Yahoo Finance UOB Stash Savings Account — MoneySmart Review 2022
A stash-and-forget account is essentially one that allows you to put aside extra money at a good interest rate. You don’t need to do any action except maybe increase your balance month on month. The UOB Stash is one such account.
Does it live up to its name as a decent stash-and-forget savings account in Singapore? Let’s look at its pros and cons.
Note: This article reflects the latest UOB Stash account interest rate changes, as of 1 Jan 2022.
UOB Stash savings account at a glance
UOB Stash savings account | |
Interest rate (first $10,000) | 0.05% |
Interest rate (next $30,000) | 0.3% |
Interest rate (next $30,000) | 0.6% |
Interest rate (next $30,000) | 1% |
Minimum age | 15 |
Nationality | Singaporeans, PRs, Foreigners |
Initial deposit | $1,000 |
Minimum balance | $10,000 (to earn bonus interest) |
Fall-below fee | $2 |
Bonus interest cap | $100,000 |
How does the UOB Stash savings account work?
While other active savings accounts like UOB One and OCBC 360 offer more attractive interest rates, these accounts require you to fulfil transactional criteria like credit card spend, crediting your salary and others. The UOB Stash account requires none of those and lets you earn up to 1% interest.
The UOB Stash account also has low entry barriers such as a low minimum initial deposit of $1,000 and a low fall-below fee of $2.
The initial savings amount below $10,000 will earn you a mediocre 0.05% interest. However, from $10,000 onwards, you are eligible for bonus interest if you meet these requirements:
Maintain a monthly average balance (MAB) above $10,000
Maintain or increase your MAB compared to the previous month
UOB One Account
More Details
Key Features
Up to 2.50% p.a. interest rates
Up to $200 cash credit when you sign up online and sign up for a UOB credit card. T&Cs apply
Low initial deposit of $500
Withdraw cash conveniently without an ATM card using Mobile Banking
UOB Young Professionals Solution is a combination of UOB One Account, UOB YOLO and the unique Sweep feature that allows you to automatically invest your earned account interests and card rebate into a Unit Trust
Interest Rate
Bonus Interest Rate
Option A |
|---|
Up to 2.50% p.a. |
Highlights
Citizenship Status |
|---|
S$500 |
S$1,000 |
S$5 |
N/A |
OCBC 360 Account
More Details
Key Features
Minimum salary credit of S$1,800 via GIRO
OCBC 360 is a savings account with a base interest rate of 0.05% per annum on the account’s balance
You enjoy bonus interest rates when you credit your monthly salary, meet certain deposit amounts such as S$500 monthly increases or S$200,000 total balance, purchase insurance, or invest with OCBC
Increase your OCBC 360 account savings balance by S$500 monthly to enjoy 0.10% bonus interest on the first S$25,000, followed by 0.20% bonus interest for the next S$25,000, and 0.40% bonus interest for the third S$25,000
If your account balance is above S$200,000, you enjoy an additional 0.40% on your first S$75,000 deposited
Interest Rate
Bonus Interest Rate
Monthly Salary Credit |
|---|
OCBC insurance plans |
OCBC unit trusts, structured deposits, or bonds and structured products |
Highlights
Citizenship Status |
|---|
S$1,000 |
S$3,000 |
S$2 (waived for 1 year) |
N/A |
Over 1,100 ATMs in shared network in Singapore |
N/A |
Potential pitfalls of the UOB Stash Savings Account
To ensure you maintain or increase your MAB, you may need to restrict your withdrawals and keep tabs on your deposited amount.
If you foresee that you will need a large sum of money within the next 12 months, you probably should go for something without this requirement like the CIMB FastSaver.
The best way to make the most out of UOB Stash is to treat it purely as a stash account and draw from your active savings account instead. This way the funds in your UOB Stash account can be left to grow.
Also, if your savings go beyond $100,000, the interest on your account will revert back to 0.05% interest. In that case, you are better off saving your overflow cash elsewhere.
In that case, you might want to check out some of the 2022 fixed deposit promotions going on right now.
UOB Stash vs Citibank MaxiGain vs CIMB FastSaver — which is the best?
The Citibank MaxiGain, UOB Stash and CIMB FastSaver are all stash accounts. So who’s the winner here?
Let’s look at the once-popular CIMB FastSaver account, which, like UOB, has also slashed its interest rates as of 1 Jan 2022:
CIMB FastSaver account | |
Interest rate (first $10,000) | 0.3% |
Interest rate (next $65,000) | 0.3% |
Interest rate (>$75,000) | 0.15% |
Both accounts look equally bad when it comes to interest rates, but CIMB FastSaver has a slight edge. While you have to maintain at least S$1,000 in your CIMB FastSaver Account on any given day to earn interest, you will not be charged fall-below fees.
The Citi MaxiGain account is similar to the UOB Stash in that you need to maintain or increase your account balance to earn bonus interest. You get an extra 0.05% every month but to note, this is capped at 0.60%. Meh.
Verdict: Given the poor interest rates offered by all 3 accounts, we’d say to go with the CIMB FastSaver as it has the fewest account requirements to meet.
Priority Relationship Manager
Citi MaxiGain Savings Account (Citigold)
More Details
Key Features
Base interest 0.01% p.a. (October 2020 onwards)
Bonus interest rate up to maximum of 0.6% p.a.
Start a Citi Priority Relationship in minutes with S$70,000.
Enjoy Priority banking wealth packages with preferential rates and personalised services.
Access to bite-sized tips on financial planning and digital investment solutions (e.g. Citibank Brokerage and eFX) that are time and fee-saving.
Exclusive Citi Priority Delights offers and lifestyle privileges with Citi Priority Debit Mastercard ®.
Simple banking with instant payments & transfers and real-time balance updates with Citi Mobile® App.
Free Citibank Global Transfer and ATM withdrawals at Citibank ATMs worldwide.
Interest Rate
Bonus Interest Rate
Highlights
Citizenship Status |
|---|
S$10,000 |
S$0 |
N/A |
S$15 |
>50 in Singapore, >9000 worldwide |
N/A |
So, who should use UOB Stash?
We would say that the UOB Stash account is suitable for those with plenty of spare cash (up to $100,000) to squirrel away, and who prefer to bank with UOB rather than CIMB.
The increasing MAB criterion makes it similar to a fixed deposit, but a bit more liquid. You can still withdraw cash; simply make sure to top up your account before the month is up to qualify for bonus interest.
It’s also easier to bank with UOB as there are branches and ATMs everywhere, and their i-banking interface is decent. Can’t say the same for CIMB.
How to open a UOB Stash account
The UOB Stash savings account is very straightforward as a “passive” savings account. Even if you don’t have a lot of savings now, you can gradually work your way towards increasing your savings which in turn increases your interest rate.
Setting up the account can be easily done online which saves you the time and hassle. You can set it up instantly by retrieving your personal information via MyInfo and no other submission of documents is required.
Know anyone who’s a good fit for the UOB Stash account? Share this article with them.
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