Disclaimer:
I am not finance person, and i do comparison purely from what i have read from the site.
Please do correct me if i have my facts wrong.
To know more about my background, you can click here.
So there is a new savings account in town that seemed to be a little late to the game.
I would like to state that is a very good comparison article here from investment moats.
To learn more about my previous comparison of UOB and OCBC, it is here
This new offering from Bank of China is pretty similar to the old criteria of OCBC, only that it is higher in interest in some parts.
I can tell you straightaway without calculations, this account gives you higher and better % if you are able to hit the criteria. For very basic amount of less than $5000, you will already have 1.55%+1%+0.6%+0.25% = 3.4%. And it gets better when you have more money.
Its criteria are simple,
- $500 charged across any credit card OR debit card from BOC.
- At least $2000 salary credited
- pay 3 bills using this account
While the rest of the bank requires you to use their Credit Card to get the reward, BOC allows you to use Debit Card to do so. Why is this awesome you may ask. There are some friends of mine who refuses to use Credit Cards simply because they are afraid to overspend or owe the bank money. I used to be like them until i got sucked into the promise of awesome rebates.
This account is also a Multi Currency Savings account. It doesn't mean much to me, but in basic, it means that all your statements in many different currencies would be consolidated. It would be useful for people who have many different currency dealings with the bank.
Last but not least, even if you do not meet any of these criteria, and simply wants an account to put your savings, its base interest of 0.25% to up to 0.4% is pretty awesome.
But before you start to jump over due to these seemingly awesome rewards, let me caution you on a few lifestyle change.
Ibanking
I have no idea why, but when i am looking for Bank of China's Ibanking webpage, I chanced upon 2 of it. While i am not sure if both are legit, or 1 of them is a phishing site, do note that you require to install some special software before you are able to login to the site. This might not be a big deal to you, but do note that if you want your 0.6%, you need to use this to do your 3 online transactions.
And this site is not really Mobile Friendly, which brings me to...
Mobile Banking
I did a basic search on Google Play Store and i realised they do not have an Mobile Banking App. I am a current OCBC user and that app is pretty much what i use to make my 3 transactions, to keep track of my credit card spending, and to check how much i have left in that account. So if you depend on your Mobile Banking app quite a bit, i suggest you think through your decision to change over to BOC.
Lack of ATM
This is also an obvious problem for me if all my pay goes to this account. I would not have any ways
to get the money out when i urgently needs it and i can only depend on a bank transfer via FAST to another bank account via a Computer (note: mobile banking is pretty problematic), then go to ATM of this other account.
Credit Card Rebates
This is dependent on your lifestyle and whatever that suits you. Being a foodie who always out to eat with Chiwawa, Rebates on dining and grocery shopping is my top priority. Hence, I would say BOC credit card didnt quite catch my attention. So it is a calculation of if switching over and clocking $500 on a BOC credit card with minimal rebates but high interest more worthwhile, or if your rebates and discounts are more worthwhile.
Of course, if you are able to easily clock $500 on this credit card without affecting your other rebates, then this would not affect you. One good way to do so is to pay insurance bills.
As a card user, I so far did not encounter any BOC card only deals(or maybe i just didnt realise).
In conclusion...
This might be a little late to the game despite having some pretty good interest. Many are already a happy user of OCBC or UOB, i doubt they would make the switch simply due to the lack of promotion of this account and the lack of presence of BOC. But if you are from China, or visits China often, then this is a good account for you to park your cash!
Also, the lack of facilities would be a problem for frequent bank services users.
