POSB used to be the best bank in the world

[cass888]

Fucking Bob Sim Kheng Hwee. You win lucky draw? Probably your laupeh won it and you bashed him up and took it. Or you laubu won it and you called her LCB if she won't give it to you.

Get a real job jerk.

it used to be a "peoples' bank" and had yearly lucky draw. i just love the old posb cos i ever won big in their lucky draw. now it's taken over by Dirty Bastard of Sgp or DBS and just like pap, DBS loves screwing the people who have grown up with posb. it now betrays the respectable name it once held. and FUCK!! the bloody gov allows it!

 

[johnny333]

What you suggest is robbing the rich to do feel good things for the poor. And creating an interest rate environment which is untenable since the US dollars will flood into Singapore to earn the higher rates and either sink the Singapore dollar or make the banks go bust (over simplifying but trying to explain the dynamics of interest rates and foreign exchange rates in layman terms is not worth the effort for this discussion).

That will never happen because the PAP has always kept local interest rates lower than what you can get elsewhere.

 

[mojito]

Hahahaha, 6% and 8.5% on deposits.

You'll be lucky if they give you 0.6% on a fixed deposit these days.

According to the CEO of DBS sometime ago, they are "flushed" with deposits.

Many cash rich foreigners with cash to spare in their POSB savings account. Yes, it is indeed a Golden Age of wealth and plenty thanks to our foreign friends!

 

[leetahbar]

That will never happen because the PAP has always kept local interest rates lower than what you can get elsewhere.

during the economic boom, bank fixed interests went as high (or even higher) than 12%. it was a "golden period". posb during that period was giving interests at per daily rated basis. interests accrued then was a very tempting substantial amount.

but now go check ur annual posb interests. kana sai!!

the best bank now to park our saving, imo would be standard chartered bank. u get free cheque service too at the same time accruing interests. unlike posb which charges $2 monlthly for cheque service and $10 for a 50-page chequebook. if u ask to mail it to u, again they charge for postage. posb has been badly influenced by DBS. they do not service customers. they screw customers - those dirty bastard s!!

posb locations with personal service and atms are now difficult to find. many were closed down. recently the one at alexandra village is also closed.

i just hope gov can see to such unfriendly customer services DBS is fucking up the banking industry and hopefully censor them about their fuckup services.

 

[kongsimi]

Yeah lah the good old days were good.

We dun have internet then, everybody was so happy because life was so much simpler.

Unlike today people suka suka bash people here in this forum because it is so convenient.

I wonder if progress is good.

 

[johnny333]

during the economic boom, bank fixed interests went as high (or even higher) than 12%. it was a "golden period". posb during that period was giving interests at per daily rated basis. interests accrued then was a very tempting substantial amount.......

Spore's bank interest rates are controlled by MAS & that's why you will never get as high a rate found in other countries. Even during the boom years one could get higher interest outside of Spore. Even with todays low interest rates you can still get a higher rate outside Spore.

When interest rates were 12%+ Sporeans must have lost big time on interest held in our CPF accounts:(

 

[leetahbar]

Spore's bank interest rates are controlled by MAS & that's why you will never get as high a rate found in other countries. Even during the boom years one could get higher interest outside of Spore. Even with todays low interest rates you can still get a higher rate outside Spore.

When interest rates were 12%+ Sporeans must have lost big time on interest held in our CPF accounts:(

if one is shrewd, perhaps he could consider putting in money in foreign currency saving offering higher interests. however, it must be cautioned that such action comes with certain degree of risks.

 

[laksaboy]

Low interests are shitty for deposits but great for borrowing money from the bank.

Every bank had interest rates like that in the good old days.

Don't blame the banks, blame MAS and its monetary policy.

 

[johnny333]

if one is shrewd, perhaps he could consider putting in money in foreign currency saving offering higher interests. however, it must be cautioned that such action comes with certain degree of risks.

Yes there is a risk of losing in the the foreign exchange .

However if you often visit these countries you can use the currency locally. In the case of Malaysia might as well get a Malaysian bank account since I I invest in Malaysian stocks, get dividens in ringgit, spend in ringgit on my visits to JB. I also save on gst, money changing costs, ...

The same goes with opening a bank account in Thailand. The Thai economy is doing very well. I want to open an thai bank account

This is a long term outlook. There will be years when one country will do better & this is a way to diversify.

 

[SongBoh]

Ha ha... I been waiting for some goondu to reply in like manner and sure enough here you go...

