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In today’s high interest rate environment, it’s now easier for savers to stretch every dollar — provided you know where to put your money.
While a traditional savings account is a common choice for many, it’s not the best place to park your savings. Earning the typical annual interest rate of 0.05% simply doesn’t generate the returns that you need to grow your savings. On the other hand, high-interest savings accounts offer more attractive rates but often require you to fulfil different criteria, which may pose a hurdle to achieving the highest returns.
Enter the UOB Stash Account—marrying the simplicity of saving your money with access to higher interest rates to grow your money. It is suitable whether you are a cash-rich saver or a working adult saving regularly to achieve your financial goals.
What Is UOB Stash Account
The UOB Stash Account is a savings account that allows you to earn up to 5% p.a. interest on the first S$100,000 of your savings. It has two components: (1) a base interest of 0.05% p.a. and (2) a bonus interest of up to 4.95% p.a. that is paid out each month.
To earn the bonus interest, you need to fulfil the following two criteria:
- maintain a minimum monthly average balance (MAB)* above S$10,000; and
- maintain or increase your MAB by any amount compared to the previous month.
Source: UOB Stash
*Monthly Average Balance refers to the summation of each day-end balance in the Stash Account for each calendar month divided by the number of calendar days for that month.
For instance, if you have S$100,000 in your Stash Account, the first S$10,000 will earn the base interest. The bonus interest will kick in on the next S$90,000, as shown in the table below.
Source: UOB Stash
You can earn up to a 5% p.a. interest rate at the highest tier, and the maximum effective interest rate (EIR) for the UOB Stash will be around 3% p.a. after taking into account its tiered structure. In other words, you can earn up to S$3,000 in interest with S$100,000 in savings.
Here’s a simple breakdown of the EIR for the different account balances.
| Monthly Average Balance | (Max) Annual Interest | UOB Stash Account (EIR) |
| Up to S$10,000 | S$4.97 | ~0.05% |
| Up To S$40,000 | S$606.06 | ~1.515% |
| Up To S$70,000 | S$1,507.71 | ~2.153% |
| Up To S$100,000 | S$3,010.44 | ~3.01% |
Alternatively, you can use the calculator on the UOB website to find out how much interest you can earn with the UOB Stash Account.
From the chart below, it is easy to see how the interest on the UOB Stash Account works.
Say you make an initial deposit of S$60,000 in May and manage to grow your MAB by S$2,000 each month for the next 11 months. This would qualify you to earn up to 5% p.a., or around S$1,605.94 on a total savings balance of S$82,000 with UOB Stash, which is around 45 times more than the S$35.48 on a traditional savings account.
As ideal as it sounds, life happens, and you may not always be able to maintain or grow your MAB each month. Fortunately, there is no lock in period to earn the returns on the UOB Stash Account, allowing you to freely withdraw your savings whenever you need them. Though do note that you will not earn the bonus interest during the month you make a withdrawal. But fret not; you simply need to either maintain or increase your monthly average balance the following month to start earning bonus interest again!
The UOB Stash Account is available to individuals aged 15 and above (or 16 years old and above for online applications) and requires a minimum initial deposit requirement of S$1,000.
Who Can Benefit From UOB Stash
The UOB Stash Account is ideal for anyone who wants a hassle-free and simple way to grow their savings. In particular, these groups may find it beneficial to save and grow their money in the UOB Stash Account:
Working Adults
Working adults who are steadily accumulating savings for various purposes, such as emergency funds, future needs like wedding expenses, down-payments, or housing renovations, may discover the UOB Stash Account to be beneficial. They get to earn bonus interest while retaining the flexibility to make withdrawals when they have important and big-ticket payments to make.
Given that many working adults may already aim to save more each month, they would naturally be able to meet the MAB requirement and earn higher interest. Additionally, the flexibility to access funds at any time ensures they face no disadvantage in growing their savings even when they make any withdrawals.
For this group, the UOB Stash Account serves as an ideal complement to their high-interest savings account, like the UOB One Account, which has a cap on the savings amount eligible for high interest rates each month. Not only will working adults be able to use the UOB Stash Account to maximise their savings, but they will also be motivated to save more each month.
Retirees
Retirees or cash-rich savers who simply want a no-frills way to grow their savings will find the UOB Stash Account appealing. This group of savers may have a substantial amount of savings but may not wish to jump through different hoops, such as having to salary credit and/or meet spending requirements, in order to earn higher interest rates commonly associated with other high interest savings accounts.
With the UOB Stash Account, retirees can earn bonus interest on up to S$100,000 of their savings as long as they maintain or increase the MAB by any amount.
Moreover, this group of savers could even consider the UOB Stash Account as a complement to their other savings accounts, which may impose a cap on the savings amount that attracts the higher interest rate.
Power Up: Do This To Earn Up To S$8,000 In Interest A Year
To further maximise your savings, you could use the UOB Stash Account as a complementary savings account to the UOB One account.
First, you can use the UOB One Account, a high-interest savings account, to supercharge the returns on the first S$100,000 of your savings. You simply need to perform two steps: (1) spend a minimum of S$500 on an eligible UOB card; and (2) either do a minimum salary credit of S$1,600 or make three GIRO debit transactions per month. This will earn you a maximum effective interest rate of 5% p.a. or up to S$5,000 in interest on your first S$100,000. You could then “stash” your additional savings of up to S$100,000 in the UOB Stash Account to earn an effective interest rate of 3% p.a. or S$3,000.
By pairing your savings with the UOB One Account and UOB Stash Account, you can earn up to S$8,000 in interest a year on S$200,000 in savings, or an EIR of 4%. This is a rather attractive rate that you can earn without any investment risk or losing flexibility over your savings.
Read Also: The Battle For High Interest: Why I Chose To Switch To The UOB One Account
Don’t Settle For Less When You Can Earn More On Your Savings With UOB Stash Account
Whether you’re saving for yourself or for a loved one, the UOB Stash Account offers an opportunity you shouldn’t overlook. In this high interest rate environment, it can be the ideal savings account to easily maximise and grow your savings – especially since you can pair it with the UOB One Account to earn decent interest of up to S$8,000 for S$200,000 in combined savings.
Sign up online for a UOB Stash Account from now till 31 July 2023 and receive up to S$210 worth of Lazada cashback vouchers. To qualify, simply deposit S$5,000 in fresh funds and hold it until the end of the following calendar month. Plus, get an additional of up to S$140 cash credit when you sign up for salary crediting and perform GIRO transactions.
T&Cs apply.
Insured up to S$75k by SDIC.
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