SINGAPORE - Standard Chartered Bank has raised the maximum interest rate on its Bonus$aver account to 4.88 per cent per annum - its highest for the savings account - up from 2.38 per cent.
It is the latest among lenders here upping the terms of their current and savings accounts amid a rising interest rate environment, as the United States central bank tries to tame surging inflation.
StanChart increased rates for the Bonus$aver current account by up to 1.2 percentage points across its categories, according to checks by The Straits Times on Sunday.
The account's customers can now also earn interest for balances of up to $100,000, compared with $80,000 previously. The qualifying criteria for the account's various categories are unchanged.
Customers were informed of the changes via e-mail on Friday.
They can now get bonus interest of 0.6 per cent per annum when they spend at least $500 with their Bonus$aver credit and debit cards, up from 0.2 per cent per annum previously.
The rate is 1.6 per cent per annum when customers spend at least $2,000, compared with 0.4 per cent before.
Customers can also get bonus interest of 1.2 per cent per annum when they credit their salary of at least $3,000, up from 0.1 per cent per annum previously.
They can earn bonus interest of 1 per cent per annum for both investments and insurance, compared with 0.9 per cent per annum before.
Customers need to buy an eligible unit trust through the bank, with a minimum subscription sum of $30,000 to qualify for the bonus interest. The requirement for the insurance category is the purchase of an eligible policy with an annual premium of at least $12,000.
The bonus interest for bill payments - when customers make three eligible bill payments of at least $50 each in a month from their Bonus$aver account via Giro or the bank's online banking platform - is unchanged at 0.07 per cent per annum.
The bonus interest rates are on top of the prevailing interest rate that customers earn, which is also the same as before, at 0.01 per cent per annum.
StanChart's move comes as the US Federal Reserve raised interest rates by 75 basis points in September - the latest in a series of hikes.
Other lenders have already acted. UOB raised rates on its One savings account across most balance levels in September to as high as 3.6 per cent for the top tier of balances when customers spend at least $500 a month on an eligible UOB card and have their salary credited via Giro.
OCBC 360 savings account customers can earn interest of up to 4.05 per cent on balances of up to $100,000.
DBS Bank was the first bank to raise rates for savings accounts when it lifted the yield on its DBS Multiplier from 3 per cent to 3.5 per cent for balances from $50,000 to $100,000 in August, among other increases.
Citibank Singapore also launched a digital wealth offering called Citi Plus in September, allowing customers to earn interest of up to 2.8 per cent a year.
