The highlight of this promotion: for every deposit of $10,000 in fresh fund (with no limit), $110 worth of NTUC FairPrice gift vouchers would be given on the condition that funds deposited must be maintained for 6 months.
Translating the deal above, it means that $110 equivalent of monetary returns would be given for a saver who holds his saving capital of $10,000 in fresh funds with OCBC for 6 months. That means an effective annual return of 2.20% and for a holding period of just 6 months!
The above deal is very attractive considering that the widely-recognized relatively risk-free Singapore Savings Bond pays the highest one-year dividend of 2.01% (for Jan 2019 Singapore Savings Bond as per my post here) and to realize this 2.01%, annual return, the investor would have to hold the investment for one year.
Comparatively, the saver for the OCBC Prosperity Saving Account promotion will be able to reap the fruits of a higher 2.20% effective annual return by just holding his capital for six months!
The only consideration in this case is that the actual returns from OCBC promotion deal is in the form of NTUC FairPrice gift vouchers which are not actually real cash. But since many of us visit FairPrice outlets for most of our grocery needs, I believe these FairPrice vouchers could be used instead of using one’s own monies at the FairPrice outlets. Seen in the above light, yes, I believe the NTUC gift vouchers are equivalents of actual returns.
With Chinese New Year coming, many people would be buying groceries and the vouchers from this Promotion deal would be come in useful, you may think right? However, from what I understand, the NTUC gift vouchers would only be sent via email minimally eight weeks to the homes of successful applicants from the date of the application. For me the above arrangement seems pretty okay too, since if we are to compare this promotion deal with other fixed deposit or investment plan, it is just natural that we expect to reap the return only at the maturity of the plan. But in this case of OCBC Prosperity promotion, the returns could be given even before the six-month maturity period.
And yes, from what I understand too, should an applicant decide to withdraw his savings from the promotion account before the six months of savings period and after taking his NTUC vouchers, an sum equivalent to the value of the NTUC Fairprice voucher given out may be deducted from his savings account upon cashing out.
With a 2.20% per annum effective return with a minimum holding period of just six months, I believe OCBC Prosperity savings account is one of the Best deals for investors and savers at the start of this brand new year! Join the emailing list to receive regular Financial and Singapore stocks newsletters too! Like" me on Singapore Stocks Investing Facebook page to receive all posts on your Facebook as well as read more articles. Follow me on Twitter too.
