POSB has come up with an extremely attractive, albeit creative, plan to attract new deposits. The 1.88% Chinese New Year Savings/Current Account deposit promotion, behaves like a fixed deposit but works for all savings and current account holders. Essentially, one would have to register for this promotion and transfer the funds into the said account. After the funds have been ear-marked, they will be unavailable for withdrawal and will qualify for the 1.88% "cash gift"(interest) at the end of the promotion on 31-JAN-2016.
 |
| 1.88% |
The Promotion
Upon successful registration, you will be prompted with the following message.
*Fresh Funds Deposit means funds transferred from non-DBS/POSB accounts, through cheque(s), cashier’s order(s), demand draft(s), cash deposits (CDM Counts here), FAST credit (Fresh Funds Deposit that is more than SGD 10,000 via FAST, more than one (1) FAST credit is allowed) and MEPS receipt. These exclude any funds from any DBS/POSB account and funds deposited via any DBS/POSB cheque(s), DBS/POSB cashier’s order(s), or DBS/POSB demand draft(s).
3) Do not touch the funds (It will be ear-marked* anyway) for the full period (From Deposit to 31JAN16)
As of this post, the additional 88$ Cash Gift has been fully redeemed by the first 10,000 customers.
Illustration (Provided by POSB):
Customer A registers via online through DBS website during the Promotion Period and successfully top-up a lump-sum of SGD 1,000,000 to a CASA* Account by 28 February 2015.
Cash Gift earned by Customer A under the Promotion as follow: SGD 1,000,000 * 1.88%p.a. * 365/365 days = SGD 18,800.00
Note: 12 months period is from 1 February 2015 to 31 January 2016 = 365 days
* CASA := Current Account / Savings Account
The earmarking by DBS will start between 1 February 2015 and 31 March 2015, and the Fresh Funds Deposit will be earmarked by DBS for the period ending on 31 January 2016 (“the Earmarked Period”). The Fresh Funds Deposit will not be available for withdrawal during the Earmarked Period.
http://www.posb.com.sg/personal/promotion/savings-promo
1) What does fresh fund mean ?
- Any form of funds that are not already in a POSB or DBS account. These can be in the form of FAST Transfers, Cheque/Cash Deposits, Demand Draft, etc.
2) If i transfer from another Bank using FAST over 5 times for 50,000$. Does it constitute as 1 lump sum and qualify for the promotion ?
- Yes it does. As long as all the transfers reach POSB before the 28-FEB. They will constitute as a lump sum.
3) What happens to my Ear Marked funds?
- When your funds are ear marked, they will not be available for withdrawal. However, should there be a need to withdraw, you can proceed with the following steps:
1. You may contact the Bank to request for lifting of the Earmark.
2. It will take up to 3 working days to release the funds.
3. No additional penalties. However, you will forfeit the full interest (To be paid on 31-JAN-16).
4) When will my funds be ear marked ? *Updated 03-MAR
- POSB will proceed to ear mark funds from 01-FEB to 31-MAR. I have no clue regarding the selection of accounts for ear marking (whether it is done on a first-come-first-serve basis, etc), but i assume that as long as you have successfully registered and transferred the amount into your account (meeting the criteria mentioned above), you will be eligible for this promotion.
In essence, this promotion is akin to a fixed deposit without the penalty for early withdrawal. It is also designed to reduce the additional trouble involved in creating a fixed deposit account, yet appeal to the group of people who are interested in similar yielding products.
If you have spare cash sitting around in other bank accounts, there is absolutely no harm utilizing this promotion. Aside from the 1 year ear marked period, the 1.88% beats the regular eSaver and UOB Uniplus promotional rates.
If a 1 year 'lock-in' period is too long, you can read more about my article on Maximizing your savings
PS: I have no affiliation with POSB.
FAQ
1) What does fresh fund mean ?
- Any form of funds that are not already in a POSB or DBS account. These can be in the form of FAST Transfers, Cheque/Cash Deposits, Demand Draft, etc.
- Yes it does. As long as all the transfers reach POSB before the 28-FEB. They will constitute as a lump sum.
3) What happens to my Ear Marked funds?
- When your funds are ear marked, they will not be available for withdrawal. However, should there be a need to withdraw, you can proceed with the following steps:
1. You may contact the Bank to request for lifting of the Earmark.
2. It will take up to 3 working days to release the funds.
3. No additional penalties. However, you will forfeit the full interest (To be paid on 31-JAN-16).
4) When will my funds be ear marked ? *Updated 03-MAR
- POSB will proceed to ear mark funds from 01-FEB to 31-MAR. I have no clue regarding the selection of accounts for ear marking (whether it is done on a first-come-first-serve basis, etc), but i assume that as long as you have successfully registered and transferred the amount into your account (meeting the criteria mentioned above), you will be eligible for this promotion.
Summary
In essence, this promotion is akin to a fixed deposit without the penalty for early withdrawal. It is also designed to reduce the additional trouble involved in creating a fixed deposit account, yet appeal to the group of people who are interested in similar yielding products.
If you have spare cash sitting around in other bank accounts, there is absolutely no harm utilizing this promotion. Aside from the 1 year ear marked period, the 1.88% beats the regular eSaver and UOB Uniplus promotional rates.
If a 1 year 'lock-in' period is too long, you can read more about my article on Maximizing your savings
PS: I have no affiliation with POSB.
How do you know that the cash gift of $88 was redeemed as at 11 Feb?
ReplyDeleteHi Anonymous,
DeleteAs of 11-FEB, POSB Stated on their website that the cash gift has been fully redeemed. I guess it is safe to assume that anyone registering after the 11-FEB for this promotion will no longer qualify for the additional 88$.
You can check it out here:
http://www.posb.com.sg/personal/promotion/savings-promo?pid=sg-posb-pweb-homepage-popularpromon3-btnshowmehow-savingspromo
Tks :-)
Delete