4 Winners Of The Latest October 2021 Changes To DBS Multiplier Account

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Having a high interest savings account to stash our emergency funds and savings is essential for all working adults, or anyone who wants a secure and accessible place for their savings to earn good interest. In the current low interest rate environment, it’s even more important that we constantly seek ways to bump up the interests we can earn on our savings accounts, and to tweak our savings strategies as and when it’s required.

Recently, DBS announced changes to their popular Multiplier Account which took effect on 1 October 2021. For those of us who are existing Multiplier Account holders, there’s cause to celebrate as DBS has made it easier for us to earn bonus interest of up to 3.0% p.a.

Here are the four groups of people who stand to benefit from the latest October 2021 changes to the DBS Multiplier account.

#1 People Who Can’t Or Don’t Credit Their Salary With DBS

One of the main hurdles to earning high interest with our savings account is the requirement to credit our salaries. DBS is already a forerunner in this aspect by allowing dividend crediting and PayLah! retail spend to stand in for the salary requirement. In fact, for those aged 29 years and younger who may not be earning an income yet, they can still earn 0.3% p.a. on their account just by making retail transactions using PayLah!

With the latest changes, connecting SGFinDex on the DBS NAV Planner will qualify us to earn higher interest (with eligible transactions in the other categories of Investment, Insurance, Credit Card Spending or Home Loans).

This is good for those who have no regular income or dividends (such as students, retirees, self employed freelancers or gig economy works) as well as those who didn’t qualify for the salary or dividend crediting requirement previously.

Connecting to SGFinDex also allows us to have a holistic view of our finances by consolidating financial information across the different banks in Singapore as well as our HDB, CPF and IRAS government accounts. The higher interest would apply for the month when we connect our finances with SGFinDex on DBS NAV Planner, so remember to sync our information monthly to enjoy the qualification.

It’s important to note that connecting to SGFinDex on DBS NAV Planner does not contribute to the eligible transaction amounts, and that transaction amounts will need to come from the other eligible categories.

Read Also: Why DBS NAV Planner Will Be The Go-To Financial Tool Now That SGFinDex Allows Consumers To Consolidate Their Financial Data

#2 People Who Want To Start Investing

Savings form the base of our personal finance journey but by itself, it’s not enough. For those who want to take the next step and start investing, DBS Multiplier is a great place for our uninvested monies while we build up our investment portfolios.

With the October 2021 revisions, more categories of investments are recognised under the Multiplier’s Invest category. This includes Unit Trusts, DBS Invest-Saver, Online Equities Trade, digiPortfolio, Bonds & Structured Products.

Notably, the inclusion of digiPortfolio would benefit those who are looking to invest through DBS’s robo portfolio. The minimum qualifying amount is $1,000 per transaction. New investments or top-ups to our existing digiPortfolios will be automatically recognised. Alternatively, monthly investments via DBS Invest-Saver at a minimum $100 per month and Online Equity Trades also count towards the higher interest qualification.

A new product category that is recognised is Bonds and Structured Products. These would be recognised for the month of purchase and includes Bonds, Structured Deposits, Currency Linked Investments and Structured Notes. Do note that this category excludes the purchase of Singapore Savings Bonds (SSBs) and Singapore Government Securities, though the dividends from SSBs count towards the Income qualification for higher interest.

The expansion of investment products recognised under the Multiplier is great for people who want to start investing. Having multiple investment types suitable for different risk and knowledge profiles means that we are not longer restricted to any specific investment type and can find products to suit our needs to grow our money through investing and savings.

#3 People Who Want To Buy Or Increase Their Insurance Coverage

Another category that is expanded is for Insurance with the recognition of single premium insurance products (such as single premium savings plans and universal life plans). Previously, only new purchases of regular premium policies were recognised for the higher interest.

This would benefit those who already have their basic insurance needs covered and are looking at increasing their coverage and growing their money. Those with greater cashflow who prefer to pay the premium in a single lump sum instead of spreading it across the policy term, can now increase their insurance coverage and earn higher interests on the savings in their Multiplier Account.

#4 People Who Use CPF or SRS For Investment Or Insurance

Finally, another group of people who would benefit from the changes is those who want to invest or buy insurance via the CPF Investment Scheme (CPFIS) or the Supplementary Retirement Scheme (SRS). While investing with our cash monies is often the de facto method, we can actually invest using our CPF monies using the CPFIS or tap on the SRS to invest for our retirement while earning immediate tax savings in the short term.

The latest revision recognises the purchase of single premium policies bought using SRS and Unit Trusts brought using CPF and SRS for the higher Multiplier interest. This is good news for those of us who have unutilised funds in our CPF and SRS, and would like to achieve higher returns by investing. With the recognition of Unit Trust and Online Equity Trades purchases using our CPF or SRS, we can now earn higher interest on our cash savings while investing using our CPF or SRS.

Read Also: 10 Investments You Can Make With Your Supplementary Retirement Scheme (SRS) Account

Earning Higher Interest Is Easy With DBS Multiplier

The recognition of SGFinDex connection in place of salary and dividend crediting makes it easier to qualify for higher interest for people who find it difficult to meet those crediting requirements. The expansion of qualifying investment and insurance products also makes it more flexible and accommodating to investors at different stages in life who have different risk profiles and preference when it comes to the type of instruments they want to use. And with the inclusion of CPF and SRS savings, we now have even greater incentive to plan for our future when earning higher interests today.

For those who are not sure how much more interest we can earn through the DBS Multiplier Account, DBS has a simple interest calculator that can help us. This is an easy way to visualise the amount of interest we qualify for and how to maximise it.

To calculate your own interest earnings, you can use the Multiplier interest calculator here.

Read Also: Why DBS Multiplier 4.0 Is Now The Perfect (High-Interest) Savings Account For Students, NSFs & Retirees

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