OCBC 360 Account cuts interest rates from May 2026

These really aren’t the best of times for so-called “high yield savings accounts”, with repeated cuts to interest rates making the label somewhat of a misnomer.

Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like this trend is set to reverse anytime soon. Having already cut interest rates in May 2025 and August 2025, the OCBC 360 Account is now making its third cut in the space of a year.

From 1 May 2026, the realistic interest rate will be reduced from 2.45% to 1.95% p.a., which makes it even harder for miles chasers to optimise interest on their bank accounts.

OCBC 360 Account cuts interest rates from May 2026

Here’s the OCBC 360 Account’s current interest rate structure, which is valid till 30 April 2026.

From 1 May 2026, the interest rate structure will be revised as follows.

With the revised structure, account holders can earn a maximum EIR of 4.45% p.a. on the first S$100,000 in the account. However, this rate is only achievable if you purchase insurance or investment products from the bank, and even then, the bonus interest will be paid for just 12 months.

Salary: Up to 1.25% p.a.

Customers who credit a monthly salary of at least S$1,800 to the OCBC 360 Account will earn up to 1.25% p.a., down from the current 1.5% 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 0.4% p.a.

Customers who increase their average daily balance (ADB) by at least S$500 in a month will earn up to 0.4% p.a., a 20% reduction from the current 0.5% p.a.

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

Spend: Up to 0.25% p.a.

Customers who spend at least S$500 per month on eligible credit cards will earn up to 0.25% p.a., down from the current 0.4% 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

The interest from the Spend category is practically negligible by now, which is unfortunate given that the OCBC Rewards Card has been a consistent feature in my wallet, owing to its ongoing 6 mpd promotion for Shopee, Lazada, Taobao, TikTok Shop and Watsons.

Wealth (Insure): Up to 1.25% p.a.

The Wealth (Insure) category is seeing a reduction from 1.5% p.a. to 1.25% p.a.

As always, the 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 1.25% p.a.

The Wealth (Invest) category is also seeing a reduction from 1.5% p.a. to 1.25% p.a.

Like the Wealth (Insure) category, bonus interest will only be 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, presumably due to its lower margins.

Grow interest cut to 1.2% p.a.

I’ve never found the Grow category to be 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% p.a., but only on the first S$100,000. The next S$150,000 only earns the regular base interest of 0.05% p.a., which pulls down the weighted average significantly. 

That will get even worse from May, when the bonus interest is cut from 2% p.a. to 1.2% 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$2,450 of interest per year (assuming he/she meets the Salary, Save and Spend criteria).

Following the changes, the realistic interest falls to S$1,950 per year, a reduction of 20%.

Even then, it’s highly debatable whether the Save category can be considered realistic. If you’re using the OCBC 360 for your daily transactions, it will be tricky to ensure you can increase the ADB by exactly S$500. And even if you could, you wouldn’t be able to earn the bonus interest consistently each month on the full S$100,000 because you’ll either be short of that figure or in excess of it.

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 options on the market:

The UOB One Account remains a relatively easy way to earn 1.9% 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).

However, if you don’t want to park so much money at a relatively low return, then the DBS Multiplier would offer at least 1.8% p.a. on the first S$50,000 (at the S$50,000 mark, the UOB One is a much poorer performer, earning just 1% p.a.).

But with last month’s SSB offering an average return of 1.99% over 10 years (starting at 1.36% in year 1), it might be easier to just save yourself the trouble and get that instead.

Conclusion

The OCBC 360 Account will be cutting its interest rates again from 1 May 2026, marking the third reduction in the space of a year.

The maximum realistic interest a customer can attain will be reduced to 1.95% p.a., or even 1.7% p.a. if you fail to meet the criteria for the Save category (which is very easy to mess up if you’re using this as your daily driver). 

At this rate, it might be better to park funds in the HSBC Everyday Global Account instead, and unlock higher earn rates on the HSBC Revolution!