AS topic.. since interest in semi flexi are calculated based on the capital u owe the bank..should i dump my part of saving into the semi flexi to tekan the interest...?

I would and I did. 100% debt free now

My 2sen.

Do it if your savings earn lower interest rates.

Do note your cashflow can be affected. I think almost all banks will charge you some fee if you decide to withdraw the excess fund - negating whatever savings you got.

I hope this is not in Serious kopitiam. The question is too shallow.
Semi fkex n flexi loans are there for interest saving purposes. And now you hv it with you for the same reason.

It is a matter of math, not a matter of if we shd dump the money in...

This post has been edited by taitianhin: Apr 27 2024, 11:26 PM

If you have no other plans for the idle money (for savings, FD and etc), then you should park it at your semi-flexi loan.

*I am not a personal finance consultant, engage one if you need appropriate advise.

if you have long term fd , yes you should.

remember that for semi flexi, u hav to inform bank in order to lower the interest, where else full flexi is auto.

if u full flexi & got on9 facility to redraw at any moment, parking your emergency or FD funds in mortgage is better than standard FD rate.

Depends on market situation. Mine is fully flexi but similar, so I basically see it as another FD, just works the opposite way (tekan interest instead of giving you dividend/interests)

Whatever effective interest rate I am charged (eg 4.25% in recent months) vs whatever else I can gain outside today (in today's context, not much). So dump dump dump!

Of course la. FD savings rate won't be higher than house loan

i did for mine.

helping yourself from being charged thousands of interest (that goes into drain) per month is a very wise decision.

Thinking of doing this as well upon full disbursement, currently still paying the progressive interest only.

What do you mean by "inform the bank to lower interest"? Inform them each time you put in money?

Some banks like MBB calculate the daily interest automatically, based on how much you transfer money into the loan account. Imo, the semi-flexi part refers to the T&C when you draw down the loan account (some impose minimum amount to withdraw, and also incurs a service charge when you draw money).

Depending on the banks rules, some require advance notice of your intention of a capital partial payment.

Ya it does charge 1 fix amount to withdraw. Unless full flexi.

I think it will automatically lower the interest.. during MCO time bank did lower my interest even i din ask for.

This post has been edited by shyan90's: Apr 28 2024, 10:07 AM

Full flexi usually incurs monthly maintenance fee. And some if not most banks impose cap on interest waiver. Semi flexi usually does not have cap.

This is true.

In my case, the monthly account fee is -RM5, and minimum "outstanding" is -RM100K so even if I deposit and make my account balance 0, I'll still incur the bare minimum interest rate charges using RM100k as the outstanding base.

Though when I did my comparison many years ago it was still worthwhile, considering that it's so much more flexible to have online and zero-notification facility without having to meet stringent requirements too. Back then the Semi-Flexi loans I compared had requirements like "must be in multiples of RM1000 to knock off principal; and must notify bank in writing/via counter". Should be better now I guess, but hasn't been comparing loans so don't know where the banking industry is taking us now

Which bank is that (the minimum 100k)?

Few years back when I was shopping for a loan, PBB's cap is up to 70% of the balance in the current account. Meaning, if you put in 100k, 30k does nothing.
HLB has 70% cap on remaining principle.

At the same time, I found out about the no capping in semi flexi loans. The withdrawal service charge (something like RM25 or 50) and minimum payment/withdrawal amount didn't appeal to me.

Mine is Maybank. They did not specify percentage-based value but hardcoded(?) value. Loan on its inception was approximately ~500K so, 20% if percentage wise?

At that point in time I only found two FULLY-FLEXI providers - Maybank and HSBC. HSBC obviously rejected the loan offer since it's a small ikan bilis package and they only goes for the big ones

I had same conclusion as you for semi-flexi (CIMB and RHB) during my shopping. That troublesome minimum RM1000's tranche and withdrawal fees put me off so I just went with Maybank. Depending on economic situation next few years I may just wipe off my loan early, or keep it as a easy drawdown loan with mortgage-level interest rates for cashflow purposes.

Maybank didn't even have any flexi loan to offer me back then. 500k pun considered ikan bilis?

For now is quite normal for 500k...maybe ikan bilis already.

That's what the HSBC staff told me back then their rates were worse than Maybank anyway.

