As of 3 Nov 2022

Quick update on the recent spate of changes regarding bank interest rate changes. I decided to take on a review of all the interest rate reviews that I’ve picked up over time. The first of this series will be from Trust Bank. If you did not know, Trust Bank is a digital bank that is in collaboration with Fair Price Group X Standard Chartered Bank Singapore.

All right, if you have not signed up for this Trust Bank Freebie, I think it is still available now. Please do sign up using my referral code “MREC9F7G” at Sign Up here at Trust Bank

a. You will get a $10 fair price voucher that you can use when you visit any Fair Price Supermarket outlet.

b. You will get an additional $25 fair price voucher once you make your first spend on your card (no minimum spending amount) Pretty sweet, I would say.

c. On top of that, you get some perks of free coffee when you go to Kopitiam to name a few.

At a first glance, I didn’t really like the logo and branding. It does feel too corporate and dated but that is my own opinion

Next, I always believed that all new businesses should be revolutionary from traditional ones. I expect no less from digital banks. Instead of making things easy to understand, It seems like it isn’t too simple. I’m a simple person, if I don’t understand, I think most people don’t and will not bother to find out more. I don’t really know how is it like in terms of their sign up but I’m pretty sure it has stagnated.

In any case, Just see it as Bank Account and Link Point Reward for simplicity.

Bank Account

For Bank Accounts, you will get a base of 1.5% for amounts up to SGD 75,000.00 (In any case, they are also SDIC insured for up to the same amount of SGD 75,000.00)

If you spend 5 transactions on your Trust Credit Card Every month, you will get an additional 0.5% for amounts up to SGD 75,000.00 and hence your total interest is 2.0% p.a.

If you are a Union member, the 0.5% is upgraded to 1.0% and hence your total interest is 2.5% p.a.

Link Point Rewards

Rewards points are rather complicated I would say. More information can be found here: Earning Link Points – Trust Bank

a. You will save up to 21% (Credit Card) worth in rewards for a total spend of 350 monthly on that card other than at FairPrice Group, which is in summary

• 2.5% base rate (Earn unlimited savings of 0.5% on FPG groceries^ and 0.22% on all other eligible spend^^. Exclusive for FairPrice members only! Earn an additional 2% on FPG groceries^, capped at 12,000 Link points a year)

This spending on the above-mentioned has to be on FairPrice Group purchases only.

• 8.5% monthly bonus (Earn 8.5% on FPG spend^^^ when you meet a monthly minimum eligible spend of S$350 outside of FPG, capped at 5,500 Link points)

You need to spend $350 monthly outside of FairPrice Group spending.

• 8.0% quarterly bonus (Earn 8% on FPG spend^^^ when you meet your monthly minimum eligible spend for 3 consecutive months, capped at 7,500 Link points)

This quarterly requirement has to be fulfilled for 3 consecutive months, otherwise, that is a fit fat 0.

• 2.0% FairPrice annual member bonus (Earn 2% once a year on FPG groceries^, capped at 12,000 Link points)

Really not too sure if the 12,000 link points cap is inclusive of the link points earned a year or separate. This is why I really dislike complicated rewards programmes.

b. Up to 11% savings (With the debit card) I suppose this is for customers who are ineligible for the credit card. I shall not dwell on this. You can click on the link above to read more. My question is really that if the digital bank is to serve the underserved, then why penalise those who can afford a credit card. Also, if aunties and uncles are the targets, maybe online is not the best way to go for now.

All these may change at the end of 31 December 2022. Note that there is a cap of 12,000 Link points per annum. I don’t really like the cap on rewards. It is just too troublesome.

Pros

What is good is that there isn’t any lock-in period, it works just like a saving account

There aren’t any monthly fees

There isn’t any minimum balance

There isn’t any minimum period to close the account and hence an account closure fee

There’s also no card replacement fee (That’s one good thing)

Cons

Online only, not too sure about the customer service and customer care

Not sure about the service recovery

Not sure about how well they are protected in terms of security and how they manage fraud/compliance-related issues

Not sure what’s the target market.

Conclusion

Overall, it has decent rewards in terms of account-related perks and interest rates. However, I still feel like they can do more to offer a unique selling proposition. I just can’t see their deviation from their own Fair Price Group which is very local in this sense. I’m not too sure what they really want to achieve from this digital bank license.

However if it fits your bill and Fair Price is your go-to supermarket, why not? Also, If you are comfortable with online-only service as well as getting another account to remember that you have. I still think it is a 3 out of 5 stars at this point in time.

Please sign up using my referral code “MREC9F7G” at Sign Up here at Trust Bank. Thank you in advance for keeping the lights running for this blog.