Actually, currently 1k also can put FD promo in BSN. 1 year 4.5% or 5 years 4.75%. Refer to page 1 for more info. If you want to go for e-FD, can consider Public Bank e-FD promo 3.6% for 1 year.

I think UT is much riskier. If you can tolerate the risk, fine. A lower risk option would be to invest in Maybank's GIA-i with indicative profit rate of 4%. You can withdraw at anytime with no penalty on the profit rate. You can even do placement & withdrawal online (eGIA-i) if you have an existing Maybank account. However, there is no PIDM protection as the profit & principal is not guaranteed. Higher risk than FD and lower risk than most UT in general.

Do not underestimate the value of 1k especially when compounded over time if you start young. If you can save 1k every year & do not withdraw it & let it compound over let's say 20 years, you would have a substantial amount by the time you reach 38. If you can save more, let's say 1k per month, the amount will be even more substantial. Better than getting those savings plan as you can withdraw the money anytime when you need it. You just lose some interest. Hope this helps.

Would like to ask anyone here with experience with HSBC Advance current account. Did you need to close your Advance account to avoid paying the RM10 per month account fee after withdrawing the 5% promo FD?

I transferred all my money out from the account after the maturity of the 3 months 5% promo FD meaning the account balance is RM0 now. So, would the account be automatically closed after a while or do I still need to go to the branch to close it manually? Would I still be charged the monthly fee if I leave it as it is currently. Thank you.

This post has been edited by Nom-el: Feb 23 2016, 12:56 PM

Actually, CIMB does have FD promo as reported earlier by someone in the earlier thread. The last I checked with my branch last week, they are offering the following rates for fresh fund: -

1 month - 3.7%
3 months - 4.1%
6 months - 4.2%
12 months - 4.3%

Min 10k

I do not know if it is an official promo or not as the rates change quite frequently.


How did u calculate the interest rate for your GIA placement? I have been getting 4% p.a. interest for the past few months even for those that were placed for a few days only.

As far as I know BSN does not offer eFD. As for GIA, you can withdraw the money at anytime, so it does not really matter what tenure you choose. You just need to remember to uplift it manually.

New promo from Affin, tenures range from 3 months to 13 months.
3.85% - 4.30%


Check out my blog for more info on Affin promo & other promos: -

FD Promos for March

Thank you for your support & encouragement. I just updated my blog with more info. Do check it out at http://ringgitstretch.blogspot.my/


1: Advance Acct balance + FD = min 30k
is correct.

You do not need a separate RM30K in your advance account to qualify. More info about the HSBC Advance 5% promo can be found on my page on FD promo at http://ringgitstretch.blogspot.my/2016/03/...march-2016.html



What do you mean by that? GIA-i is different from conventional FD/TD-i as it is based on profit sharing but murabahah commodity related islamic FD is pretty straightforward. It works pretty much like conventional FD.

It seems there has been a lot of discussion & confusion on GIA-i recently. Instead of answering the questions separately over & over again, I have written an article on it on my blog at http://ringgitstretch.blogspot.my/. Read it to find out more about its pros & cons and differences with islamic FDs. Read the tips section to find out how to make placement with only 1K for 1 month or less. Hope it answers most of the questions raised.

The blog has also been updated with the latest FD promos. In case you missed it, you can get 4.3% p.a for 3 months FD with Hong Leong if your sum is substantial which is much better than the latest CIMB Fixed Deposit & Current Account Campaign 4.68% p.a. which looks good at first glance but the effective rate (FD + CA) is worse than the FD board rate of many banks.

Thanks. As far as I know, only Maybank offers eGIA-i currently. If anyone knows of any other banks that offer it, please let me know.



You will get your principal & profit immediately on upliftment.

Most FD promos with high interest rate are ending soon or had already ended. Hope to see better promos next month.

Since there is not much good FD promos for short-term tenures, you might want to check out this article to learn how to earn more than 4.5% effective interest for 4 months by combining 1 bank's CASA promo with another bank's GIA-i product. It can be considered as an alternative to a 4-month FD perhaps.

Public Bank revised the T&Cs for their FD/TD Promo, the key difference is the promo rate is fixed, no longer subject to OPR changes. So, no need to worry the rate will be lower for subsequent rollovers should the OPR change.

PB Step Up FD Campaign Revised T&C
PB FD Xtra Campaign Revised T&C

That is true. Since I last posted the table, there has been some changes like UOB & HLB offering free online IBG & IBFT for all CASAs for this year. Public Bank also revised their limit to 20K (without token) and 50K (with token).

Be careful with step-up FD as there are 2 types: -

1) rollover where you can withdraw after the end of each cycle & still get the full rate for the cycle
e.g.
Public Bank's PB Step Up FD (3+3+3) & PB FD Xtra Campaign (6+6)
RHB's FD Step-up Promo
Maybank's 5+5 Promo


2) no rollover where you must complete the whole tenure or else there will be penalty
e.g.
Maybank's eFixed Deposit Flexi Campaign
UOB's 11 months Step Up FD

Btw, you won't get half the effective rate after completing 3 months in this case.

Let's take Maybank's eFD Flexi Campaign as an example: -
1 - 6 months - 3.4%
7 - 9 months - 4.7%
10 - 12 months - 5.75%
12 months Effective - 4.31%

You will only get half of 3.4% p.a. instead of half of 4.31% p.a if you withdraw after 6 months.

I managed to change it to "add interest to principal" all the time. In fact, I just did one recently.


I remember posting about the changes to the PBB FD promotion T&Cs not too long ago. Before the revision, PBB can revise the rate for the next step up if there is any OPR change. That is why they can revise rate for last year. After the revision of the T&Cs, the rate is fixed now. The rate change if any will only apply to new placement, it won't affect already placed FD.

Please refer to the following links: -

FD Rush T&C

PB FD Xtra T&C

There is no mention of any OPR changes at all. The only place I can see the word OPR is in the banner only. As quoted by cherroy earlier from the T&C, the rate is fixed once placement is made. I compared the new T&C with the old 1 and that is what I found last time. Unfortunately, I do not have a copy of the old T&C with me anymore. Cannot say much about other banks' promo but for PBB, the rate is guaranteed upon placement after the new T&C come into effect.


How did you change it? Only select the setting you want to change & leave the rest blank? That is how I did it. No problem for me.

I have a question for those who make FD placement with personal cheque. When would your current account be debited? On the day you make the placement itself or only after the cheque is cleared (no longer floating)? I wonder what happens to the money when it is floating (usually 2 working days). Is it with the payer account, the payee account, the payee bank or with Bank Negara Malaysia? Thanks.

Any idea what time they would debit your current account? Immediately upon placement or a few hours later?


What is the date shown on the SMS? The day you received the SMS or a day before?


If deposit the cheque before 4pm, I can see it in the savings account on the day itself usually at night. It would have 2 days float, so on day 3 only can use it. Have you successfully placed eFD even though the amount is still floating? I thought the fund cannot be used while it is still floating. Anyone else with experience on this?