Also I just relooked at my loan offer letter, I might have remembered the RM100k wrong (or it was removed in my latest signing). There's no limit on paying down principal, it seems. I also just used my latest March 2024 statement (since I did dip below -RM100k balance after depositing some cash for few days) to calculate my daily interest. Cant get exact amount as Maybank but:

Calculation Method	Interest Amount
Maybank	472.25
Daily Interest Calculated based on Day End Balance actuals * Interest / 365 days	472.02
Daily Interest Calculated based on Day End Balance actuals * Interest / 365 days, Except if above -100k then use -100k to calculate	474.57
(ROUND UP) Daily Interest Calculated based on Day End Balance actuals * Interest / 365 days	472.18
(ROUND UP) Daily Interest Calculated based on Day End Balance actuals * Interest / 365 days, Except if above -100k then use -100k to calculate	474.74

This post has been edited by polarzbearz: Apr 28 2024, 12:18 PM

Good to hear that. Tough times means saving every sen where possible.

Already done? Online or need to go to branch? Now monthly payment same or reduce.

Can share experience.

Thanks

at the end of my loan, my interest so low. About 70% are principal payments.

I only 3 more years left.

Online will do. Just like pay advance in your account.

If I am not mistaken, if you pay online without notifying the bank, the paid amount will be considered as advance payment, not reducing your principle.

I think if you opted for semi flexi it will.
I can see the differences of the interest changes when i dump few k

Certain bank have option online to pay direct to principle. such as RHB.

RHB they will deduct your monthly loan amount from the saving account like normal but i think u can pay direct to principle but in minimum of 1k (if not mistaken). Not sure if u can pay any amount to it

This post has been edited by Chadlonso: Feb 4 2025, 10:39 AM

I paid directly to principle. Got option for that. Monthly i still pay manually as usual.

u can pay any amount to it or need min 1k?

FYI. Not all banks work that way. E.g. PBB/HLB semi flexi needs to walk in and give notice, paying extra will just be advanced payment instead of principal prepayment for interest reduction.

No, not any amount. RHB full flexi minimum 1k and must be multiples of 1k.

1k, 2k.

Cannot be 1.2k, 1.3k.

Multiplies of 1k.

thanks

maybank allow...dats why..

Just need clarification on this. I did a semi flexi for one house. Lower the interest or the monthly instalment? The bank informed that the monthly instalment will be automatically reduced (but after a 6 mth cycle for recount). Interest should remain the same.

Depends,

If the property is for own stay with no rental income, then wise to dump money into the loan current account to save interest.

If the property is for investment with rental income, then not wise to dump money into the loan current account to save interest. This is because the loan interest is Tax deductable. meaning it can help you to reduce your taxable income, hence gives you tax savings. Then you can put your money into places that can generate more money that is tax free such as FD, EPF, blue chip stock with high dividen yield (up to 100k) or growth stock.


**remember to bank in to loan current account, no other account to save interest. Bank interest is DR (daily rated) which means, you bank in today, tomorrow can start to save interest d.

This post has been edited by BL98: Feb 4 2025, 01:59 PM

Cimb best.. can deposit any amount for principal

Read terms & conditions of your mortgage.

Some need you to inform bank in advance
Some need minimum amount or maybe multiples of x,000

But, in general, pay more when you can. Reduce your principle amount as much & as soon as possible. Compounded interest is the killer.

Was so happy to finally pay off my mortgage.

My RHB havent reach one year.

Do they have installment reduction like CIMB/HLB?

One way to test it is directly make large advance payment like 20k, and see does it reduce your outstanding by said amount

maybank mcm dun need

A simple call to the bank will do.

Few scenarios that are good to dump into flexi loan.
- you have savings, but have no idea where to park it. Parking in home mortgage helps to reduce daily interest
- You want to improve monthly cashflow, each 50k dump is equivalent to 250 monthly free up.

Else, it's better just dump the savings to higher interest rate 5-6% that will generate more value after 30 years.

Yes for my maybank semi flexi outstanding is reduce. End of this month I will pay my monthly normal payment. Hope less go the interest and more to principal reduction.

You can agak agak calculate your January interest is betul or not...
example 100k balance @ 4.05%
100000x1.0405 = 104050
4050/365 = 11.09
11.09 x calendar day (31) = 343.79 (January 2025 interest)

BTW, what is your interest rate for maybank?

