Investing in Bank Accounts Part 6

Singapore Savings Account Rates presents Investing in Bank Accounts Part 6 this June 2010.

8) Internet banking

This is banking through online services. Banks with internet banking facilities allow customers to check balances, pay bills, transfer funds, compare savings plans, and apply for loans on the Internet. Access to internet banking services is usually through the use of user IDs/ passwords and PINs.

9) Safety precautions in Internet Banking

Banks would take appropriate measures to ensure that their websites and online facilities are secure. If you want to know more about their security procedures, ask the bank for details. You can do your part to make your online banking transactions more secure by:

a) Keeping your ID and password to yourself. No bank staff will ask for your password.

b) Logging on to the bank’s website by entering the domain name of the bank into the browser bar. Never accept hyperlinks or redirections from other websites to log on to your bank’s website.

c) Changing your password regularly, especially if you make transactions frequently.

d) Checking your statements regularly and look out for unauthorised entries.

e) Remembering to log off, even if you are leaving your desk for only a short while.

f) Clearing your computer's cache and transaction history after logging out.

g) Do your banking transactions only on your own computer. Never use shared computers like those in cyber cafés.

h) Protecting your computer from hackers by installing firewalls, anti-virus programmes and updating your browsers and operating system with the latest security patches.

For further reading on other consumer guides, please log on to the MoneySense website at www.moneysense.gov.sg

Thanks for reading Singapore Savings Account Rates, where we bring you the latest and best selected Singapore savings account rates.

The Team
Singapore Savings Account Rates.

Investing in Bank Accounts Part 5

Investing in Bank Accounts Part 5

Singapore Savings Account Rates presents Investing in Bank Accounts Part 5 on this day in MAY 2010.

7) Protecting Your Accounts

Here are some tips for protecting your account/account information.

a) ATM Card/PIN Remember to keep your ATM card safe and your PIN secret. To protect your PIN, you should:
i) destroy the original print copy of the PIN ii) not allow anyone to use your card or PIN iii) never write down the PIN on the ATM card iv) not use easy-to-remember dates or numbers like NRIC or birthdates as your PIN v) change your PIN periodically

b) Cheque Book/Savings Passbook Protect and keep your cheque book and passbook in a safe and secure place when you are not using them.

c) Precaution when writing cheques
i) Do not pre-sign your cheques.
ii) Write your cheques in dark ink.
iii) Write your cheques in such a way to prevent unauthorised insertions, eg rule off any blank space after the payee’s name and always insert the word “only” after the amount in words.
iv) If it is not a cash cheque, cross out the cheque with the words “Account Payee Only”.
v) Do not use facsimile signatures on your cheques.

For further reading on other consumer guides, please log on to the MoneySense website at www.moneysense.gov.sg

Thanks for reading Singapore Savings Account Rates, where we bring you the latest and best selected Singapore savings account rates.

The Team
Singapore Savings Account Rates.

Investing In Bank Accounts Part 4

Investing In Bank Accounts Part 4

Singapore Savings Account Rates presents Investing In Bank Accounts Part 4 this Aptril 2010.

Investing In Bank Accounts Part 4:

6) What you should look out for when opening your account.

Different banks offer accounts with different features and fee structures. Before you open an account with any bank, you should find out and understand the product features by asking the following questions:

a) For savings and current accounts:

i) What is the minimum deposit to open an account? ii) What is the interest rate? iii) How is interest calculated, and how often is the
interest credited to my account?
iv) Is there a minimum balance to be maintained in the account? If I fail to maintain the minimum balance, is there a service charge?
v) How long must I keep the account after opening it? Is there a penalty if I close it earlier? vi) When a cheque is banked in, when can I use the money? vii) Is there a withdrawal limit at the branch, or ATM?

b) Additional questions for current accounts:

i) Is there an administration fee for account maintenance?
ii) Do I have to pay for the cheques provided by the bank?
iii) What are the charges for a returned cheque due to insufficient funds? Will I be charged interest as well?
iv) Will there be charges if a cheque is returned due to technical reasons, eg if the cheque is post¬dated?

c) For fixed deposits:

i) What is the minimum deposit to open an account? ii) What is the interest rate on my deposit?
iii) How is interest calculated?
iv) Will my deposit be automatically rolled over on maturity date?
v) What happens if the maturity date falls on a public holiday?
vi) Can I withdraw my money before maturity? Will I incur a penalty if I do so? Do I still receive interest, and how is the interest computed?

