As inflation continues unabated, interest rates are also climbing. While this exerts economic pressure by making credit more expensive, this also presents a silver lining to diligent savers. With higher interest rates being offered by banks on savings accounts, saving is now more rewarding than ever. 

One such example is the DBS Multiplier Account, which lets you earn an interest of up to 4.1% p.a. on your savings. The DBS Multiplier Account is also a great way to take advantage of bonus interest for couples who have linked their personal Multiplier accounts with their joint account. More on that later.

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How does the DBS Multiplier Account work?

The DBS Multiplier Account is a savings account that rewards you with bonus interest when you credit your salary and transact in 4 other categories. They are: credit card or PayLah! retail spend, home loan instalments, insurance and investments.

How much bonus interest you earn is defined by:

• The total eligible transactions you make per month.

• The current balance of your account.

• How many categories you have transacted in.

The higher your account balance, the higher your interest rate, even if you spend less per month. For example, if your total eligible monthly spend is between S$500-15,000, you'll get 1.8% p.a. with an account balance of S$50,000. This balloons to 2.4% p.a. once you have an account balance of S$100,000. To qualify for these enhanced interest rates, you'll have to transact in 3 categories or more, in addition to crediting your salary. Crediting your salary and transacting in 2 categories will earn you a slightly lower interest rate of 2.1% p.a. assuming the same monthly spend of S$500-15,000.

Crediting your salary to your DBS/POSB deposit or Multiplier account are both accepted ways to earn bonus interest with your DBS Multiplier Account. Since August 2023, DBS has made it easier for people to credit their salaries for DBS Multiplier benefits. Note the following eligibility requirements for salary crediting to ensure that you'll be raking in those bonus interest rates.

Your salary must be credited via:

• GIRO

• FAST

• PayNow

Transaction description must read as follows:

• SALARY

• PAYROLL

• COMMISSION

• BONUS

DBS/POSB bank encourages their customers to contact their respective Human Resource colleagues to set up seamless salary crediting.

Joint accounts are a type of bank savings account which is shared by two or more people. Though we usually think of joint accounts as shared accounts for couples, joint accounts can also be parent-child joint accounts, or siblings sharing one account.

There are many advantages to having a joint account. For one, it makes it more convenient to manage family expenses and gives both parties financial oversight. Couples can use joint accounts to save for dream vacations or a home down payment, while children of elderly parents can help them manage their finances.

Generally, joint accounts come in two configurations.

Joint-all account

Joint-all accounts, sometimes also called joint accounts, require all transactions to be performed with the instruction of both account holders. This means that account holders cannot perform transactions individually.

Joint-alternate account

On the other hand, joint-alternate accounts allow for either account holder to make transactions or even close the joint account without the need for the other account holder's approval. Do note that some joint accounts offered by banks only provide for the opening of joint-alternate accounts. One such example is OCBC's 360 Account.

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Here’s the secret sauce: when two account holders make deposits or credit salaries, and carry out any eligible transaction, both will earn bonus interest based on the combined value of all eligible transactions.

Consider the following example:

Mr. Seah’s total eligible transaction amounts to S$7,300, while his wife’s total sits at S$6,400.

Let’s compare how much interest they would earn—separately, and with a joint account.

As you can see, both Mr. and Mrs. Seah earned interest on the combined total of their transactions, instead of just their own, allowing both to grow their individual Multiplier accounts quicker. This also works even if only one party is crediting their income, which lets single-income households benefit from some extra interest.