This post has been edited by shyan90's: Feb 7 2025, 12:56 PM

my cimb full flexi financing started in may 2023.
current profit rate is 4.65%.
little by little i dump in the linked current account.

till today it's only 21 months (1yr 9mth).
from amortization table, principal payment suppose to be rm624.
but for this month, the principal payment is rm954.
which equivalent to 131 months (10yr 11mth) .

not so sure if this is the most effective way. just that it is very liquid to withdraw. only rm10/mth service charge for current account. and i did this only for my own stay house.

from what i understand I'll get charged rm40/mth if current account has more than 70% of financing outstanding balance.



This post has been edited by pakjat: Feb 9 2025, 07:07 AM

depends, based on my exp, my semi flexi OCBC will consider advance payment to reduce the principal.
while CIMB semi flex is the real CB. you would need give instruction on the advance payment to reduce principal. otherwise they will put into special account where this sum is just sitting there doing nothing.

i add in one scenario which is good to dump,
- when this is your 2nd house loan and you have plan for next purchase, you clear this one and your next purchase will eligible for 90% loan.

BNM hav not adjusted BR since Q1 2023.

when BNM raise BR, usually overnight u'll see your mortgage bank adjusted their rate & your payment overnight.
however, if BNM slash BR, usually bank will take their sweet time, might even only lower their rate months later.

Understand about the BLR. But what I meant is for a semi flexi loan, I can gradually park money into the loan account but the interest would not change, only will reduce the monthly payment. That is what happening to one of my housing loan. Just seeking clarifications if the understanding is aligned.

This post has been edited by funnybone: Feb 13 2025, 04:13 PM

This statement does not seem correct. If you correctly perform a payment for principal reduction, then your remaining outstanding loan should reduce and therefore the portion of your instalment charged for the interest should reduce .

The monthly payment (or instalment) should remain the same. You are still obligated to pay your instalments on time.

Actually to clarify, I parked the extra sum to the loan account but did not issue an instruction to the bank to offset from the principal amount. And yes, the remaining outstanding still reduce and the instalment amount reduced as well (monthly payment). However, I still continue to pay a higher instalment amount to reduce the principal loan faster. That is what I was told....hope this is as what supposedly to happen. Quite confused when the loan officer explained this.

May i know what bank?

Free time, I kepoh a bit

This is correct.

The incurred interest is reduced, monthly installment amount remains the same.

Meaning a bigger portion of that month installment amount goes to principal reduction (after interest).

Objective.
1. Reduce total incurred interest which is your finance cost
2. A reduced repayment tenure and a principal reduction are the 2 underlying factors to your total interest incurred.

This post has been edited by jojolicia: Apr 14 2025, 05:18 PM

Maybank

this seems to me is an advance payment which does not reduce your principle amount and therefore does not reduce the interest
advance payment really doesnt do anything

monthly installment amount should not reduce, if reduce means its taking your previous extra payment as an advance

This post has been edited by N9484640: Apr 14 2025, 07:06 PM

My loan is with MBB as well, the mortgage officer told me that even if i put a large amount into my account, the monthly installment will remain the same, just that the bigger portion will go to reducing your principal.

This is correct. But it actually what we want, reduce interest.

Maybank islamic semi flexi, this is what my banker told me

[24/07/2024, 15:43] N***: 1st option:

U can pay extra to save the interest, example if loan released 500k, let say u pay 400k into loan acc. Then bank only charge u interest based on 100k

This 400k still in your loan acc and if u want withdraw still can withdraw via online or branch, withdrawal fee RM25 per transaction.

2nd option:
After u transfer the 400k into loan acc, fill in the service request form and hv to walk in any branch, to inform branch to off set the payment(direct pay to the bank), if u off set the payment u cannot withdraw anymore

[24/07/2024, 15:45] m*******: Is there benefit on 2nd option?

[24/07/2024, 15:45] N***: Actually both also same. Just 1st option u still got a flexibility for your cash flow

Option 2 is direct pay to the bank, u can settle the loan faster

unless your pretty sure you wont need that 400k amount in few years time, else option 1 always better.

That is weird. Semi-flexi loan? My instalment reduces. But I continue to pay the initial amt to reduce the principal (yes, this happens to me as well). But I have the option to pay the lower instalment amt also if I choose to do so

This post has been edited by funnybone: Apr 16 2025, 01:45 PM

What bank you using?
Semi Flexi wont cut off your instalment usually but will reduce your interest.

Maybank. The monthly instalment amt reduced as I put in more. The banker also told me before that the instalment amt will be re-calculated every cycle (6 mths if not mistaken)

Huh..so weird i am also maybank..but it only reduce interest so far...

Confusing then. Will recheck with the bank once I got the time.