Guide: Getting 3.35% p.a. With StanChart Bonus$aver Account

The latest drop in interest rates of Standard Chartered Bonus$aver took effect from 1st May 2026, but accountholders can still get as much as 3.35% p.a. interest on up to S$100,000 of bank balance.

The bank does advertise 5.85% p.a., but marketing fluff aside, we can realistically expect 3.35% p.a. if we fulfil the more attainable requirements of the account. That’s still an attractive rate relative to other accounts, so here is a guide on how to meet this high-yield savings account’s various conditions.

In a nutshell

1. Credit salary each month – either actual salary, or through GIRO (preferred) or FAST/PayNow with “Salary” transaction reference
2. Make S$1,000 spend each month – best to use CardUp/ipaymy so you can use cashback/miles cards for your actual spend
3. Make a one-time S$30,000 investment for bonus interest on the month itself and the next 5 months (SC Invest portfolio currently has a 0 sales charge promo; invest at your own discretion)

Video Guide and Frequently Asked Questions

Tap here for frequently asked questions on the account.

Optimal bank balance – any amount up to S$100,000

The good thing about Bonus$aver is that the account interest rates are given in a non-tiered manner. Regardless of whether you have S$1,000 or S$100,000, the interest rate you receive will be the same on any amount up to S$100,000.

• your monthly average balance
• which requirements that you fulfil
• the number of days in a month

Three requirements for maximum realistic interest of 3.35% p.a.

The Bonus$aver account has 4 different categories for accountholders to meet for bonus interest, of which I think 3 are realistically achievable.

Category	Interest Rate	Validity	Good?
Base Interest	0.05% p.a.	Ongoing	–
Salary Credit Credit salary of at least S$3,000 via GIRO, PayNow, or FAST	0.9% p.a.	Monthly	✅
Card Spend Card spend of at least S$1,000 on Bonus$aver credit/debit card	0.9% p.a.	Monthly	✅
Invest Invest in eligible unit trust or online equities of at least S$30,000	1.50% p.a.	6 months	✅
Insure Purchase an eligible insurance policy with annual premium of at least S$24,000	2.50% p.a.	6 months	❌

The Insure category is likely too cost prohibitive to achieve. Many insurance policies, particularly those sold by banks, tend to be very costly and long-term commitments so I would avoid this category altogether. It is not worth buying financial products you do not need for just 6 months of additional interest.

For qualifying Salary Credit, Card Spend, and Invest categories, accountholders can get 3.30% p.a. bonus interest on top of the base 0.05% p.a., making an interest rate of 3.35% p.a. rate possible.

Salary Credit – 0.90% p.a. for S$3,000 salary credit

Crediting your salary of at least S$3,000 to your Bonus$aver account gets you 0.90% p.a. bonus interest.

Is there a workaround similar to UOB One where you can use a personal account to “pay” yourself a “salary”? It has been working, though interestingly enough how soon the interest credits depends on how the salary was transferred.

For the best results, credit your salary via GIRO to get bonus interest credited on the first day of the following month. You can refer to this guide I’ve done on various bank accounts that can do so:

You can still do so via FAST or PayNow, though the bonus interest has been reported to be credited in the middle of the following month instead.

Of course, as with all workarounds, this would last for as long as the bank does not close the loophole.

Card Spend – 0.90% p.a. for S$1,000 of spend

Bonus$aver’s Card Spend category awards additional 0.90% p.a. bonus interest for meeting at least S$1,000 of spend. The spend must be made on a Bonus$aver credit card or debit card.

This means not receiving any kind of card reward at all as the Bonus$aver cards do not give any cashback or miles. As a result, there is opportunity cost on the S$1,000 spend made. If your spending is on areas that can get 5% to 8% cashback or 4 miles per dollar, you have to weigh between the card rewards you are giving up versus the interest you’d receive. This is highly dependent on your balance amount.

For instance, if you have a monthly average balance of S$50,000 and spent S$1,000 on your Bonus$aver card to get the bonus 0.9% p.a. interest, you would receive about S$37.50 of interest for the month. Assuming that S$1,000 could have earned 6% cashback, you would have been better off with the S$60 cashback instead.