For further reading on other consumer guides, please log on to the MoneySense website at www.moneysense.gov.sg

Thanks for reading Singapore Savings Account Rates, where we bring you the latest and best selected Singapore savings account rates.

The Team
Singapore Savings Account Rates.

Investing in Bank Accounts Part 3

Investing in Bank Accounts Part 3

In this March 2010 finance post, Singapore Savings Account Rates presents part 3 of Investing in Bank Accounts.

Notes on Investing in Bank Accounts are obtained from MoneySense, a national finance education programme.

Investing In Bank Accounts (continue)

5) Range of services for account holders

The following is a range of services usually available to savings and current account holders:

a) ATM card: With this card, you can deposit, withdraw or transfer money at ATM machines. Access to this service is by your Personal Identification Number (PIN).

b) Cash card: This is a stored-value card that you can use to pay bills and purchases.

c) Debit card: A debit card is an enhanced ATM card with point-of-sale features that can be used to purchase goods and services electronically. The card replaces cash or checks. Transactions are deducted from your savings or current account directly.

d) GIRO: This is a banking facility where you authorise your bank to transfer money from your account, to the account of a service provider for recurrent services rendered.

e) Standing orders: These are instructions you give to your bank to transfer certain sums of money regularly to a third party.

f) Electronic Funds Transfer at Point of Sale (EFTPOS): Commonly known as NETS, you can use your ATM card or debit card at outlets with this facility. Once the transaction is approved, the amount is immediately deducted from your bank account.

g) Phone banking: With an ID and password, you can use your phone to carry out various banking transactions, such as fund transfer and checking account information.

h) Internet banking: This is similar to phone banking, except that you do your banking transactions at the bank’s website on the Internet. (See Internet Banking at paragraph 8 below.)

For further reading on other consumer guides, please log on to the MoneySense website at www.moneysense.gov.sg

Thanks for reading Singapore Savings Account Rates.

The Team
Singapore Savings Account Rates.

Hong Bao Savings Deposits

Hong Bao Savings Deposits

No doubt Lunar New Year 2010 is around the corner: Can you feel the festive spirit of Chinese New Year? Or are you still shopping around for the best savings account rates or deposits account rates in Singapore in preparation to receive (or to hand out) lots of hong bao money?

In today's finance post on Singapore Savings Account Rates, we are not presenting (or receiving) any hong bao to / from our readers, nor are we mentioning any hong bao savings account rate or hong bao deposits account rates.

This Singapore Savings Account Rates blogspot post is not about the best hong bao savings deposits rates there is, or the best offers in bank savings deposits promotions around this Lunar New Year period.

Instead, we simply ask: After receiving your hong bao money, what do you do with the hong bao money?

(a) spend it
(b) keep it in savings account
(c) keep it in fixed deposits
(d) stuff it inside pillow
(d) where got money?

You can contact us here to submit your answers.

We may collate results and highlight your responses (if any) after the Lunar New Year holidays.


Thanks for reading Singapore Savings Account Rates, where we bring you the latest and best selected Singapore savings account rates.

The Team
Singapore Savings Account Rates.

Investing In Bank Accounts Part 2

Investing In Bank Accounts Part 2

Singapore Savings Account Rates continues part 2 of the series of articles on 'Investing in Bank Accounts' this February 2010.

The written words are obtained from MoneySense, a national financial education programme.

Investing In Bank Accounts (continue)

3) Safe and convenient

a) Using bank accounts is a safe and convenient way to help you manage your daily cash flow. Your money is safe in a bank account and you have complete control over how to manage your money.

b) You can keep track of your savings and spending transactions, pay bills, make purchases and receive money, such as cash deposits, cheques and direct credits of your salary through your bank account. You can do all these activities either by visiting a bank branch, ATM or kiosks, or transacting through the phone or Internet. Instead of keeping excessive cash on hand, depositing your money in the bank allows you to manage your money better as you are less tempted to spend unnecessarily.

4) Cheque Clearing Process

When someone gives you a cheque, and you deposit it into your account, your bank has to send the image of the cheque to the other bank to collect the amount of the cheque, so that the proceeds can be credited to your account. This process of collecting funds by one bank from another bank is called cheque clearing.

Because of this, when you deposit a cheque into your account before the cheque clearing cut-off time stipulated by the bank, you will only be able to utilise the funds the following day after 2:00pm.

If the cheque is deposited after the cut-off time, the cheque will be considered to be deposited the following working day and funds will only be available the day after.

For further reading on other consumer guides, please log on to the MoneySense website at www.moneysense.gov.sg

Thanks for reading Singapore Savings Account Rates.

