OCBC has introduced a savings scheme that rounds up customers' credit and debit card purchases to the nearest dollar and doubles the difference in the first three months from the date of application.
However, the three-month payout is capped at $188, and OCBC will match 4.88 per cent of the saved amount from the fourth month onwards.
This means that when a customer pays for an item worth $25.30, the bank will round up the amount to $26 and channel the 'spare charge' of 70 cents into a savings account. This will then be matched dollar-for-dollar for three months.
Credit card members who sign up for this savings feature - known as the SmartChange - instead of the OCBC$ rewards programme, are also entitled to a 0.4 per cent rebate on the purchase amount.
Parents who want to pass on the 'spare change' to their children can apply to channel the money to OCBC Children Development Accounts. Under the baby bonus scheme, the government will double the 'spare change' saved in the accounts.
'While all of us brace ourselves for tough times ahead, it is not realistic to avoid spending altogether,' said Lynn Gaspar, head of lifestyle credit, adding that this feature could help card members to 'save effortlessly'.
OCBC said the scheme took two years to develop, and it did a soft launch with the debit cards a year ago.
Card members who do not have OCBC savings accounts can opt for a 'multisave account' - an interest-generating statement savings account that can be linked to customers' debit, credit or ATM card for card withdrawals.
The account does not impose a fall-below balance fee or require an initial deposit for account opening.
This article was first published in The Business Times on November 10, 2008.
