A hidden and forgotten account is basically an account that allows you to put aside extra money at a good interest rate. You don’t have to do anything except maybe increase your balance month after month. The UOB Stash is one such account.
Does it live up to its name as a decent 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 January 1, 2022.
The 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 percent |
| minimum age | 15 |
| Nationality | Singaporeans, PR, foreigners |
| Initial deposit | $1,000 |
| The minimum balance | $10,000 (to earn bonus interest) |
| Lower fees | $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 meet transactional criteria such as credit card spending, crediting your salary, and others. . The UOB Stash account requires none and allows you to earn up to 1% interest.
The UOB Stash account also has low barriers to entry, such as a minimum initial deposit of $1,000 and fees below $2.
The initial savings amount of less than $10,000 will earn you a mediocre interest of 0.05%. However, starting at $10,000, you are eligible for bonus interest if you meet these conditions:
- Maintain a monthly average balance (MAB) above $10,000
- Maintain or increase your MAB compared to the previous month
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 an eye on your deposited amount.
If you anticipate that you will need a large sum of money in the next 12 months, you should probably opt for something without this requirement like the CIMB FastSaver.
The best way to get the most out of UOB Stash is to treat it only as a reserve account and dip into your active savings account instead. This way, the funds in your UOB Stash account can continue to grow.
Also, if your savings exceed $100,000, the interest on your account will revert to 0.05% interest. In that case, you’d better save your excess money 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 better?
The Citibank MaxiGain, UOB Stash and CIMB FastSaver are all hidden accounts. So who is the winner here?
Let’s look at the once-popular CIMB FastSaver account, which, like UOB, also cut its interest rates from January 1, 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 advantage. Although you must keep at least S$1,000 in your CIMB FastSaver account on any given day to earn interest, you will not be charged a lower fee.
The Citi MaxiGain account is similar to UOB Stash in that you must maintain or increase your account balance to earn bonus interest. You get an extra 0.05% each month, but note that this is capped at 0.60%. Meh.
Verdict: Considering the low interest rates offered by all 3 accounts, we would say go for the CIMB FastSaver as it has the least amount of account requirements to meet.
So who should use UOB Stash?
OWe would say that the UOB Stash account is suitable for those who have a lot of reserve money (up to $100,000) to skim around and prefer to do business with UOB rather than CIMB.
The increasing MAB criterion makes it similar to a fixed deposit, but a bit more liquid. You can always withdraw money; Just make sure to top up your account before the end of the month to benefit from the bonus interest.
It is also easier to do banking with UOB as there are branches and ATMs everywhere, and their i-banking interface is decent. I cannot say the same for CIMB.
How to Open a UOB Stash Account
The UOB Stash savings account is very simple as a “passive” savings account. Even if you don’t have a lot of savings now, you can gradually increase your savings, which will increase your interest rate.
Account setup can be easily done online, saving you time and hassle. You can set it up instantly by retrieving your personal information through MyInfo and no further document submissions are required.
This article was first published in MoneySmart.