Pay Insurance Premium
One good way to clock the spend requirement would be to use Bonus$aver card for insurance premiums. There are multiple reports that this qualifies as eligible spend, and the terms and conditions do not make mention of insurance-related exclusions.

Since many credit cards do not offer rewards for insurance premiums, this is a very good way to meet your Bonus$aver spend while avoiding opportunity cost.

Use CardUp or ipaymy
Another way would be to use services like CardUp or ipaymy to clock the spend requirement instead. In exchange for the fee you pay to such services, you get to reserve your normal retail spend for high-earn cashback/miles cards.

Invest – 1.50% p.a. bonus for 6 months

The Invest category gives 1.50% p.a. bonus interest and can be attained by:

1. Buying S$30,000 worth of equities through SC Online Trading (in one or multiple trades within a month); or
2. Buying at least S$30,000 worth of unit trusts in a single subscription

Doing this will satisfy the invest category for the next 6 months meaning you only need to do this once (every 6 months, if you continue using the account beyond that).

For trading equities, there are trading fees to be paid, around 0.18% to 0.25% depending on your client profile and market. You will need to transfer funds to your Settlement Account, and use that to buy the equities you want.

For unit trusts, you can opt to invest in SC Invest portfolios which currently has a 0 sales charge promotion. This is perhaps the most cost-efficient way to achieve the Invest requirement. There are still management fees of 0.95% p.a. which works out to be roughly S$285 a year or around S$24 per month which I find fair given that you do get bonus interest. You would of course, also keep the returns (and losses) and dividends of the fund.

For unit trusts, you have to choose your Bonus$aver account for the funds to be invested from. For equities, there is no such requirement (and your funds can only be deducted from your settlement account anyway).

Note that the investment can be volatile.
Personally, I have chosen the Cash+ portfolio which is the most risk-averse they offer with underlying assets in mostly fixed income instruments. There is still volatility even with such instruments, but I am personally comfortable with putting funds here as I find it worth doing for the potential returns and the bonus interest given.

Can you sell the investment shortly after buying it just to fulfil the condition?
If your investment is done from 1st January 2026 onwards, you will have to maintain the investment for the bonus interest from the Invest category to be credited. Investments performed before 2026 need not be maintained and the bonus interest will be given for 6 months.

Your investment must be settled within the month for bonus interest to be credited the next month. It can take about 5 working days for unit trust investments to settle and around 3 working days for an equity buy trade to settle.

Do I need to do this every month?
No, the Invest category is fulfilled for the next 6 months with one S$30,000 buy trade, assuming you do not sell the investment. (Investments before 2026 can be sold without affecting the bonus interest.)

Requalifying for Invest category

If you are an existing accountholder who intends to requalify for the Invest category, note the timelines described in the article below.

Here’s When You Need to Requalify For StanChart Bonus$aver Invest Bonus Interest

Timeline of Interest Crediting

Interest for each category is credited as such:

Category	Interest Rate	Crediting Day
Base Interest	0.05% p.a.	Final day of the month
Salary Credit	0.90% p.a.	GIRO: First working day of the following month FAST/PayNow: Middle of the following month
Card Spend	0.90% p.a.	First working day of the following month
Invest	1.50% p.a.	Last few days of following month

For example, if you complete all 3 conditions of Salary Credit, Card Spend, and Invest for February 2026, you can expect to receive:

• Base interest on 28th February 2026
• Salary Credit and Card Interest on 2nd March 2026
• Invest interest around 30th to 31st March 2026

The interest credited would be based on the monthly average balance of your Bonus$aver account in the month of March 2026.

Sign-up Promo

Don’t forget that the sign-up promo greatly increases the attractiveness of the account:

Please read the terms and conditions

Note that this is my interpretation of the terms and conditions found here. Refer to the bank’s document for exact details.

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Seth Wee was a licensed financial adviser representative from 2009 to 2025, with over 16 years of experience in Singapore’s financial advisory industry.

He started Sethisfy.com in 2019 to share practical insights on credit cards, banking products, and miles strategies, helping readers identify financial products that deliver the best value. Seth has been featured in CNA, Channel 8, Today, and a host of other publications. In 2025, he was also part of a panel at CPF’s Ready For Life festival.

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