I’ve been using the various online banking services from DBS, UOB, and Fairpriceplus, supported by OCBC. I always thought that I needed to get the PIN from the bank, so I never used Citibank’s online banking services. However, I wanted to check my account balance and so I found out that it wasn’t that hard I had imagined it to be, and I could have used it long ago. 

The PIN required for Citibank online banking is your ATM PIN. For added security, you will key in your PIN by clicking on the numbers instead of keying in from the keyboard. At the same time, your account numbers will not be seen by any hackers, because most of the numbers are covered up by asterisks ***.  

So far, UOB, Fairepriceplus and Citibank will send a second round of security number to you via SMS. This means you can check your accounts anywhere you want.  UOB is also able to separate joint account holders’ individual accounts, and yet giving access to the account for both holders. I’m not sure about other banks though. 

 Fairpriceplus is an online bank that operates mainly via the Internet. You may access the ATMs from OCBC to deposit or withdraw money, or you can just transfer money from other accounts. Because of this, it is able to give 1% interest on normal saving account. I think this is a great deal compared to what many other banks are offering. At the same time, if you are a frequent NTUC shopper, you get to earn more points when you use the credit or debit facility, as the card has 2 in 1 functions. 

 By moving everything online, we can avoid meeting the pesky bank officers who try to sell us all sorts of structured products, especially when they aren’t making the money themselves, and the products promoted are recommended not based on merit, but based on what the company has for the product of the month. 

 DBS wants to save money on SMS bills, so it has issued a token to its customers. This means you have to carry that small token with you, which is quite inconvenient. At the same time, since many of us are afraid to lose it, we will probably leave it at home, which limits the ease of portability.

One newspaper columnist had already spoken out against this a few months ago, citing it as a reason for him to close the accounts and then move on to other banks which offer more convenient services. I guess banks have to watch out for the bottom line by lowering its operating costs, but at the same time, it should ensure that customers are well served without having much inconvenience. 

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I think this is an important point. For a bank to be fully mobile, the ATMs should be up 99% of the time. I had met with an unpleasant experience with a bank which I had mentioned before with cute ATM messages. I needed to put in funds into my account so that my cheque would not bounce. As I had not set up an account on my Internet banking, I needed to put funds manually into the account. To my frustration, the ATM machine at location B was spoilt. The next nearest location I knew was in location A. The bank put a notice informing the customers to go over to location A. It was not that far away, but I would have to pay additional parking charges at the new location.

Since I needed to put the money in urgently, I drove over to location A. I was extremely frustrated when I saw that both ATMs were down there as well. The notice at location A told customers to go to location B. I flared up. There happened to be some bank officers on duty, but they were more of customer service staff than actual bank tellers, so I marched over to them and asked one of them how long it would take for the ATMs to be ready. She said it would be repaired in three hours, because it was a Sunday. When I told her that I had just come over from location B because of the notice, she apologised that she only just found out that the ATM at B was down. After I asked her where else I could go to to deposit my money, she said I had to go down to Orchard. I didn’t have so much time so I was very angry. I would not be able to deposit the money the next day before 3pm as I had to work. As a result, I had to call up the other party to ask the person to bank in the cheque after 3pm, just so that it would not bounce. This was an embarrassing situation.

The next day, I figured out that the machines should have been repaired by then, so despite driving past location A, I chose to go to location B as it was easier to park for short period of time. To my anger, the machine was still down. The banking hours were over, but the bank was still opened for other investment services. I decided to calm myself down and just went into the bank to try my luck and if not, to lodge a complaint. Thank goodness the bank teller accepted my deposit.

Imagine my disgust when I went to location B again, one week later, and found the ATM was down again. How can the largest bank in the world have such lousy ATMs? If customers cannot withdraw money easily or draw money easily, then what is the point? When I tried to deposit money at location A again, the machine was finally ready, but it was out of paper. Such a standard of service for a major bank was unacceptable to me. The final straw came when the high interest rates promised earlier fell by 0.8% to 1.2%. This amount is dependent on a few factors, such as increasing deposits each month, or a minimum of $20000 in the bank.

I am going to stick to an online bank, which promises a constant 1% for any amount at all times.

I definitely hope that the bank will do something about it. Reading about its woes in Fortune magazine makes me wonder whether the operations in Singapore would be affected.

Going back to the self-serve ATM, I hope it will raise the standards for other banks, though the cost should definitely not be passed on to the consumers.

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After chucking my PIN mailer somewhere and forgetting about it for a month, I decided to find it so that I can use the ATM to put some money into my new account. I must increase the sum of money in the bank each month in order to earn more interest.

It was after doing research on the cheque books that I realised that getting this particular account was a good option, and I got really frustrated when I couldn’t pay for an exam because they refused to accept cash and credit card. I had to make my way down to the office and explain the whole situation to them again.

Only problem was when I wanted to use my chequebook for the first time, I didn’t have my password to put money in the bank before they cleared the cheque. Again, I had to ask someone else to write a cheque for me. So, I’ve finally took action before it’s the next month since I did not want to lose out on interest.

I’m going to figure out the passwords required to log on to the Internet Banking portal and then I’ll really be free.

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*The information here is based on what the websites say as of the published date. Please check with the banks personally if you wish to apply for any of the above services. 

Sarah Tan – SingaporeProfit.com

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