The Team
Singapore Savings Account Rates.

Are Women Better Savers, Men Better Investors?

Are Women Better Savers, Men Better Investors?

How women approach personal financial investments or savings depends on factors like whether they have an income or not, their personal financial circumstances, their money-making investment objectives, their knowledge about financial investment products and their confidence in investing their own cash portfolio.

Are women better savers and men better investors? 

Women should rest easy to note that men are not better at managing finances than women. In terms of financial investment and savings outcomes, the difference is largely insignificant. This piece of good news has been verified by academic research.

However the investing and saving styles between women and men differ. In a study, results showed that there were some obvious differences:

* Women tend to be more risk averse, holding more diversified portfolios.
* This lower risk leads to slightly lower gross returns on women investors’ portfolios.
* Women tend to trade less frequently then men.
* Women incur lower trading costs (by trading less often).
* After-cost performance between men and women are quite similar.
* Women are less likely to exhibit over-confidence (if we interpret excessive trading as a sign of over-confidence).

These general observations do not imply that all women behave in the same way or that all men do so as well. Individual investing and saving habits will differ. At different stages of their lives, the same person may go through a range of investing and savings styles as personal financial circumstances change.

The main message in this educational effort by Singapore Savings Account Rates site is to realize that to be a better saver or investor, men and women must take charge of their own financial planning.

Take home message for savers and investors:

Women (as well as men) should take charge of their own financial planning and cash management to suit their own needs, regardless of popular opinion.

Women (and men) should also invest with confidence, as they are as good as men (or women).

Thanks for investing time to read our educational material today on Singapore Savings Account Rates, where we bring you the latest and best Singapore savings account rates.

The Team
Singapore Savings Account Rates.

Investing In Bank Accounts

Investing In Bank Accounts

This article on Investing in Bank Accounts is taken from MoneySense, a national financial education programme.

Singapore Savings Account Rates reproduces a part of it for the benefit of our numerous readers.

Before investing in bank accounts, you should be aware of the types of banking accounts and their suitability.

1) Types of banking accounts
Opening a bank account will help you manage your money to meet daily and emergency needs. At the same time, you can earn interest for your deposits with some types of accounts.

There are three main types of bank accounts, namely Savings, Current and Fixed Deposit Accounts. Their main features are tabulated below:¬

*If funds are required urgently you need to perform a premature withdrawal of the fixed deposit. A premature withdrawal may result in no payment of interest or partial loss of interest.

** Depending on the product features offered by your bank, you may choose to receive a passbook or regular account statements to keep track of your transactions and interest earned.

2) Which account is most suitable for me?

To decide what type of account is most suitable, consider your purpose of having the bank account.

If you are going to use your account for day-to-day money management, such as to pay bills, a current, savings or a combined current and savings account will be most useful.

If you are thinking of putting aside a sum of money for medium to long-term savings, then you may prefer to open a fixed deposit account.

For further reading on other consumer guides, please log on to the MoneySense website at www.moneysense.gov.sg

Thanks for reading Singapore Savings Account Rates.

The Team
Singapore Savings Account Rates.

Protect Your Savings Account 4

Protect Your Savings Account (Part 4)

Another idea on the how to protect your savings account is introduced today by Singapore-Savings-Account-Rates.blogspot.com. We hope you have been following our series of Financial Education on 'Protect Your Savings Account' so far.

Protect Your Savings Account Part 4
Limit Online Fund Transfer Ceiling

One way of preventing and protecting your cash in a savings account is to disallow online transfer of funds.

You can also choose to allow online fund transfer to a lower limit per day so that in the event of fraud or illegal transfer of money out of your bank savings account, you stand to lose less money.

When you perform online fund transfer, ensure that you key in the correct account number. Otherwise you are going to make some lucky individual very very happy if you send funds to a wrong account.

Some bank accounts add an extra layer of precaution by asking for a dynamic Internet Banking secure PIN number that the bank sends to you via handphone or your mobile device. Use the function for added protection whenever you perform interbank transfer of funds.

If you have set a higher limit for fund transfer than is necessary, it is not too late to set the limit lower today.

Thank you for reading Singapore Savings Account Rates.

The Team
Singapore Savings Account Rates

Powerful Lessons on Savings from Billionaires like Warren Buffett

Powerful Lessons on Savings from Billionaires like Warren Buffett

There are plenty of powerful lessons on investments, with not many on savings, from great billionaires like Warren Buffett. So Singapore Savings Account Rates blogspot thought that it would be useful to develop powerful lessons on savings from billionaires like Warren Buffett to spice up our site.

