$6,560 interest from OCBC 360 in 5 years

Do note OCBC 360 is going to slash the interest from 1 Jul 2020 onwards. All good things come to an end.

Many people underestimate the amount of interest or cashback they can receive from various products such as bank accounts or reward programmes. Life is tough, we should make our money (savings) work hard, even when we are sleeping. 

Take for example, OCBC 360 savings account. I have been sharing with friends to sign it up or other similar products such as DBS Multiplier account and UOB One Account. Only some heed the advice. 

Recently, a friend asked me how much interest I have received from OCBC 360 account. I went to calculate and was pleasantly surprised. I received $6,560.05 of interest in 5 years, from 2015 to 2019. The breakdown by year is below.

Year	Interest received
2015	$1,209.39
2016	$1,178.12
2017	$1,242.72
2018	$1,251.64
2019	$1,678.18

Using OCBC 360 to get such returns is really as easy as ABC. I am sure there are others who have received even more interest as they fulfilled all criteria to get even more interest. I did not bother to fulfill the Wealth and Grow bonus interest criteria.

Over the years, OCBC 360 has changed how interest is awarded and the different criteria to fulfilled.

How did I accumulate these interest from OCBC 360? It was easy. I did the following:

i)   Maintained an account balance of at least $70,000

ii)  Credit my salary in the account

iii) Meet the spending criteria 

iv) Increase average daily balance by at least $500 from the previous month

i)   Maintained an account balance of at least $70,000

This $70,000 is my emergency fund. Hence, I do not put them into fixed deposit since I need the funds to be fluid. I have previously shared about this in 2019. I have some emergency funds in SSB too. Yes, even our emergency funds should work for us too. 

To maintain the account balance level, I will transfer out the extra funds when the OCBC 360 interest are paid on the 7th working day of the month and when my salary is credited into the account.  

ii)  Credit my salary in the account

This is the easiest. Just a one-time action to provide the documents required by your HR.

iii) Meet the spending criteria 
Charge at least $500 per month to an OCBC credit card. As a parent, I hit this amount easily.

iv) Increase average daily balance by at least $500 from the previous month
The trick is to set up a recurring transfer on the 1st of every month. I setup mine such that it transfers $700 on the 1st of every month. I put in a buffer amount in case unexpected funds are deposited into my account due to work related expenses claims.

It does not matter which savings account you use, whether it is OCBC 360, DBS Multiplier or UOB One Account as long as your savings generate interest. It just happens that OCBC 360 suits and generates the most interest for me based on my current use and needs.

From Jul onwards, I will only be able to get around 1.3% interest from OCBC 360 since I will only qualify for Salary and Save interest component. I have yet to decide whether I will still continue with OCBC 360 or switch to another bank since I suspect that other banks will cut their interests rates.

I have also created a new page with referral links and codes, some of which provide savings or cashback. Hope you find them useful. Every little bit matters and adds up.

Note: This is not a sponsored post by OCBC, DBS or UOB.