The TS is an idiot. When POSB was paying 6% and 8.5% on deposits, UOB, OUB, ICB, DBS and OCBC, Tat Lee, Singapore Finance, Hong Leong Finance etc were all paying more. Mortgage rates were by definition at least 2% higher than those rates.

POSB were tax free when they are paying 6% & 8.5% on deposits. During that same period, interest earned in other bank are taxable. Depending on your income level, it is better to place your $ with POSB net of tax. Like that you song boh?

Deposits pay <1% now. But mortgages charge only 1.2%. You don't expect a bank to borrow high and lend low do you? Only the MONGREL who bit his masters' hands LOUDHAILER chee soon juan would do that and deplete our coffers.

Those days a 3 room HDB flat cost less than $15,000. Installment for a 25 years payment at 9% amount to $126.

Buying a 3 room HDB flat these days can result in a loan of say $250,000. Installment for a 25 year payment amount to $1135.

http://services2.hdb.gov.sg/webapp/BB29MTHLY/BB29SMTHLY?from=enq

Deposit now pay <1% and mortgages charges only 1.2%. You rather pay $1135 than $126? Like that you song boh?

 

[laksaboy]

Ha ha... I been waiting for some goondu to reply in like manner and sure enough here you go...



POSB were tax free when they are paying 6% & 8.5% on deposits. During that same period, interest earned in other bank are taxable. Depending on your income level, it is better to place your $ with POSB net of tax. Like that you song boh?



Those days a 3 room HDB flat cost less than $15,000. Installment for a 25 years payment at 9% amount to $126.

Buying a 3 room HDB flat these days can result in a loan of say $250,000. Installment for a 25 year payment amount to $1135.

http://services2.hdb.gov.sg/webapp/BB29MTHLY/BB29SMTHLY?from=enq

Deposit now pay <1% and mortgages charges only 1.2%. You rather pay $1135 than $126? Like that you song boh?

And that is precisely the reason why housing prices are spiraling out of control.: easy credit due to low interest rates.

I think that sometime around the turn of the millennium, the powers that be have decided on a grand scheme to rapidly boost the country's population through mass immigration. Certainly, these extra people provide more consumer spending and increase the size of the workforce; but more importantly, they have to live somewhere, as they are physically present on the island.

Consequently, HDB had begun to build, build, build (Sengkang and Punggol, enblocs and 40-storey flats, DBSS, BTOs), more parcels of lands which had used to be secondary forests were cleared out for residential and commercial usage. How do you get people to purchase property? Of course, you slash the interest rates.

 

[zhihau]

gone were the days... by the way, the man in your avatar looks like William Hung, is it him?

 

[jw5]

You would find other banks including the other 2 local banks, all giving little promotions here and there to attract deposits.
The rates are still very low, but they still try to attract deposits.
Not so DBS/POSB, probably because they are "flushed" with deposits.

 

[iamhere]

POSB used to be a cash-rich bank for the ordinary citizens until absorbed by DBS.

Ong was diagnosed with cancer of the lymphatic system in 1992. He became Singapore's first elected President a year later, and it was a presidency marked by many charitable projects (the largest of which is the President's Star Charity, an annual event initiated by Ong). Ong stepped down as President at the age of 63.[4] Ong ran for the presidency under the PAP's endorsement. He ran against a reluctant Chua Kim Yeow, a former accountant general, for the post. A total of 1,756,517 votes were polled. Ong received 952,513 votes while Chua had 670,358 votes, despite the former having a higher public exposure and a much more active campaign than Chua.

However, soon after his election to the presidency in 1993, Ong was tangled in a dispute over the access of information regarding Singapore's financial reserves. The government said it would take 56 man-years to produce a dollar-and-cents value of the immovable assets. Ong discussed this with the accountant general and the auditor general and eventually conceded that the government only had to declare all of its properties, a list which took a few months to produce. Even then, the list was not complete; it took the government a total of three years to produce the information that Ong requested.[12]

In an interview with Asiaweek six months after stepping down from presidency,[13] Ong indicated that he had asked for this audit based on the principle that as an elected president, he was bound to protect the national reserves, and the only way of doing so would be to know what reserves (both liquid cash and assets) the government owned.

In the last year of his presidency (1998) Ong found out through the newspapers that the government aimed to submit a bill to Parliament to sell the Post Office Savings Bank (POSB) to The Development Bank of Singapore. The POSB was, at that time, a government statutory board whose reserves were under the president's protection; this move according to Ong, was procedurally inappropriate and did not regard Ong's significance as the guardian of the reserves; he had to call and inform the government of this oversight. In spite of this, the sale proceeded and the Development Bank Of Singapore owns POSBank and its name to this present day.[13]

Ong received an honorary appointment of Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George (GCMG) from Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom in 1998.[14]

Ong decided not to run for a second term as president in 1999 partially due to health reasons.