This is only the first edition of ‘Powerful Lessons on Savings from Billionaires like Warren Buffett’. If readers enjoy reading it, we may create more powerful lessons on savings from billionaires like Warren Buffett.

What are these powerful lessons on Savings from billionaires like Warren Buffett that we had in mind? Here are the powerful lessons on savings from billionaires like Warren Buffett.

Powerful lessons on savings from billionaires like Warren Buffett:

1. Don’t Do Stupid Things With Your Savings

Not happy with miserable returns of 0.1% from your Savings that are 100% protected? Go ahead and blow away up to 100% of your capital investing in stocks, shares, unit trusts, structured deposits or any financial investment where your knowledge, and money making power, has large gaps.

2. Don’t Save Without An Objective

The objective of your Savings should be specific and achievable. Billionaire investors know their exit strategy before they start investing in any financial investment. In savings, you should also plan to save for a specific need to be achieved in a specific time frame with preservation of your principal deposits.

3. Don’t Spend More That You Save

Billionaire investors rarely invest more than what their bank Savings account have although they may use other people’s money and hedge their risks. Even with the billions that they earn, personal spending must fall below personal earnings in order to maintain or to raise their net worth.

4. Don’t Save on Impulse

No great investor worth his or her salt invests on impulse. You should also not get into a Savings impulse. Adopt a regular savings habit for maximum savings returns.

5. Don’t Save Without A List

Billionaires monitor their list of investments like a hawk (or at least employ others to do so). As a saver, you should also develop a list of bank Savings accounts to keep yourself tuned into the latest and best savings rates in town. This is because not all bank savings accounts are created equal and there are intermittent promotions on bank savings deposits interest rates from time to time that offer better rates. This is where Singapore Savings Account Rates comes into the picture. Singapore Savings Account Rates site was designed to help you do so.

Afternote: We make no warranty or claim that ‘Powerful lessons on Savings from billionaires like Warren Buffett’ is accurate or correct. Readers should use this ‘Powerful lessons on savings from billionaires like Warren Buffett’ post for personal information only. These ‘powerful lessons on savings from billionaires like Warren Buffett’ may be altered or withdrawn at any time without notice.

Thanks for reading Singapore Savings Account Rates, where we bring you the latest and best selected Singapore savings account rates.

The Team
Singapore Savings Account Rates.

Protect Your Savings Account 3

Protect Your Savings Account 3

In the third part of our 'Protect Your Savings Account' series, Singapore-savings-account-rates.blogspot.com will highlight another idea to help protect your hard-earned cash savings when deposited into a bank savings account.

Protect Your Savings Account(3)
Secure your PIN number. Keep it secret.

Keep your PIN number secret and confidential at all times

Never use the same Internet Banking PIN for other financial or non-financial web-based services such as for email, online shopping, digital identity and other online subscription services.

Do not choose a PIN that is easily guessed, like your telephone number, NRIC number, date of birth, User ID, or other associated data.

Do not use sequential numbers (eg. 123456) or the same number more than twice (eg. 121145).

Do not share or divulge your PIN to anyone.

You should memorise your PIN and not to write it down or store it in computer hard-disk, diskette, mobile phone or other insecure means.

Do not use your PIN when someone else can see you keying it in.

Before entering your User ID and PIN, you should always check that the site you are visiting is the correct, secure and official URL.

Change your PIN regularly.

Once you suspect that your PIN has been compromised, change your PIN immediately.

Simple measures like those mentioned above will go a long way to prevent someone from swiping the hard-earned contents of your bank savings account.

Do not just concentrate on getting the highest and best savings account interest rates in Singapore. How you take care of your savings account has a great impact on your likelihood of losing money. We hope these simple steps will protect your savings account and your hard-earned money.

Thanks for reading Singapore Savings Account Rates.

Interest Rates Unlikely To Rise Soon

Interest Rates Unlikely To Rise Soon

By now, you would have observed the low savings interest rates offered by banks and financial institutions in Singapore. Singapore Savings Account Rates blogspot.com hopes that this news analysis on interest rates would provide our readers some points of interest regarding where interest rates are headed.

(1) Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC), Federal Reserve Bank, USA:

Press Release Date: June 24, 2009
"Information received since the Federal Open Market Committee met in April suggests that the pace of economic contraction is slowing.

Conditions in financial markets have generally improved in recent months. Household spending has shown further signs of stabilizing but remains constrained by ongoing job losses, lower housing wealth, and tight credit.

Businesses are cutting back on fixed investment and staffing but appear to be making progress in bringing inventory stocks into better alignment with sales.

