Malaysian Fixed Deposit (FD) / Term Deposit-i (TD-i) Promotions 2016

Latest Malaysian Fixed Deposit (FD) / Term Deposit-i (TD-i) Promotions for December 2016

All rates quoted are per annum (p.a.) and subject to change by the banks. Confirm with your bank first about the availability before making your placement.


Affin

FD Combo

1) 2 months - 3.58% + 15 months 4.28% (Avg. 4.20%)

2) 4 months - 3.68% + 15 months 4.28% (Avg. 4.15%)

3) 6 months - 3.88% +  15 months 4.28% (Avg. 4.17%)

Minimum Fresh Fund 20K (10K + 10K)

Valid until 28 February 2017

For each FD combo, the 2 FD accounts must be opened at one shot (1:1 basis simultaneously i.e. with min. deposits 10K each.


Ambank

6 months - 3.70%

9 months - 3.80%

Minimum Fresh Fund 50K



Bangkok Bank

3 months - 3.70%

5 months - 3.90%

Minimum Fresh Fund 10K

Valid until 28 February 2017





Bank Muamalat

Wang Besar! 4 Campaign

Valid until 6 January 2017


Duo

50% TD, 50% CASA

3 months - 3.85%

6 months - 3.95%

9 months - 4.05%

Minimum Fresh Fund 10K (5K FD, 5K CASA)


Solo

Pure TD

6 months

5,000.00 – 50,000.00 - 3.35%

50,000.01 – 100,000.00 - 3.45%

100,000.01 – 500,000.00 - 3.65%

Above 500,000.01 - 3.80%

More info





Hong Leong Bank

Online Fixed Deposit/ Fixed Deposit-i Promotion

6 months - 4.00% - Wednesday to Monday
6 months - 4.15% - Only on Tuesday 
Minimum Fresh Fund 10K

Valid until 31 December 2016

More info





HSBC

HSBC only has promos for Advance & Premier customers. For the promos that don't require purchasing any investment, it is only offered to new customers only. You can only place the FD/TD once.

Advance Time Deposit Promo

3 months - 5.00%

Minimum Fresh Fund 5K
Maximum 30K

Valid Until 31 December 2016

Open only to new HSBC Advance holders & need to apply credit card.

To open an HSBC Advance account, you need to have 30K Total Relationship Balance with the bank. Assuming you do not have any account with HSBC before, you need 30K to get this promo. You need to open 2 accounts: -

HSBC Advance current account: RM10
HSBC TD: RM30K

Close the HSBC Advance when you withdraw your term deposit or you will be charged RM10 per month (unless you have RM30K with HSBC).  

More info





Maybank

FD / IFD-i SPEED 4 (4 months)

1st 2 months - 3.54%
Next 2 months - 3.88%

4 months Effective - 3.71%

Minimum Fresh Fund 10K

Valid until 31 December 2016

More info





OCBC

Fixed Deposit / Fixed Deposit-i

13 months - 3.95%

Minimum Fresh Fund 10K

Valid Until 12 December 2016

More info





Public Bank 

Step Up TD-i

First 6 months - 3.80%
Next 6 months (Rollover) - 4.10%

Can withdraw after 6 months or rollover for higher interest

12 months Effective - 3.95%

Minimum Fresh Fund 10K

Valid until 31 December 2016

More info
FD / TD-i

1st month - 3.38%
2nd month - 3.48%
3rd month - 3.68%
4th month - 3.88%
5th month - 4.18%
6th month - 4.68%

6 months Effective - 3.88%

Monthly Interest

Minimum Fresh Fund 10K

Valid until 31 December 2016

More info





UOB

FD

4 months - 3.73%

6 months - 3.85%

9 months - 3.90%

12 months - 3.95%

Minimum Fresh Fund 10K

Valid until 31 December 2016

Partial withdrawal allowed


e-FD

3 -12 months - Free plush toy

Minimum Fresh Fund 10K

Valid until 31 December 2016

More info

General Investment Account-i (GIA-i) Promotions

Below is promotions for GIA-i. Please note that GIA-i is not FD / FD-i. Click here to learn more about GIA-i and its differences with FD. I am including it here as it might also be interesting to people who are looking for FD promotions.