 

[Dinosaur]

Sure or not? Another PAP propaganda.

When I wrote "Asia's SAFEST bank", I wrote it with sarcasm.

Do you remember that in 2011, more than 1 million SGD was stolen via local ATMs by Malaysian criminal syndicates?

Up till now our Singapore Police Force have not made any significant arrests. What a letdown!

 

[kopiuncle]

kongsimi tioh BANNED!.......why???

 

[cass888]

Now all tax free. Even better.

POSB were tax free when they are paying 6% & 8.5% on deposits. During that same period, interest earned in other bank are taxable. Depending on your income level, it is better to place your $ with POSB net of tax. Like that you song boh?

 

[Extremist]

gone were the days... by the way, the man in your avatar looks like William Hung, is it him?

yes ballooned william hung

 

[Rambutan]

Spore's bank interest rates are controlled by MAS & that's why you will never get as high a rate found in other countries. Even during the boom years one could get higher interest outside of Spore. Even with todays low interest rates you can still get a higher rate outside Spore.

When interest rates were 12%+ Sporeans must have lost big time on interest held in our CPF accounts:(

Singapore's bank interest rates are NOT controlled by MAS. Two commonly used reference rates are SIBOR (Singapore Interbank Offered Rate) and SOR (Swap Offer Rate). Both are fixed by ABS (Association of Banks in Singapore).

From these two, each bank then set their own board rate.

For layman, we will notice different banks offering different interest rates for the same deposit period and with different promotional terms if any at different time.

As for the CPF interest rates, this is extracted from CPF website:

Interest Rate for Ordinary Account Monies

For Ordinary Account (OA), CPF members receive a market-related interest rate based on the 12-month fixed deposit and month-end savings rates of the major local banks.

The computed CPF interest rate, derived from the major local banks’ interest rates for the three-month period, 1 August 2012 to 31 October 2012, worked out to be 0.21% per annum. As this is below the legislated minimum of 2.50% per annum, the OA interest rate for January 2013 to March 2013 will remain unchanged at the legislated minimum of 2.50% per annum.

Interest Rate for Special and Medisave Account Monies

Savings in the Special and Medisave Account (SMA) currently earn either 4% or the 12-month average yield of 10-year Singapore Government Securities (10YSGS) plus 1%, whichever is the higher. The interest rate on SMA savings is adjusted quarterly, based on interest rates on 10YSGS over a preceding 12-month period.

The average yield of the 10YSGS plus 1%, from 1 December 2011 to 30 November 2012, works out to be 2.49%. Accordingly, the SMA interest rate payable to CPF members from 1 January 2013 to 31 March 2013 will be maintained at the current floor of 4%.

Why just add 1% to 10YSGS? Why not just benchmark it to say 30 years SGS? The yield spread may be more than just that 1%. In view of the extended period where one can withdraw their CPF, if one start working at 20 and retires at 55, that is a good 35 years!! If one were to stop at 65 years old, that is 45 years!!

So why just 10 years SGS + 1%? Don't try to look generous with that +1%.

Similarly for Ordinary accounts, why use the short term 12 month rate? The money are stuck in the CPF except for housing withdrawal. Even for investment, there is a cap. So why shortchange us those money that are stuck?

And yes, those 2.5% and 4% base rates were legislated when the interest rates were much higher. Don't ever think the government is doing any charitable work. Fat hope. When it was legistated at that time, they thought the base rates would not likely to happen. Now they are stuck not because they take care of CPF account holders.

p/s The last para above is to pre-empt people like Kinana, Cass888 and those of the PAP IB to claim how good the government has been. Sorry, not with me.

 

[Rambutan]

POSB were tax free when they are paying 6% & 8.5% on deposits. During that same period, interest earned in other bank are taxable. Depending on your income level, it is better to place your $ with POSB net of tax. Like that you song boh?

Now all tax free. Even better.

POSB is giving 6% & 8.5% tax free - conditions applied. I remembered those days other banks gave higher interest for the same period to offset the tax component.

Now all tax free even better?

If you have $100,000. You in POSB for a year and you get $8,500 interest earned.

For the same $100,000, you put in any bank of your choice now and you can't even get 2% pa which is less than $2,000 interest earned at the end of the year.

That you called even better?? How goondu can one be?? No wonder SongBoh called you a goondu.