What Is a Savings Account

Savings Accounts (SAs) are a safe and secure way of parking surplus funds in your hands. They are also great at inculcating the savings habit. You can use one or more SAs as a base to help you easily manage your finances.

Savings Account

A Savings account is, in all likelihood, the first account that you would be opening when you decide to avail the benefits of banking. A high percentage of people retain their first saving account even after they’ve moved on to more complex banking products and services. Lets take a feature-based look at savings accounts and how they work:

Liquidity

Your money is instantly available to you. You can withdraw your money through a bank counter or from an ATM using your ATM / Debit card. You can also make payments or transfers either through Internet banking or through mobile banking.

Interest earning

The money on deposit in a saving account earns interest for you. Of course the interest rates vary from bank to bank and from account product to product, ranging from the ludicrous to the fairly reasonable.

Some banks also provide tiered interest rates with higher balances earning higher interest rates. The Maxi Save account from Citibank is one such account. It offers a tiered rate of interest ranging from 0% (for funds less than Rp10 million to 5.5% (for funds more than Rp 10 billion).

Card

All saving account come with an ATM or a debit card. Now, many banks are increasingly offering internationally acceptable debit cards (with a Visa or a MasterCard logo) to their savings account holders.

Cheque Facility

This facility is usually provided with current accounts and not savings accounts.

E-banking services

Almost all SAs allow account holders easy access to their accounts via Internet banking and even, mobile banking, either through mobile-customized websites or through special banking “apps”. Fast, 24/7 phone banking services are also available for most savings account holders.

In addition to conventional savings accounts, there are other types of savings account; these include:

Foreign currency savings accounts – These accounts allow you to keep your funds in one or more foreign currencies. The ANZ Infinite Savings Account is available in two currencies: IDR (Indonesian Rupiah) and USD (US Dollar). The Citibank Regular Savings account, on the other hand, is available in Indonesian Rupiah and 9 other foreign currencies (USD, AUD, GBP, NZD, EUR, CAD, JPY, HKD, SGD). It provides 0.25% interest per annum on IDR balance, 0.50% interest per annum on AUD and NZD and 0% interest on other currencies.

Islamic savings accounts – These accounts comply with Shariah requirements and could be based on the principles of Wadiah (safe-keeping) or Mudharabah (profit-sharing).

Deposit Insurance

The maximum amount of deposit insured by IDIC is Rp 2 billion per depositor per bank. If a depositor has several accounts in one bank, the balance of all depositor’s accounts will be added to calculate the amount of deposit insured.

Tips for Secure Online Banking

Secure Online Banking

With more and more users adopting Internet banking and with many banks also introducing mobile banking, online banking has gained in popularity and acceptance in Indonesia. However, given the significant challenges posed by cyber crime, it is important that we take appropriate security measures to ensure a safe and seamless Internet banking experience. Here, we’ve tried to put together a few tips to help you out:

Internet Banking Security Measures

▪ Use the right and secure website. Such websites will begin with “https” and will display a closed padlock icon on the status bar of the browser. Beware of “look-alikes” that use a very similar URL or website name.

▪ Be alert to phishing emails – they have the same look and feel as the emails sent by your bank but redirect you to an URL that is not your bank’s.

▪ Keep your login Id and password confidential, use hard-to-guess passwords and regularly change your passwords.

▪ Use a reputable anti-virus program or “firewall” that will protect your computer or mobile from viruses and other malicious programs.

▪ Remember to log-off by clicking on the Sign Off or Log Out buttons and clear the memory cache once your transaction has been completed.

Mobile Banking Security Measures

▪ Keep your device protected. Use the latest security updates and a strong anti-virus software. Also enable screen lock and password protection on your mobile to prevent unauthorised access.

▪ Keep your PIN safe. Do not store your Internet banking username and password and your mobile banking PIN on your mobile. Do not disclose such information to anyone including to purported callers and SMSers from the bank.

▪ Use only trusted Wi-Fi networks and security providers and whenever possible use Wi-Fi security measures like the Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA).

▪ Download your mobile banking app only from the location specified by your bank. If you are using other apps on your phone, download and use only those apps from trusted sources. And, make sure you go through the app’s data sharing and terms of usage policy.

▪ When you are accessing your bank’s mobile website, type in the website address to avoid going to similar-sounding fraudulent websites. Use default browsers provided with the mobile or download browsers from the most trusted sources only.

General Banking Security Measures

▪ Sign up for transaction alert services; many banks provide such alerts both through SMS and via email. It will help you get on top of any possible fraud fast.

▪ If you are a credit card user make it a point to check your card and card statements and compare it against receipts and transaction stubs.

▪ Shop online at reputable merchants; use prepaid cards (they can be easily generated online for short-term, online use) for online shopping and use security verification systems like Verified by Visa or Mastercard SecureCode.

▪ Make security a habit whether you are using a public or private mobile/computer over a public network and you can be reasonably sure of the safety of your transaction.

Despite all your efforts if you think you are a victim of online fraud, report it to your bank immediately and take steps to register a police complaint as soon as possible.