Tag: Fixed Deposits

CIMB Fixed Deposit Promotion Makes Your Money Work, Not You!

My Sweet Retirement 1 Comment

I like the way CIMB says “Your money should work, not you!“. Following my previous post on “Fifty Six Percent Invested Forty Four Percent Cash“, I do have some spare cash to place into a fixed deposit or Singapore Savings Bonds. Both are brainless, effortless investments where you sit and wait till maturity to earn the interests.

If you remember, CIMB offers a fixed deposit promotion during Chinese New Year whereby you can get up to 1.90% interest per annum if you do a placement for 12 months online. It seems that this promotion is here to stay as they are offering the same promotion in the month of March.

You can choose the duration of 3 months, 6 months or 12 months and if you apply online, they offer higher interest rates as shown in the table below.

Interest Rates (% p.a.)
3 Months 6 Months 12 Months
Branch Rate 1.30 1.45 1.55
Online Exclusive Rates 1.55 1.70 1.90

A minimum of S$10,000 per placement is required.

Using S$10,000 as an illustration,

If you place a fixed deposit for 3 months, the total accrued amount (principal + interest) that you will receive is

A = 10000(1 + (0.0155 × 0.25)) = 10038.75
A = $10,038.75

If you place a fixed deposit for 6 months, the total accrued amount (principal + interest) that you will receive is

A = 10000(1 + (0.0170 × 0.5)) = 10085
A = $10,085.00

If you place a fixed deposit for 12 months, the total accrued amount (principal + interest) that you will receive is

A = 10000(1 + (0.0190 × 1)) = 10190
A = $10,190.00

CIMB Fixed Deposit Promotion Versus Singapore Savings Bonds

How does this promotion fair against the latest Singapore Savings Bonds?

If we have placed S$10,000 in the April 2019 Singapore Savings Bonds, we will receive S$196 in interest payout after a year. This will be S$6 more than CIMB 12 months fixed deposit promotion. If we deduct away the S$2 application fee for Singapore Savings Bonds application, then it will be S$4 more.

My Opinion

Both are comparable, risk free investments. If you ask me, I might prefer the Singapore Savings Bonds as there is no lock in period. You can sell off the bonds and there is no penalty should you need the money urgently within the 12 months.

My favorite website, StocksCafe has introduced a new feature to allow adding of Singapore Savings Bonds into your portfolio. If you didn’t know, I signed up as a Friend of StocksCafe as my most favorite feature of StocksCafe is the automated tracking of dividends payout.

12 Months Time Deposit Promotion Earns You 2.05%

My Sweet Retirement 5 Comments

While I thought CIMB currently offer the best fixed deposit promotion at 1.90% per annum, I found another fixed deposit promotion that offers even higher interest rate at 2.05% per annum! Maybank offers an interest rate of 2.05% per annum for 12 months time deposit. The promotion has been ongoing since 17 January 2019 and I wonder why I didn’t find this when I googled for fixed deposit promotions.

As mentioned previously, with the interest rates of Singapore Savings Bonds declining, short term fixed deposits may not be a bad idea to park your money which easily earns you interests.

A minimum of S$20,000 per placement is required for this promotion.

Using S$20,000 as an illustration,

If you place a fixed deposit for 12 months, the total accrued amount (principal + interest) that you will receive is

A = 20000(1 + (0.0205 × 1)) = 20410
A = $20,410.00

Parking $20,000 into a short term 12 month time deposit with Maybank easily earns you an interest of $410.

CIMB Chinese New Year 2019 Fixed Deposit Promotion

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Looking for somewhere to park your Ang Bao money? Well, I always looked for Chinese New Year Fixed Deposit Promotions every year during this festive season. However, there are not many banks offering special higher interest rates because of Chinese New Year. The best one I have found so far is from CIMB Bank. CIMB Bank is offering an interest rate of up to 1.90% per annum. This is in fact the same as what CIMB has offered during their Birthday celebration and last year Christmas.

With the interest rates of Singapore Savings Bonds declining, CIMB’s fixed deposit promotion may not be a bad idea to park your money for a short duration of 12 months.

You can choose the duration of 3 months, 6 months or 12 months and if you apply online, they offer higher interest rates as shown in the table below.

Interest Rates (% p.a.)
3 Months 6 Months 12 Months
Branch Rate 1.30 1.45 1.55
Online Exclusive Rates 1.50 1.70 1.90

A minimum of S$10,000 per placement is required.

Using S$10,000 as an illustration,

If you place a fixed deposit for 3 months, the total accrued amount (principal + interest) that you will receive is

A = 10000(1 + (0.0150 × 0.25)) = 10037.50
A = $10,037.50

If you place a fixed deposit for 6 months, the total accrued amount (principal + interest) that you will receive is

A = 10000(1 + (0.0170 × 0.5)) = 10085
A = $10,085.00

If you place a fixed deposit for 12 months, the total accrued amount (principal + interest) that you will receive is

A = 10000(1 + (0.0190 × 1)) = 10190
A = $10,190.00

I believe the above is a good deal if you have extra cash to park aside for a short duration of maximum 12 months.