SINGAPORE - OCBC Bank will be raising interest rates on its flagship 360 savings account from Thursday (Sept 1), as it joins other local banks in account revisions amid the rising rate environment.

With this change, customers can earn interest of up to 4.05 per cent a year on balances of up to $100,000, the bank said in a statement on Tuesday (Aug 30).

Prior to this, account holders could earn a maximum of 2.38 per cent a year of interest on balances of up to $75,000.

At the same time, OCBC will reinstate the bonus interest category for credit card spending. Account holders who spend at least $500 each month on the OCBC 365 credit card can earn up to 0.35 per cent a year of bonus interest.

It had halted the credit card spend bonus interest on the 360 account in July 2020 amid the weakened interest rate environment and challenging macro climate then.

From Sept 1, OCBC is also including a new account balance tier, with the maximum balance on which customers can earn bonus interest rates rising from $75,000 to $100,000.

This brings it in line with the changes introduced by other local banks to offer higher interest rates on balances of up to $100,000.

All three local banks had cut interest rates on their flagship savings accounts several times over the past two years amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

Earlier this month, DBS Bank increased rates for its Multiplier account, which means that its customers can now earn a maximum of 3.5 per cent a year, up from 3 per cent previously, for balances of more than $50,000 and up to $100,000.

UOB also increased rates on its One Account for a new tier of balances above $75,000 and up to $100,000. Customers earn 3 per cent interest on this balance tier if they spend at least $500 on an eligible UOB card and credit their salary via Giro, up from 0.05 per cent previously for all balances above $75,000.

OCBC said that since 2020, at least one in five OCBC 360 account holders have average account balances exceeding $75,000, and these customers could immediately stand to earn higher interest with the changes taking effect next month.

Ms Tan Siew Lee, OCBC's head of wealth management for Singapore, said: "In a rising interest rate environment, we want to reward our OCBC 360 account customers for their savings and banking behaviours, and for doing more with us, to enable them to grow their wealth and savings."

She added that the reinstatement of the bonus category for expenditure on the 365 credit card marks a tighter integration between its two flagship products.

One in four 360 account holders has a 365 credit card, Ms Tan said.

"While these products are competitive even on their own, their potential lies in how they complement each other - so we must continue to find new and innovative ways to do this to benefit our customers," she added.

Customers can visit this website for more information.