The key to open GXS account is SingPass.

So as long as you are eligible for SingPass then you should be fine. In theory, student pass and work passes are also eligible for SingPass, but their account will be deactivated once the pass(es) expire, which is why I generally recommend Sporean or Spore PR to use SingPass only...

As for your case, Hansel I am pretty sure you are at least a Spore PR, so you should have no issue with GXS.

Someone shared this on HWZ: https://forums.hardwarezone.com.sg/threads/...#post-149640787

3.95% for 21 months. https://www.aupe.org.sg/acc/news/newget-up-...-fixed-deposit/

https://www.uob.com.sg/personal/save/fixed-...ed-deposit.page

Source: lzydata/HWZ

1. Regarding DBS SG's USD FD.

I convert to USD in IBKR, then TT the money out to DBS USD FD account straightaway. 10 USD fee charged by correspondent bank JP Morgan.

Don't convert directly from SGD to USD via DBS. Their FX markup is about 2% (against interbank rates), last I check. Use other fintech to convert to USD or convert within IBKR.

----------------------------

2. Yea, it's for co-operative members only.

This you can ask Mr. Gray or dwRK. They both know better than I do regarding RHB MCA stuff.

One possible advantage I can think of is keeping USD closer to you, under BNM regulations. Suitable for retirees or those who does not want to hold assets in foreign countries.

This post has been edited by TOS: Oct 15 2023, 03:45 PM

What is it that you want to ask me?

Happy to answer.

Has anyone tried this?

https://www.stashaway.sg/simple-guaranteed

1 month 3.8% looks tempting... Makes you wonder which MAS bank is partnering with Stashaway lol

Stashaway earns a spread from the bank as well. Which means, the MAS bank is paying them around 4%, not too far from a 4-week MAS bill.

This post has been edited by TOS: Oct 19 2023, 11:27 AM

lol you are right. Can see cannot touch...

Oh no need SingPass. Great then. Finally a good place to park my SGD for short-term.

I don't use SingPass unless I am PR or Sporean.

I am looking at liquidity as well. When it matures, I think SA "guaranteed" (this marketing term is very misleading... if you know what I mean) can be withdrawn 1 day earlier than Fullerton's Cash fund.

https://www.stashaway.sg/help-center/176472...mple-guaranteed

3.5%...That is a fake number. I have tested for 2 months. IRR is no higher than 2.7% p.a.

They delay the "bonus" interest by 20 days, effectively halving the interest rate. The bonus interest just sits for 20 days and do nothing, yet you can't get it on the end of the previous month. They lock your money for 20 days and pay you nothing.

Don't be fooled by the bankers.

Nope. I have 0 SGD in September.

I verified it in Excel, if I change the bonus interest crediting date to the end of previous month, then the IRR will be 3.5%. You can trust me on this.

Yes, the good thing is this is a floating deposit, but a 1% liquidity premium... is really putting off... lol

Ok lah depends on your purpose too... for your case maybe it is fine.

I am impressed by your mental accounting...

Looks like CIMB SG has successfully fooled so many clients...

There is only one rate... 2.7% p.a. It does not matter whether they credit you 20 days later... The cash flow as a whole needs to be considered...

You need to drop the 3.5% idea completely even if you don't earn interest on interest.

When we compare across different products, we use the same compounding frequency when we quote the figures. It does not matter whether you reinvest the interest eventually or not... The convention has to be the same, otherwise it will not be a fair comparison.

This post has been edited by TOS: Oct 24 2023, 05:55 PM

Same quick calculus. Others please feel free to verify my calculations. Thanks!

 Hansel_CIMB_SG_Interest_Rate_Computation.zip ( 8.65k ) Number of downloads: 19

Sorry, I missed something. A lot of things actually. There are many possibilities with tweaking the cash flow. You may withdraw money upon interest crediting, or keep it in account for the next few month's interests.

I edited the Excel file to reflect these 2 possible scenarios. The IRR differs.

 Hansel_CIMB_SG_Interest_Rate_Computation.zip ( 9.33k ) Number of downloads: 6


This post has been edited by TOS: Oct 24 2023, 09:55 PM

Here's my argument with the actual cash flow from my CIMB SG account.

Warning: this is not for the faint-hearted.

 My_CIMB_SG_Cash_Flow__Actual_.zip ( 10.21k ) Number of downloads: 16


This post has been edited by TOS: Oct 24 2023, 09:55 PM

Exactly bro (I mean uncle...). The 20-day delay is the single biggest factor causing the deviation from the advertised 3.5% rate. Delays in interest on interest accounts for the rest of the error.

Like expanding Taylor series... you have zero order, first order, second order,...

This post has been edited by TOS: Oct 24 2023, 10:07 PM

Yup, in the second Excel I posted yesterday I got an IRR of 3.11% for about 2 months of interests with money kept in account and rolling.

A tiny correction is the compounding period is 365 days used by CIMB SG, not 365.25. I think their convention is ACT/365 if I recalled correctly.

And as what Hansel says, it's based on September month-end balance.

So from what we see, it's indeed not 3.5% but the drop in 40ish basis points does not explain the low 2.7% p.a. IRR I am getting.

I am suspecting that the drop from 3.1/3.2% to 2.7% is probably also because we treat it as a saving account and hence money moving in and out reduces the IRR. What do you think?

Not sure which line you are referring to? You mean the 3rd spreadsheet using my actual CIMB SG cashflow data?

It's the same XIRR formula dwRK and I are using throughout our calculations.

As said above to uncle dwRK, I strongly suspects the money movement in and out of the accounts affects the IRR as well. The delay of 20-days pulls down the IRR from 3.50% to 3.1-3.2%, and perhaps money movement pulls it further down to 2.6-2.7%.

So, a preliminary conclusion is if you want to maximize your CIMB SG account "3.5%" promo to its full extent, you have to treat the account as an FD account and not withdraw cash from it simply because you need to.

We also discovered that the effective rate, adjusting for the 20-day delay in bonus payments and assuming that you leave the interests in your account for further compounding, is around 3.1-3.2% p.a.

The lucky thing on my side is with the exception of some one-off spending, I usually withdraw cash for SG T-bills, so overall my opportunity cost is capped at SG 6-month T-bill rates.

This post has been edited by TOS: Oct 25 2023, 01:05 PM

This is for new customers... You need to check the table for existing customers.

There is a slight difference in the way they define the month-end balance criterion.