Maybank

General Investment Account-i (GIA-i) Campaign

GIA-i 12 months campaign

1st 6 months - 3.60%
Next 4 months - 4.00%
Last 2 months - 5.80%

12 months Effective - 4.10%


GIA-i 6 months campaign

1st 4 months - 3.60%
Last 2 months - 4.50%

6 months Effective - 3.90%


Minimum Fresh Fund 10K

Valid until 15 February 2017

Can be done over the counter or online (M2U)

More info






This page will be updated frequently when new promos are available, so do check back later for more updates.

Latest Malaysian Fixed Deposit (FD) / Term Deposit (TD) Board Rates 2016

Latest Malaysian Fixed Deposit (FD) / Term Deposit (TD) Board Rates July / August 2016

Bank Negara Malaysia reduced the OPR in July 2016. The following is the latest revised FD / TD rates from the major banks: -

Please note: All rates quoted are per annum (p.a.). The rate is subject to change from time to time. Please contact the nearest bank for the latest rates.


Banks with PIDM

Click on the image for a larger version

From the table above, the bank offering the highest rate for 1 to 10 months FD/TD is Bank Muamalat. For 12 months FD, Affin Bank is the one offering the highest rate at 3.45% p.a. Bank Islam & Affin Bank used to offer the highest interest rates for most of the tenure before the the OPR cut but this is no longer true.  




Banks with No PIDM 

Click on the image for a larger version

If we include banks / institutions with no PIDM protection as well, then the highest interest rate for all the tenures above is offered by Bank Rakyat ranging from 3.3% p.a. for 1 month to 3.7% p.a. for 12 months.

Malaysian FD Promos for March 2016

Latest FD Promotions for March 2016

All rates quoted are per annum (p.a.) and subject to change by the banks. Confirm with your bank first about the availability before placing your FD.

Most of the information here is outdated as of April 2016. Please click here for the latest FD promotions for April 2016 and beyond.


Recently updated:

Maybank eFD Flexi Campaign 12 months, 5+5 months
UOB 12 months
BSN 12 months (Revised)
AmBank 3 months, 7 months Savers' G.A.N.G Promo



Affin Bank

3 months - 3.85%

6 months - 3.95%

9 months - 4.00%

12 months - 4.20%

13 months - 4.30%

Minimum Fresh Fund 10K for FD
Minimum Fresh Fund 5K for CASA (earmarked for the duration of FD placement)

Valid Until End of August/2016



Alliance Bank

Fixed Deposit & e-Fixed Deposit Campaign

3, 6, 9 months - 4.35%

Minimum Fresh Fund 50K

Valid Until 31/3/2016

More info




AmBank

Fresh Fund Promo

3 months - 4.10%

Minimum Fresh Fund 10K
  
4.20% for Minimum Fresh Fund 500K

Valid Until 31/3/2016


Savers' G.A.N.G Promo

7 months - 4.20%

Only open to customers who have joint FD account with their children that have Savers’ G.A.N.G Account

Minimum Fresh Fund 10K
  
Valid Until 30/4/2016

More info




Renewal & Top Up Promo

6 months - 4.08%

12 months - 4.18%

Minimum 20K, fresh fund NOT required

Valid Until 31/3/2016

More info





Bank Rakyat

12 months - 4.28% 

Minimum Fresh Fund 25K

Valid until 30/4/2016

 
24 months - 4.55% 

Minimum Fresh Fund 50K

Valid until 31/3/2016

More info



BSN

Fixed Deposits/ CM Deposit-I Account

12 months - 4.50% (REVISED to 4.3%)

60 months - 4.75%

Minimum Fresh Fund 1K

Valid Until 31/3/2016

 



CIMB

Fresh Fund Promo

1 month - 3.70%

3 months - 4.10%

6 months - 4.20%

12 months - 4.30%

Minimum Fresh Fund 10K

Valid Until Further Notice


Existing Fund Promo

1 month - 3.70%

3 months - 4.00%

6 months - 4.10%

12 months - 4.20%

Minimum Fund 10K, fresh fund NOT required

Valid Until Further Notice



Fixed Deposit & Current Account Campaign

3 months - 4.68%

Minimum Fresh Fund 200K (100K FD & 100K Preferred Current Account)

3 months Effective for 200K ( FD + Current Account ) - 3.06%

Valid Until 30/4/2016

More info





HSBC

HSBC only has promos for Advance & Premier customers. For the promos that don't require purchasing any investment, it is only offered to new customers only. You can only place the FD/TD once.


