Mach by Hong Leong bank – Dream Jar Savings account – 2% interest on all balances saved + additional RM2 per RM500 saved (can get effective rates of 2.8-3.3% p.a.!)
Drawback: Cannot link Debit card to Dream Jar, so you can’t withdraw/spend from this higher-interest savings account (unlike most other banks); mandatory Standing Instruction from Money Box Deposit account required

In-credit Interest Rates: 2.00% p.a. (+ RM2 bonus for every RM500 of target acheived, paid at end)
Minimum Deposit: RM50
Bonus Interest limit: RM100

You need to be an existing Money Box Deposit Accountholder and create standing instruction from the Money Box Deposit that transfers money into your Dream Jar every month. For more information on the Money Box Deposit, please click here.

The Dream Jar is essentially a regular savings account that attempts to help you save up for something you’ve always ‘dreamt’ of having. Unfortunately right now, within the HLB online system, your dreams are limited to RM5,000 per jar (you can have 5 jars at any one time), so you can’t really be thinking bigger than RM25,000. Also, your Mach Debit Card isn’t linked to this account, so maybe we can’t really consider it a savings account (online savings account?). Then again, we can’t exactly compare it to Fixed Deposits either because you can take the money out any time by transferring it online (you lose your potential RM2 per RM500 bonus, but you do still get 2.00% p.a. on your daily balances…).

You simply put in the cost of the item, how much money you have right now to fork up as an opening balance and how quick you want to achieve this dream. They calculate for you how much each month you have to transfer into your Dream Jar in order to reach your ‘goal.’ The catch to earn the ‘RM2 per RM500 saved’ reward is that you have to set up a Standing Instruction which shifts money from the Mach Money Box Deposit account into your various Dream Jars, and it has to run consistently over the tenure.

The main features of the account is the 2% p.a. interest rate as well as an additional top up reward of RM2 per RM500 for accomplishing your goal, capped at RM100 reward in total per customer. Doing simple calculations, this adds up to 0.25-1.35% p.a. addition to the rate (higher percentage for shorter goal tenures).

How much is the effective interest rate of the account? It changes depending on tenure and initial amount to be saved, but we’ve done a little research, and you can potentially get a decent rate of 2.80-3.35% p.a. on your balances, including the bonuses given, putting this account at the top end of savings accounts in Malaysia. The trick here is to set short term goals (6 months) so that the value of the bonus reward is higher, and always set amounts rounded at RM500. You can get 2.80% if you save a high value close to the ‘goal’ amount at the start (eg. say initial deposit RM950 and deposit RM9 per month for 6 months to reach a goal of RM1,000), and 3.35% p.a. if you start with RM0 (but if you have the money anyway then be sure to save as much as you can at the start, it makes no sense to have the money sitting somewhere at less than 2.80% p.a).