UOB unveils Young Professionals Solution to help millennials build wealth

Its 3 components are UOB One Account, UOB YOLO credit card, and the United SGD Fund.

With 90 per cent of Singapore’s millennials in the workforce, United Overseas Bank Limited (UOB) launched Singapore’s first banking solution to help these young professionals start building their wealth earlier in life.

UOB’s Young Professionals Solution was designed for emerging affluent millennials between 24 and 35 years old and comprises three components – the UOB One Account, UOB YOLO credit card, and the United SGD Fund (the Fund). The solution helps millennials to invest by “sweeping” into the Fund earned interest from each customer’s One Account and rebates from spending on the YOLO card. UOB is the only bank in Singapore to offer the sweep function tied to a current account, credit card and unit trust enabling its customers to invest their earned interest and credit card rebates in a unit trust.

With the Young Professionals Solution, the Bank has waived the 2% online sales charge and has also reduced the minimum initial investment amount required to $10, instead of the usual $1,000. These changes make it more attractive and effortless for millennials to start investing sooner as they address concerns that the millennials say they have. According to a UOB survey, the top reasons why millennials in Singapore held back from investing were high upfront fees (29%), preference for cash savings (25%) and perceived high minimum purchase amounts for unit trusts (10%).

Mr Dennis Khoo, Head of Personal Financial Services Singapore, UOB said that the Young Professionals Solution reinforces UOB’s commitment to serving millennial customers for the long term as they are the future of Singapore’s economy.

“Today’s young professionals are 10 years away from their peak earning power. As they have time on their side, it would be prudent for them to start building their wealth early. It helps if they see that instead of just cash savings alone, there are benefits to be reaped from the combination of both saving and investing. Through the compounding effect, consistent investments over time can go a long way. By reducing the minimum investment amount and incorporating the automated sweep on their credit card rebates and earned interest from their current account, the Young Professionals Solution enables them to enjoy the benefits of investing even as they spend in keeping with their lifestyle needs,” said Mr Khoo.

Customers can also monitor the Fund’s performance and top up their investments online at any time with any amount.

Of UOB’s millennial customers, 67% already have a UOB current or savings account. The Young Professionals Solution creates a natural next step which allows them to make their money work harder for them.

Millennial spending currently accounts for 20% of UOB’s total card spend and one in three millennials in Singapore currently banks with UOB. The Bank aims to grow that figure to one in two by 2019.