Advance Term Deposit-i Promo

3 months - 5%

Minimum Fresh Fund 5K
Maximum 30K

Valid Until 31/3/2016

Open only to new HSBC Advance holders & need to apply credit card.

To open an HSBC Advance account, you need to have 30K Total Relationship Balance with the bank. Assuming you do not have any account with HSBC before, you need 30K to get this promo. You need to open 2 accounts: -

HSBC Advance current account: RM10
HSBC TD-i: RM30K

Close the HSBC Advance when you withdraw your term deposit or you will be charged RM10 per month (unless you have RM30K with HSBC).  

More info


HSBC Premier Term Deposit-i Dual Offer 2016

6 months - 4.38%

Minimum Fresh Fund 100K
Maximum 500K

Valid Until 30/4/2016

Open only to new HSBC Premier holders & need to apply credit card.

To open an HSBC Premier account, you need to have 200K Total Relationship Balance with the bank. Assuming you do not have any account with HSBC before, you need 200K to get this promo. You need to open 2 accounts: -

HSBC Premier current account: RM10
HSBC TD-i: RM200K - 500K

Close the HSBC Premier account when you withdraw your term deposit or you will be charged RM150 per month (unless you have RM200K with HSBC).

More info


Note: If using banker's cheque to do placement, need to wait 2 days for the cheque to clear before you can get the cert for the TD. Can only withdraw 1 day after maturity date, so will lose 3 days interest in total if using banker's cheque.



Hong Leong Bank

3 months - 4.2% (4.3% for more than 100K placement subject to approval)

Minimum Fresh Fund 10K

Valid Until 30/4/2016 (extended)

More info





Kuwait Finance House

6 months - 4.15%

12 months - 4.25%

Minimum Fresh Fund 10K

Valid until 5/4/2016

More info





Maybank

eFixed Deposit Flexi Campaign

1 - 6 months - 3.4%
7 - 9 months - 4.7%
10 - 12 months - 5.75%

12 months Effective - 4.31%

Minimum Fresh Fund 10K

Valid until 30 April 2016

Monthly Interest (Must credit to CASA else not eligible for promo rate)

More info




5+5 months

1st 5 months - 4%
Next 5 months - 4.5%

10 months Effective - 4.25%

Valid until 30 April 2016


12 months - 4.22%

  
3 Months Step-up FD

1st & 2nd month - 3.6%
3rd month - 4.8%

3 months Effective - 4%

Minimum Fresh Fund 10K

Valid until 31/3/2016



MBSB

3 months - 3.88%

6 months - 4.08%

12 months - 4.18%

Minimum Fresh Fund 10K

Valid until 30/4/2016

More info





OCBC

9 months - 4.15%

15 months - 4.30%

Minimum Fresh Fund 10K

Valid Until 30/4/2016

More info





Public Bank

PB Step Up FD

First 3 months - 3.98%
Next 3 months (1st Rollover) - 4.18%
Next 3 months (2nd Rollover) - 4.38%

Can withdraw after every 3 months or let it roll-over

9 months Effective - 4.18%

Minimum Fresh Fund 20K

Valid Until 30/4/2016

More info




PB FD Xtra Campaign

First 6 months - 4.10%
Next 6 months (1st Rollover) - 4.50%

Can withdraw after 6 months or let it roll-over

12 months Effective - 4.30%

Minimum Fresh Fund 20K

Valid Until 30/4/2016

More info




PB eFD Campaign

3 months and above - Additional 0.25% on top of board rate

3 - 5 months - 3.45%

6 - 11 months - 3.55%

12 - 24 months - 3.60%

36, 48, 60 months - 3.60%

Minimum Fund 1K

Valid Until 31/3/2016

More info





RHB

12 Months - 4.45%

Minimum Fresh Fund 10K

Valid Until 31/3/2016



UOB

Pure FD

5 Months - 4.05%

10 Months - 4.18%

12 Months - 4.5% (NEW)


Minimum Fresh Fund 10K

Valid Until 31/3/2016

Partial withdrawal allowed


Step-Up FD

1 - 6 Months - 3.45%
7 - 11 Months - 5.20%

11 Months Effective - 4.245%

Minimum Fresh Fund 10K

Valid until 30/4/2016

Interest credited to CASA (Current Account / Savings Account)

Partial withdrawal NOT allowed



More info will be added later, so do check back later for more updates.