Although economic activity is likely to remain weak for a time, the Committee continues to anticipate that policy actions to stabilize financial markets and institutions, fiscal and monetary stimulus, and market forces will contribute to a gradual resumption of sustainable economic growth in a context of price stability.

The prices of energy and other commodities have risen of late. However, substantial resource slack is likely to dampen cost pressures, and the Committee expects that inflation will remain subdued for some time.

In these circumstances, the Federal Reserve will employ all available tools to promote economic recovery and to preserve price stability.

The Committee will maintain the target range for the federal funds rate at 0 to 1/4 percent and continues to anticipate that economic conditions are likely to warrant exceptionally low levels of the federal funds rate for an extended period."

(2) OCBC Wealth Management Report: 
Date : 28 July 2009

"Overall however, the consensus appears to be for slow growth for the rest of this year, with some suggestions that perhaps the U.S. and even other countries may need a second round of economic stimulus to ensure that the fragile recovery doesn't wane.

The Fed therefore should continue to keep its benchmark interest rate unchanged at between zero per cent and 0.25 per cent over the next few months as the economic outlook remains uncertain and unemployment levels are still high."

(3) UOB Global Market Analysis:
30 July 2009

Interest Rates:
Current Rate | Next Meeting | UOB’s Interest Rate Forecast
USD Fed Funds Rate 0.00-0.25% 11-12 Aug 0.00-0.25%
EUR Refinancing Rate 1.00% 06 Aug 1.00%
GBP Repo Rate 0.50% 06 Aug 0.50%
AUD Official Cash Rate 3.00% 04 Aug 3.00%
NZD Official Cash Rate 2.50% 30 Jul 2.50%
CAD Overnight Rate 0.25% 10 Sep 0.25%

Information is published for information and general circulation only and is not to be taken in substitution for the exercise of judgement by the reader, who should obtain separate legal or financial advice.

Thanks for reading Singapore Savings Account Rates, where we bring you the latest and best Singapore savings account rates.

The Team
Singapore Savings Account Rates.

Protect Your Savings Account 2

Protect Your Savings Account (Part 2)

In the continuing series on 'Protect Your Savings Account', Singapore-Savings-Account-Rates.blogspot.com will share some ideas on how to protect your savings account. Some of you may have heard of these nuggets of information. That is OK. It is better to be educated than to be ignorant.


Protect Your Savings Account(2)
Beware of super-high interest rate promotions and rewards.

While banks will honour these upfront goodies, consider why these banks will want to lure new customers in such a manner.

Is the bank desperate for money because of a cash crisis or a financial crisis that could shake its foundation to the core? Are they building up a cash hoard to satisfy some audit requirement?

Is there something that bank depositors don't know but should know about?

Or are they using these high interest rates to bait high net-worth customers so that they can sell other banking products or services?

At the very least, educate yourself on the financial stability of the bank or financial institution that is offering such attractive interest rates.

Always don't forget to read the fine print of your savings account for charges and any penalties.

More suggestions on how to protect your savings account will be discussed later.

Thank you for reading Singapore Savings Account Rates.

Protect Your Savings Account 1

Protect Your Savings Account (Part 1)

In times of economic recession, every Singapore cent and Singapore dollar that you save will go a long way to ride out the stormy economic weather. While there appears to be green shoots of recovery in parts of the world, there are still many uncertainties on the path to economic recovery. At Singapore-savings-account-rates.blogspot.com, we understand your concerns as we are also banking customers stuck in a recession just like you.

The last thing you want to see is to lose your hard-earned money without any precautionary plans to protect your savings account. We have prepared the following steps that you can take to protect your savings account.

So how can you protect your savings accounts? Let Singapore Savings Account Rates show you some ideas.

Protect Your Savings Account(1)
Ensure deposit insurance.

Check that your bank or financial institution, whether foreign-owned or local-owned, is covered by the Deposit Insurance Scheme and the Singapore Government Guarantee on Deposits. At the present time, our deposits are guaranteed until the end of the year 2010.

After the insured period ends, check that the amount in your deposits are fully covered by revised insurance terms.

Do not put money into deposits with syndicates that are not accredited, or those that deal with loan sharks and other illegal activities. Those are a definite no no.

Do not just concentrate on getting the highest and best savings account interest rates in Singapore. How you take care of your savings account has a great impact on your likelihood of losing money.

We hope this simple step, of the many more that we will share, will protect your savings account and your hard-earned money.

Thanks for reading Singapore Savings Account Rates.