Tired of hiding your cash and coins in a piggy bank? Why not open a savings account?

The never ending tragic, crisis and sad news in the Philippines taught us to be very wary, healthy and prudent. Being wary not only in your surroundings but in health and savings are the new trend. If you’re tired about saving your money in a piggy bank, why not open a savings account?

What is a Savings Account?

A savings account is an interest-bearing deposit account held at a bank or other financial institution. If you have a savings account, the bank or financial institution will provide you an ATM card or Passbook.

• ATM card can be used in withdrawing or depositing a money in any of your bank’s automated teller machine without an extra charge. You may also opt to withdraw in any automated teller machine (atm) but with extra fee.
• While Passbook is a booklet issued by the bank to account holder. Passbook can keep track of your deposit and withdrawals. Passbook holder can only deposit and withdraw to its specific bank branch without charges.

Image source: MSN Money

Why save your money in a Savings Account?

Carrying a huge amount of money whenever you go outside can be very exhausting as we can never tell the possibilities of danger or misplacing it. If you save your money in a savings account, you can freely bring your ATM or Passbook with you everywhere, without worries and hassle.

Your money at piggybank is always at risk. If you have saved up your money in piggybank for so long, old bills can never be used in stores unless you replace them with BSP or Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas. That’s a lot of a hassle!

Advantage of Savings Account

• No hassle – In opening a savings account, bank or financial institutions doesn’t require too many documents or requirements. 2 Government issued IDs, Proof of Billing and your picture can already open an account.
• Initial Balance – Some banks offer a Php 500 to Php 5,000 as an initial balance in opening a savings account. There’s no need to shell out a lot of money in getting your first-ever ATM or passbook.
• Maintaining Balance – Maintaining a balance usually depends on the bank you have opened an account with. You should avoid withdrawing your maintaining balance, or else you’ll be charged, or your account will be closed.
• Interest – You can earn interest by simply maintaining a specific amount in 3 months or more. Note that Interest rate will still depend on your chosen bank.
• Convenience – Aside from saving your money, savings account can be used in paying for bills, bookings, and purchase items.

Image source: RevPart

Best Banks to Open a Savings Account

ING Savings Account

Among all the banks, ING Savings Account has 4.00% interest rate yearly. ING Bank is a full digital banking. Meaning, no long lines at the bank and paper less. What’s more interesting with ING Bank is that you can open your savings account with no minimum amount.

For more updates, visit their website: ING.com

Image source: Rappler

CIMB Philippines

Unlike other banks, CIMB Philippines requires that an account holder should be 18 years old and above. Interest rate yearly hits 3.1% with no required initial balance or maintaining balance.

For more updates, visit their website: CIMB Bank

Image source: CIMB Bank

CitiBank

The Citibank has Peso Bonus Saver Account as their savings account. It is an interest-bearing deposit account that lets you earn bonus interest if you save up more per month. With CitiBank, account holder can withdraw without limit and free or charge. However, the initial deposit is very high as compared to other banks as the interest per month will be 0.70% to 1.66%.

For more updates, visit their website:CitiBank^® E-Saving Account

Image source: CitiBank

Security Bank

There are different types of savings account with Security Bank. Security Bank gives a fair interest depending on your monthly balance. As compared to CitiBank, the initial deposit for Security Bank is only Php 500. Interest rate 0.50% to 1.20%.

For more updates, visit their website: Security bank

Image source: Security bank

How to choose a Savings Account?

There are still a lot of Bank not mentioned above. In choosing your savings account, you should consider checking their bank history or standing, location, financial products and benefits. Be sure to compile all your research and analyze which bank will help you meet your financial goals.