Hong Leong Doubling Interest Rates Promotion

Hong Leong Doubling Interest Rates Promotion
Valid Until 30 June 2016



Hong Leong Bank recently introduced the Doubling Interest Rates Promotion for its Current Account / Savings Account (CASA). In order to benefit from this promotion, your average balance for the current month must be higher than the average balance of the previous month.

To be eligible for the Bonus Interest, the Participants must show positive Monthly Account Growth by increasing the DAB in their Participating Accounts in four (4) consecutive months from the month of Successful Registration, failing which, the Bonus Interest Rate will reset to start from Participating Month 1 i.e. 0.5% p.a. for an Incremental Accounts Balance of up to RM2,500, followed by Participating Month 2 at 1% p.a. for an Incremental Accounts Balance of up to RM5,000 and so on, until the end of the four (4)-month period from the month of Successful Registration.

More info on the promotion


DAB = Sum of daily end day balances in each Participating Month
                     Number of days in each Participating Month

Monthly Account Growth = DAB of current Participating Month – DAB of previous Participating Month

The baseline to calculate Incremental Account Balance for each Participating Month is the last day closing balance in the Participating Account one (1) month prior to the month of Successful Registration.

E.g. 1
An existing customer successfully registers with HLB on 16 March 2016. The baseline is closing balance of RM5,000 on 29 February 2016.

E.g. 2
A new customer successfully registers with HLB on 16 March 2016. The baseline is closing balance of RM0 on 29 February 2016.


Incremental Account Balance (IAB) = DAB - Baseline

Only Incremental Account Balance (IAB) up to a maximum of RM2,500 per Participating Month will be eligible for the Bonus Interest i.e. no bonus interest will thereafter be rewarded for any Incremental Account Balance exceeding RM2,500.

Full Terms & Conditions


Maximizing the interest from the promotion

Out of all the CASAs offered by Hong Leong Bank, one of the accounts with the highest interest rate is Hong Leong Pay & Save Account. Read my earlier post here if you are not familiar with this account.
   
I will show you how to maximize the interest from the promotion with the interest from Pay & Save account. In order to fully maximize the interest you can get from the promotion, you will need to deposit RM2,500 monthly in the beginning of each month and ensure the IAB is RM2,500 for the 1st month, RM5,000 for the 2nd month, RM7,500 for the 3rd month & RM10,000 for the final month. 

In order to get 2.35% interest from Pay & Save account, you need to perform 15x e-Payments in a month. You can achieve it by doing online IBG transfer (FOC this year) to your account with another bank & transfer it back on the same day using IBG/IBFT from the other bank (charges vary depending on the bank). That way, your balance for the day remains the same. Do take note of the IBG cut-off time though.

The table below shows the total interest rate of Pay & Save account combined with the promotion's bonus rate.

It would be easier for new-to-bank customers to calculate the IAB as their baseline would be 0 if they open the new account & participate in the promotion in the same month. For them, IAB = DAB. They just need to deposit RM2,500 every month for four months in the beginning of the month and leave the money there untouched. If they do not use their account for anything else other than to transfer the money out & back in on the same day to get the maximum e-Xtra interest, they would get 2.85% interest for the 1st month, 3.35% for the 2nd month etc.

For existing customers, it would be more tricky. They need to identify the baseline first. Then deposit RM2,500 extra on top of the baseline every month for four months in the beginning of the month and leave the money there untouched. Everything else is the same as new-to-bank customers. Instead of the whole amount getting the interest above, only the IAB gets the 2.85% for 1st month, 3.35% for 2nd month etc.

