S$34.83. Sats : In-flight caterer and ground handler Sats on Wednesday priced US$100 million in fixed-rate notes due Jun 23, 2030 under its US$3 billion multicurrency debt issuance programme. The net proceeds will be used to refinance existing borrowings and the issuance will not result in an increase in the group's overall debt. The notes are expected to be issued on Jun 23 and the interest rate is fixed at 4.648 per cent each year, payable semi-annually in arrear. Sats shares closed flat at S$3.08 on Wednesday. Far East Orchard (FEO) : The group's first private student accommodation development fund secured £96 million (S$166 million) in total committed capital at its closing. The sum includes £70 million raised at the fund's first closing in August last year. The fund focuses on purpose-built student accommodation development opportunities in strong universities across the United Kingdom and has committed more than 35 per cent of the raised equity into two such developments to date. These are a 273-bed project in Glasgow, Scotland and a 239-bed one at Plymouth Grove in Manchester, England. Shares of Far East Orchard closed flat at S$1 on Wednesday, before the announcement. GuocoLand : Its subsidiary, GuocoLand Malaysia, said on Wednesday that its unit GLM Emerald Hills was directed to pay monies to a contractor it is embroiled in a dispute with in an arbitration matter. The current estimated net financial impact in relation to the arbitration is RM 5.5 million. GLM EHills is in consultation with solicitors on the next course of action, including to set aside the arbitration award, and will announce material development in due course. The counter ended on Wednesday 0.7 per cent or S$0.01 higher at S$1.46. Elite UK Reit : The manager on Thursday announced its issue of some 13.6 million new private placement units at an issue price of £0.295 (S$0.51) per unit, bringing the total number of units in issue to around 609.9 million. The new units will commence trading on the main board of the Singapore Exchange at 9 am on Thursday. Units of Elite UK Reit closed Wednesday flat at £0.325.
Straits Times
4 days ago
- Straits Times
Standard Chartered cuts jobs in Singapore; moves them to India: Finance jobs portal
The bank had previously cut about 100 jobs across its Singapore, London and Hong Kong hubs in November 2024. ST PHOTO: KELVIN CHNG SINGAPORE - Dozens of staff at Standard Chartered have reportedly been laid off in Singapore in a fresh round of job cuts by the London-based bank. The move affected about 80 Singapore-based employees – understood to be from the bank's technology and operations teams – with their jobs being offshored to India, according to finance jobs portal efinancialcareers. In a website article published on June 12, the global financial services company noted that 'sources at the bank in Singapore said the 80 jobs currently being offshored to India are likely only the start'. 'Singapore remains a critical centre for their global businesses and technology and operations teams,' a StanChart spokesman said when contacted by ST, without providing details such as whether the job cuts are part of the bank's plan to save costs in a bid to return capital to shareholders. 'We continually look to enhance our operations to serve our clients better. As a global firm, we maintain a dynamic blend of world-class local talent in our key markets, including Singapore, and leverage the multi-disciplinary expertise housed in our global business service hubs,' he added. The bank, which makes most of its money in Asia and the Middle East, is in the midst of a corporate cost-saving programme called 'Fit for Growth' as it aims to return US$1.5 billion (S$2 billion) more to shareholders. It reported fourth-quarter earnings that beat estimates in February 2025. The bank had previously cut about 100 jobs across its Singapore, London and Hong Kong hubs in November 2024. This was part of the Asia-focused lender's plan to cut costs by more than US$1 billion (S$1.35 billion) through 2024. StanChart's head office in Singapore is at Marina Bay Financial Centre, with a network of 11 branches and over 30 ATMs islandwide. A check on StanChart's job openings on its website showed that the bank is still hiring for over 60 Singapore-based roles in areas ranging from operations to marketing and business development. Tech positions, such as infrastructure engineers and those related to digital products, are still open. The job cuts follow other global banks that have made reductions to their workforce, including DBS, which had communicated its intention to reduce its contract and temporary staff by around 4,000 over the next three years as artificial intelligence increasingly takes on roles carried out by humans. Meanwhile, HSBC had also announced a restructuring process in October 2024 that was expected to lead to job cuts, mainly involving those in senior roles to reduce duplication. HSBC Singapore was not able to comment on the number and type of senior management roles it has here, then. The financial sector's contribution to Singapore's gross domestic product has grown from 12.5 per cent in 2018 to 13.8 per cent in 2024, with a workforce of close to 200,000 here. Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
