OCBC 360 Account cuts interest rates (again!) from August 2025

The OCBC 360 Account is one of the few bank accounts out there that pairs well with a miles collecting strategy. By crediting their salary, spending on an OCBC credit card, and growing their average daily balance, account holders can earn 3.3% p.a. interest on up to S$100,000, without the need to buy overpriced insurance or investment products.

Unfortunately, less than two months after the last cut to its interest rates, OCBC has announced a further nerf to the 360 Account that takes effect from 1 August 2025. 

This will reduce the realistic interest rate from 3.3% to 2.45% p.a., and at some point they really need to stop calling these “high yield savings accounts”.

OCBC 360 Account cuts interest rates (again!)

Here’s the OCBC 360 Account’s current interest rate structure, which is valid till 31 July 2025.

From 1 August 2025, the interest rate structure will be revised as follows.

With the revised structure, account holders can earn a maximum EIR of 5.45% p.a. on the first S$100,000 in the account, though keep in mind that figure can only be attained if you buy insurance or investment products from the bank. 

Salary: Up to 1.5% p.a.

Customers who credit a monthly salary of at least S$1,800 to the OCBC 360 Account will earn up to 1.5% p.a., down from the current 2% p.a.

As before, your salary must be credited via one of the following methods:

• GIRO / PayNow via GIRO with transaction description “GIRO – SALARY” printed on the
  monthly statement
• FAST / PayNow via FAST with transaction code “SAL” or transaction description “SALARY /SALA / SAL”

Save: Up to 0.5% p.a.

Customers who increase their average daily balance (ADB) by at least S$500 in a month will earn up to 0.5% p.a., a 33% reduction from the current 0.75% p.a.

While this sounds relatively easy to do on paper, it can actually require a fair bit of finessing, especially if you use the OCBC 360 Account as your daily driver, with funds flowing in and out all the time. 

Spend: Up to 0.4% p.a.

Customers who spend at least S$500 per month on eligible credit cards will earn up to 0.4% p.a., down from the current 0.5% p.a.

The list of eligible credit cards remains the same:

• OCBC 365 Card
• OCBC 90°N Visa
• OCBC 90°N Mastercard
• OCBC Infinity Cashback Card
• OCBC NXT Card
• OCBC Rewards Card

Both the OCBC 90°N Visa/Mastercard and OCBC Rewards Cards are viable options for miles chasers, and I’ve been regularly maxing out the S$1,000 monthly bonus cap on the latter thanks to the ongoing 6 mpd promotion on department store spending (extendable to many other categories via HeyMax). This is currently scheduled to end on 30 June 2025, but maybe we can pray for an extension?

Wealth (Insure): Up to 1.5% p.a.

There is no change to the Wealth (Insure) category, which remains the same at 1.5% p.a.

However, do note that bonus interest is only accorded for 12 months after the effective date of purchase, post the free look cancellation period or 14 days, whichever is longer. 

Wealth (Invest): Up to 1.5% p.a.

Likewise, there is no change to the Wealth (Invest) category, which remains the same at 1.5% p.a.

Again, do note that bonus interest is only accorded for 12 months after the effective date of purchase, post the free look cancellation period or 14 days, whichever is longer. 

Unfortunately, OCBC RoboInvest is not considered an eligible investment product (not enough margin!).

Grow interest cut, minimum balance increased

The Grow category has never been particularly attractive, since the minimum MAB required is 2.5X that of the interest cap.

For example, those with a minimum MAB of S$250,000 currently earn an extra 2.2% p.a., but only on the first S$100,000. The next S$100,000 only earns the regular base interest of 0.05%, p.a., which pulls down the weighted average significantly. 

That will get even worse from August, when the bonus interest is cut from 2.2% p.a. to 2% p.a.

How much less will you earn?

Under the current OCBC 360 interest structure, an account holder with a balance of S$100,000 could realistically look forward to S$3,300 of interest per year (assuming he/she meets the Salary, Save and Spend criteria).

Following the changes, the realistic interest falls to S$2,450 per year, a drop of roughly 25%. 

Alternatives for miles chasers

If you’re pursuing a miles collection strategy and don’t want to take up a mortgage or buy insurance or investment products, here’s a quick rundown of the alternatives on the market: 

I’m still sticking to the UOB One Account, which offers a very easy 3.3% p.a. on up to S$150,000- just credit a salary of at least S$1,600 per month, and spend at least S$500 on an eligible UOB card (including all three UOB Lady’s Cards).

Despite swearing off BOC several years back, I have to admit that the BOC SmartSaver is starting to look more and more attractive, especially with the upcoming enhancements to the BOC Elite Miles Card. From 1 July 2025, this card will earn an uncapped 1.4/2.8 mpd on local/FCY spend, and by adding on salary crediting and bill payments, you could earn 3.25% p.a. on up to S$100,000. But do I dare deal with BOC again? Hmmmm.

Of course, now that OCBC has lowered its rates, it remains to be seen whether the rest of the banks monkey see, monkey do. I’d wait a couple of months more before making any big changes.

Conclusion

The OCBC 360 Account will be cutting its interest rates again from 1 August 2025, just a few months after the previous round of reductions on 1 May 2025.

This will reduce the maximum realistic interest rate from 3.3% to 2.45% p.a., and with this month’s SSB offering an average return of 2.49% p.a. over 10 years (starting at 2.06% in year 1), it might be better to just park money there and save yourself the hassle.