Of course, it is not necessary to deposit the money in the beginning of every month & leave the money there untouched. You can do it anytime in the month but then the amount you deposit must be more than RM2,500 to get the maximum interest since the DAB would be lower if you deposit the money later in the month. You can perform other transactions as well but then you would have to calculate the DAB yourself to determine how much money you need to deposit into the account. You can even swipe your debit card 5 times to get extra 0.6% interest for your Pay & Save account if you don't find it too troublesome. If you do that, you will get 6.65% interest for the final month.

You don't have to do everything above to benefit from the promotion, it's up to you to decide how much you are willing to do to get higher interest rate. You can keep it simple and still earn some extra interest just by topping up your account with fresh funds or you can do just a few transactions more to earn more interest. Or you can go all the way to maximize every sen out of it if you don't mind the complexity & hassle involved. Just remember to register through SMS first.   



Coming soon

If you do not find this promotion confusing & troublesome, stay tuned for the next post where I will show you how to combine this with Maybank's GIA-i to earn more than 4.5% p.a. effective interest rate for 4 months which is better than any FD promotions out there.

Update:
The next post is ready. Click here to read how to earn more than 4.5% p.a. effective interest rate.

Earn more than 4.5% p.a. effective interest rate with CASA promo & GIA-i

In this post, I will show you how you how to earn more than 4.5% p.a. effective interest rate for RM10,000 for 4 months which is better than any of the FD promotions available now.

It requires some work on your part to maximize the return. I admit it is quite a hassle to get the maximum interest from this. If you are the type of person who hates complicated stuff & do not wish to waste time to get some extra interest, then I suggest you stop reading now. If you don't mind going through some trouble to earn more interest, please read on to find out how to achieve that.

In order to get more than 4.5% interest, we need to combine Hong Leong Doubling Interest Rates Promotion with Maybank's General Investment Account-i (GIA-i).

Current Account + GIA-i Combo

Accounts involved:
1) Hong Leong Pay & Save Account (P&S) (eligible for protection by PIDM)
2) Maybank's General Investment Account-i (GIA-i) (NOT eligible for protection by PIDM, interest & principal NOT guaranteed)

Promotion: Hong Leong Doubling Interest Rates Promotion

Promotion Period Until: 30 June 2016

Fund: RM10,000

Tenure: 4 months

Effective Interest Rate: > 4.5% p.a.


In my earlier blog post, I have written about the Hong Leong Doubling Interest Rates Promotion. Read it first if you have not to get a better understanding on how the promotion works. Otherwise, you would not be able to understand how this works. You also need to have an understanding of General Investment Account-i (GIA-i) to understand how it works & the risks involved. If you do not find the Hong Leong promotion too confusing or too much hassle and you are comfortable with the risks involved with GIA-i, then let's continue.

If you have RM10K with you now, instead of putting it into FD, you can split the money into P&S (Hong Leong promotion) & Maybank's GIA-i. The reason you need to split the money up is because the bonus interest rate for HLB promotion only applies to a maximum of 2.5K fresh fund per month. So the balance of 7.5K needs to go somewhere else if you want to maximize the interest.

Start by depositing 2.5K into your P&S account and the balance 7.5K into GIA-i. In the beginning of next month, withdraw 2.5K from GIA-i & deposit into P&S. Repeat monthly until you have 10K in your P&S account. You can do this online if you have online banking accounts with both banks. Refer to the table below for the balance in P&S and GIA-i respectively for the different months.

Then, perform 15x online IBG each month (for 4 months) to get the maximum e-Xtra interest rate of 1.9%.

The table below shows the interest you will get from both the P&S account (during promotion) and GIA-i account and the effective interest rate assuming you register in April. For simplicity sake, the interest is not compounded and the balance is assumed to be 0 on 31/3/2016. For your information, the bonus interest for the promotion is only credited a few months later. The interest for P&S follows its normal crediting cycle while for GIA-i, the interest is credited monthly.

Click on the image for a larger version

As you can see from the table, the effective interest rate is 4.51%. If you take compounding interest into account, the effective interest rate is slightly higher at 4.52%.



