I received a mailer from Standard Chartered Bank (SCB) on a promotion of higher interest rates for incremental topups into my E$saver Account.
Deposit balance less than $50,000
Current rate 0.10% p.a.
Bonus rate 0.408% p.a.
Total interest on topup 0.508% p.a.
Deposit balance $50,000 to $200,000
Current rate 0.20% p.a.
Bonus rate 0.508% p.a.
Total interest on topup 0.708% p.a.
Deposit balance more than $200,000.
Current rate 0.30% p.a.
Bonus rate 0.608% p.a.
Total interest on topup 0.908% p.a.
The bonus rates are applicable up to 31 December 2011.
Looks like quite a decent deal given that the funds do not need to be locked in unlike a fixed deposit.
I am however not sure why Standard Chartered Banks wants to offer a higher interest rate to attract more funds. After all, interest rates are at all time low and SCB had even cut all their fixed deposit and saving accounts interest rate from 1 September 2011 in line with falling interest rates elsewhere. The rate for the E$aver account was actually cut from 0.15%, 0.25% and 0.35% to 0.1%, 0.2% and 0.3% respectively.