Taking it further

Click on the image for a larger version

You can take it further by swiping your debit card (min RM30 per swipe) for 5 times a month every month (for 4 months) to get extra 0.6% interest. Refer to the table above. The effective interest rate would then become 4.88%. If compounded, it would be close to 4.9%.

Personally, I think it is too much hassle to get the extra Debit Card bonus interest. If you have an existing credit card with cashback / rebate, you would need to calculate the difference between the extra interest & the rebate lost by using the debit card to see if it is worth the effort. You would also need to adjust the amount you need to deposit each month to take into consideration the amount you are going to need for your debit card spending. Then calculate the IAB accordingly.


Alternatives

If you are not comfortable with GIA-i's risks, you can substitute it with a 1-month Fixed Deposit (FD) or other Current Account / Savings Account (CASA). Of course, the effective rate would be lower since FD & CASA offer lower interest rate compared to GIA-i. FD is less flexible than GIA-i as you need to complete the entire 1-month tenure to get the interest or else you will not get any interest at all. So, you need to be aware of the placement date & maturity date and make sure it coincides with the beginning of the month. CASA is the most flexible but the interest rate is usually the lowest.

Hong Leong Pay & Save Account

In this post, I will write about Hong Leong Pay & Save Account which in my opinion is one of the best current accounts in Malaysia currently. For one, you do not need an introducer to open this account. You only need a minimum of RM200 to open the account. It is one the current accounts offering the highest interest rate in Malaysia. It is a very flexible account but can also get pretty complicated if you want to fully maximize the interest rate.
 
There are basically three types of interest that would be applicable to the general depositor.
They are: -

1. Savings Interest
2. e-Xtra Interest
3. Debit Card Bonus Interest

Savings Interest

Interest calculated daily & credited quarterly.


e-Xtra Interest

Applicable when you make a minimum of 4 e-Payments.
 
Interest calculated based on the Monthly Average Balance (“MAB”) of the Account at the end of the month and credited on the first of the following month. The maximum e-Xtra Interest you can earn is 1.9% p.a (perform 15 or more e-Payment and/or PEx transactions in a month).

Tips:
You might think that you do not have so much bills to pay & therefore cannot maximize the extra interest here. However, you could perform online IBG transactions (minimum RM100 per IBG) which would also count as an e-Payment. By the way, HLB is offering free online IBG this year. So, you can take advantage of it to transfer funds to your own account in another bank and earn extra interest.


Debit Card Bonus Interest

To qualify, each swipe must be successfully posted with a minimum spend of RM30 in a single receipt. 

Interest is calculated based on the Monthly Average Balance (“MAB”) of the Account at the end of the month and credited on the first of the following month.

Capped at RM30 per month.

Tips:
If you are currently using a credit card to make purchases, you need to consider the rebate (if your current credit card provides rebate / cashback for purchases) you will lose out if you were to switch over to using Hong Leong debit card. Consider the difference between the extra interest you will earn vs. the rebate you will lose by not using your existing credit card. If you are not using credit card, I do not see any reason not to use the debit card as you will earn extra interest up to a maximum of 0.6% p.a. extra interest (5 swipes & above). Do note however if your account balance is really high, you might not get the maximum 0.6% extra interest as there is a monthly cap of RM30 for Debit Card Bonus Interest. 


Charges

Debit Card Issuance Fee: RM8.48 (Waived for first year)

Service Charge where average balance for half year is below RM200: RM5.30


Summary

The table below shows the total interest rate (base interest + e-Xtra interest) for different balances assuming you are able to maximize the e-Xtra Interest: - 

Assuming your account balance is RM2,000 and no. of e-Payments for the month is 15 (15 IBGs), the total interest you will get for the month is 2.35%. If your balance is more than RM20,000, then you will get 2.90%.

This does not include the the extra interest from Debit Card Bonus Interest which can go up to 0.6%. I did not include the Debit Card Bonus Interest in the table above as there is a cap on the extra interest. Based on my calculation, for account balances of up to RM20,000, you can earn the maximum 0.6% extra interest. For balances above that value, the maximum extra interest rate varies depending on the monthly average balance & the number of days in the month. It's pretty complicated, you can go calculate it yourself if you want to. 


Possible uses

• Day to day account to receive your salary & make payments. You might even get 10% p.a. Bonus Interest for 5 days when you use this account for salary crediting via Hong Leong e-Payment Service (Payroll Account). Your employer need to register for it though in order for you to get the 10% Bonus Interest.

• Temporary place to park your excess funds as you can withdraw them anytime. The online transfer limit is RM50,000 and this account also comes with an optional cheque book facility. If your balance is above RM100,000, you can get 3.20% or more interest.

Refer to the following links for more information about the rates, charges & how the interest is calculated: -

Official link

Terms & conditions

 

General Investment Account-i (GIA-i)

There seems to be a lot of confusion regarding General Investment Account-i (GIA-i), so I am going to clarify some points here. 

Let's begin with a little history of Islamic banking to put things into context.


History

Before the coming into force of Islamic Financial Services Act 2013 (IFSA), there is no clear distinction between Islamic deposit and Islamic investment. General Investment Account-i (GIA-i) was considered as Islamic deposit by most banks in the past. In fact, most of Islamic FDs introduced in the early days were GIA-i. Subsequently, all deposit-based GIA-i had been converted to Term Deposit-i (TD-i) or their equivalent.
 

Current situation
 
With the coming into force of the IFSA, General Investment Account-i (GIA-i) is classified as Islamic investments. It is separate from Islamic deposits including Islamic FD and TD-i. As a result, it would no longer be eligible for protection by PIDM as they are no longer Islamic deposit accounts.

General Investment Account-i (GIA-i) is based on the contract of Mudarabah (profit sharing) where the customer act as the provider of fund and the Bank acts as the entrepreneur. The Bank will invest the funds in carefully selected Shariah's high yielding, compliant investment avenues. The profit from the investement will be shared between the Bank and customers based on the pre-agreed profit sharing ratio (PSR).

GIA-i is NOT islamic fixed deposit (FD) or term deposit-i (TD-i). It is usually grouped together with FD by the banks because of the historic ties between them and FDs and some similarities with FD. The profit rate for GIA-i is NOT fixed but based on profit sharing, so the rate quoted is only indicative.

Pros & Cons

Pros

• Potentially earn higher returns than fixed deposit
• Can withdraw anytime with no penalty on the profit rate (even if it less than a month)

Cons

• Profit is NOT guaranteed
• Principal is NOT guaranteed
• NO PIDM protection

Maybank's General Investment Account-i (GIA-i)

Minimum investment:
RM5,000 (1 month)
RM1,000 (2 months and above)

Currently, Maybank is one of the few banks that offer GIA-i in the market after the coming into force of the IFSA. Maybank is offering 4% p.a. indicative Profit Rate for GIA-i. You can even place your GIA-i online if you have an existing Current Account / Savings Account (CASA) with Maybank. Similar to eFD, you can do placement & withdrawal anytime even when the bank is closed. 



Features

• Profit calculated on daily basis 
• The profit will be paid on monthly basis and it is NOT subject to tenor or number of withdrawal
• Payment of profit is on monthly basis 

Tips

• If you want to invest for 1 month but you do not have RM5000 but only RM1000, you can select any of the other tenures above. Since you can withdraw anytime, just make sure to uplift / withdraw it after 1 month. You will get the month's profit with no penalty on premature withdrawal.

• By default when you do placement online, you cannot choose the profit payment mode. It would be credited into your CASA monthly. However, if you wish to change the profit payment mode, there is a way to do it. You can change the 'profit payment mode' to 'add to principal' on the 'Manage your accounts' page.

• Do note however about the risks involved as the profit & capital is NOT guaranteed & there is NO PIDM protection. In my opinion, the risks are rather low compared to other forms of investment like unit trust, stocks etc. In the highly unlikely event that the bank collapses, you risk losing all your money in GIA-i with the bank. So, I would NOT suggest putting all your money into GIA-i. 

Possible uses

If you are comfortable with the risk, here are some possible uses for the account: -

• An alternative to FD as it offers 4% p.a. indicative profit rate which is higher than FD board rate for most banks in Malaysia currently.

• Place to temporarily park your funds as you can withdraw it anytime and not lose out on the profit.

• An alternative to CASA for short-term or long-term savings purposes.